C O N T E X T 1 2 8 : M A R C H 2 0 1 3 21 The heritage of of leisure The heritage The heritage of leisur ge of leisure The h The heritage of leisure of leisure The h heritage The elephant slide at the London Hippodrome BlackpoolWinter Gardens in 2004 Blackpool Tower Circus of their designated status, were to be protected as they were important in providing the public with access to live theatre. Theatres which were not in active use as theatres but which had the potential to come back into use were regarded as ‘theatres in waiting’. Alongside the act, theatres were given sui generis status in the planning system, so that planning permission would be required for any change of use, and if a theatre were under threat it would come to the attention of the trust (in its unique status as a statutory consultee on planning applications). We have always said that the best use for a historic theatre is the one for which it was originally intended. But theatres can be preserved by sympathetically converting them into other ‘beneficial’ uses such as nightclubs, bars, bingo halls, casinos and for religious purposes. Good examples of theses include the Clapham Grand (nightclub), Prince of Wales, Cardiff (pub) and the Hulme Playhouse (church). These uses have helped to protect theatres. Between 1970 and 1990 a surprising number of theatres were returned back to full working life from their time as sleeping beauties. For example, the 1,192-seat AlhambraTheatre (category B listed), located in the centre of Dunfermline, reopened in 2008 following nearly 40 years as a bingo hall. In order for this to happen, the theatre’s stagehouse needs to remain substantially intact and the access routes for pantechnicons to deliver staging, lights and sets needs to be maintained.The effective conservation and protection of theatres in non-theatre use must be focused on low-cost minimal intervention and nominal subdivision.The high cost of reversing any major scheme would be too finely balanced against the profitability of the new use and physical nature of the subdivision. A heritage professional might ask: ‘Why does this matter, as long as the plan-form, plasterwork and character are preserved?’ Quite simply, the magic of the theatre is lost if it becomes just about bricks and mortar. A theatre is a place where an audience can be swayed by a mesmerising score, and astonished by jaw-dropping scenery and breathtaking special effects, all combining to bring a story to life. It is hard to recreate the magic without the full use of the building. Take the GreatYarmouth Hippodrome. It is Britain’s only surviving stand-alone water circus, built in 1903 by RS Cockrill. It has sumptuous art nouveau foliage decoration and its central circus is only one of three in the world that converts into a pool. It is worthy of its Grade II* designation. However, it is Peter Jay (formerly of Peter Jay and the Jaywalkers) who brings this building to life. Surviving with no local government subsidy or Arts Council grant, he provides evenings of entertainment demonstrating to full potential the venue’s unique Victorian water spectacle, with synchronised swimmers popping up through a myriad of ping-pong balls. It is hard to think of this building being adapted to any other use. A significant proportion of the UK’s theatre building stock dates from the Victorian and Edwardian periods (think of the boxes, balconies, proscenium and gilt), reflecting the theatre-going habits of over a century ago. They were robustly constructed to the building
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=