Performance Spaces
18:09Both plays will begin their tours at the Desmond Tutu Theatre, at University of St. Mark & St. John and end at the Barbican Theatre, Plymouth.
Having seen the theatre at Marjon, we're aware of how large the space is, how close the audience will be, and how easily the stage can be seen. The whole stage, though quite deep, can be seen by all of the audience, as the seating is steeply raked. The front rows are just a few metres from the stage markers.
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| Desmond Tutu Theatre, Marjon (1) |
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Cygnet Theatre, Exeter 2
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Next on Lear's tour is Sterts Theatre, near Liskeard. It is a covered outdoor venue, so does have some protection and electric lighting, but is more open to the weather than completely indoor venues. The semi-circular stage is not fully in the round but the audience are on 3/4 sides.
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| Inside Sterts (3) |
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| Sterts (4) |
Barbican Theatre in Plymouth is similar to the Desmond Tutu Theatre- a large stage area with raked seating. It is a smaller venue with 140 seats. It is the ending venue for both plays.
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| Barbican Theatre (5) |
A Clockwork Orange is touring to Jacksons Lane, Highgate, London. It is another end-on stage with raked seating.
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| Jacksons Lane, London (6) |
The Gate Arts Centre in Cardiff is a larger venue, with up to 350 seats. The thrust stage is surrounded by the audience on three sides, near on-level with the stage.
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| Gate Arts Centre, Cardiff (7) |
Z-Arts in Manchester has 225 seats, a larger, steeply raked end-on stage.
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| Z-Arts (8) |
Rondo Theatre in Bath is again an end-on stage, with 105 raked seats.
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| Rondo Theatre (9) |
The majority of the venues the plays are touring to are very similar - end-on or proscenium staging with raked seating. A few are thrust/partially in the round, which means the audience will be seeing the action from different angles. All of the venues are quite small so the audience will be quite close up to the actors and costumes, sometimes just a metre or so away. The costumes will have to be finished to a high standard in the details, including things like linings and fastenings. Costumes for performance need to be durable anyway, but especially so for a tour, they will need to be able to be easily maintained and stored for travel.
1 Beale, C., (2017). Desmond Tutu Theatre, Marjon. Unpublished photographs.
2 Won, L., (2012). Cygnet New Theatre, Exeter. [Online]. Available at: http://hopingformorethanslogans.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/exeters-burning-theatre-dreams.html [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17]. ↩
3 Cornwall-lodges.co.uk, (2017). Inside Sterts. [Online]. Available at: http://www.cornwall-lodges.co.uk/tourist/Sterts-Theatre.html [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
4 GB Theatre Company, (2016). Sterts. [Online]. Available at: http://www.gbtheatrecompany.com/sterts_theatre_cornwall.html [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
5 Visitsuttonharbour.co.uk, (2017). Barbican Theatre. [Online]. Available at: http://www.visitsuttonharbour.co.uk/places-to-visit/barbican-theatre/ [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
6 Rehearsal Space Finder, (2017). Jacksons Lane. [Online]. Available at: http://rehearsalspacefinder.com/listing/269a-archway-road-jacksons-lane-theatre/ [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
7 Capital Properties, (2012). Gate Arts Centre. [Online]. Available at: http://www.capitalpropertiescardiff.co.uk/blog/2012/10/11/arts-and-culture-in-roath-and-cathays [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
8 Hire Space, (2017). Z-Arts. [Online]. Available at: https://hirespace.com/Spaces/Manchester/42931/Z-arts/Theatre/Business [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
9 House Theatre, (2017). Rondo Theatre. [Online]. Available at: http://housetheatre.org.uk/venues/rondo-theatre/ [Accessed on 21st February 2017, at 17:17].
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