Martin
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AdminThe British Newspaper Archive
(Head of Data Development, The British Newspaper Archive)
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Dear Readers
We are sourcing what we can from the Library’s holdings and have added 1940-1941, 1943-1950 in the last 24 hours.
https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/id/staffordshire-sentinel
Thank you all for your continued interest in this title, and Happy Reading!
Regards
Team BNA
Martin
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I was lucky enough to be a part of a number of performances at the Theatre Royal in the late 1980s. My first experience was with the Scouts Screamline Gangshow (directed by Greg Walker) which ran for a week. After that I applied to be a part of a touring company performance of The Hobbit which also ran for a week. I was one of the dwarves 🙂 My final experience was being a member of a Scout Gangshow segment of the Roy Hudd Variety Show for one night that also featured Paul Daniels, Lord Charles and Ray Allen (if my memory is correct).
All three experiences were amazing for me as a child. The Theatre Royal was the only theatre I had experience of in Hanley at the time and I had seen many shows before featuring a number of stars (e.g. Martin Shaw and Lewis Collins as Bodie and Doyle in one Panto, abseiling down from one of the royal boxes to the stage!). So the opportunity to tread the same boards and to see how things worked from back stage was incredible.
One notable memory that sticks in my mind was an evening tour of the theatre by one of the permanent staff (before a performance). They showed us rooms, staircases, and shafts that were cut off from use after the Theatres earlier fire and subsequent rebuild. Some areas were inaccessible, e.g. a cloak room high up in a shaft behind a locked door. They even showed us a fairly large old lighting control room at the very back of the top circle (nicknamed ‘the gods’). Add into the mix stories of ghosts that haunted the front of house area and the gantry deck at the side of the stage; this really did have quite an impression on me. Back stage, I also remember at the top of the stairs by the dressing rooms there was a door with message reading ‘he who enters here, abandon all hope’ because behind the door there was a drop to the stage area below. And also a very tight spiral stair case with a small chapel room half way down. It was very dimly lit and used by us as a quick way to get up to the changing rooms and back to the stage between scene changes. There was also quite a cosy green room under the stage. I remember all the dressing rooms being quite basic though. I think the only advantage for a big star is that they had a dressing room on the lowest floor closest to the stage, rather than any other luxury! 🙂 Sadly I am certain all these little features have long been removed or sealed up, but it would be interesting to know if any small part of the original theatre still remains intact? A visit it now might be upsetting if it has been changed too much though (suspect so).
Some great experiences at the Theatre Royal that I will never forget…