Visit to Hall For Cornwall

On 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, Wadebridge Rotary holds formal meetings, with business discussed. On 2nd and 4th Thursdays, we hold informal 'tasty bites' meetings for cheap and simple meals and general social discussion. What to do on 5th Thursdays, then, without disrupting the sequence? 

The answer last Thursday (30th March) was a trip to the Hall for Cornwall in Truro, for a guided tour of the theatre, including back stage, in the morning and a performance of Mrs Warren's Profession by George Bernard Shaw starring Caroline Quentin in the afternoon, with a break for lunch, shopping, sightseeing or whatever people wanted to do. Some thirty members and guests attended.

The two entrances (Lemon Quay and Boscawen Street) and the auditorium show the benefits of the multi-million pound upgrade, with comfortable modern seating on three levels. The auditorium is wheelchair accessible and, when there isn't a performance on, it provides a throughway from Lemon Quay to Boscawen Street.

Backstage shows the constraints of working within a Grade 2 listed building. The loading bay doors for scenery and such are big, but not that big. Occasionally, scenery has to be cut up to get it in and reassembled once inside. Since most shows are touring productions, there is a lot of scenery and equipment going in and out. Every space inside is filled with stuff needed for productions. Even the space under the stage is filled, so that when they want to use the trapdoor, such as for the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk, they have to clear it.

For Thursday's performance, the front two rows of the stalls were in place, but that area is also the orchestra pit, so the seats have to be removed to make way when there's music. The floor, therefore can drop down to form the pit, rise up for  seating, and rise further to go level with the stage, extending it. This is handy for shifting the pianos from the underground piano room onto the stage.

Come lunchtime, one group headed across the road to Charlotte's Tea House where Brian Budden had booked tables. Others scattered across Truro centre. A few went home, not staying for the play. 

Your humble scribe is not a theatre critic and will say nothing about the play itself. It was fun to see the bits of scenery we had been shown backstage make their appearance. Afterwards, numerous Wadebridge people could be seen heading for the Park and Ride bus stop on Quay Street, having sensibly decided that parking in the city centre wasn't worth it.

Thanks to President Nick for arranging the visit and tickets.   It's a pity he was unable to attend.    We are sure he would have enjoyed it.

Report by Kevin Smith;    Picture by Trevor Wiltshire