Heritage Challenges – The challenge of new technologies

The Grade I Listed Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds was built in 1819 and is the only Regency theatre left in this country. Funded by grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the National Trust, Arts Council England and its local authorities, and in partnership with Levitt Bernstein (architects) and Haymills (building contractors) it has embarked on a much needed and hugely important restoration and development project.

There are particular challenges facing anyone who tries to restore an historic building whilst at the same time trying to profit from the development of modern technologies. The Theatre Royal was built before the days of gas, electricity, running water or, indeed, drainage systems, so in 2006, even the most basic facilities and systems demand both space and a level of consideration never contemplated by the architect who originally created the building. Notwithstanding this anomaly, the Theatre Royal is working with a variety of consultants to incorporate the highest quality of available and affordable technologies into the restored Regency building.

For many years audiences have suffered from heat in summer and cold in winter, the antiquated heating and ventilation systems having been installed in 1964. Whilst mindful of the extreme age of the building and the consequent potential problems involved with the introduction of a new temperature and airflow control system, the new specification has included the provision of highly sophisticated under-floor air-handling equipment and duct work. The consequent 15-foot deep excavation has exposed many fascinating features, not least of which is a flint-lined medieval well situated a few feet below where Row D of the stalls used to be. Careful conservation measures have been put in place and the restored theatre will contain a 21st century cooling and heating facility lying cheek by jowl with a rediscovered piece of ancient heritage.

Above ground it becomes even trickier. In 1819 the Theatre Royal was lit by oil lamps. Many statistics have been bandied about concerning the levels of light that existed in the Regency theatre in comparison with those that are commonplace today. Whatever the exact detail, the truth is that nowadays we throw kilowatts more light at the stage than was ever the case in the past, when the lightest part of the theatre was the auditorium.

The impact on the approach to the restoration programme is significant. We need a lighting scheme that will be sensitive to both contemporary and historic methods of providing light both in the auditorium and on the stage. This system must necessarily be bespoke and such individuality inevitably comes at a price but not just a financial one. There is a real problem in that however small and discreet modern-day luminaires may be, they are still modern. It has proved impossible to hide them. The design team investigated a retractable ceiling bridge, but the cost was prohibitive. Thus, the front of the Gallery will be decorated, not as a species of veranda [sic] as was the case in 1819, but with a semicircular bar complete with state-of-the-art stage lighting equipment.

Finally, the stage house itself. Introduction of modern electric winches will facilitate flying in a building without a fly tower. A modular, trapped stage will reintroduce the ability to enable the appearance and disappearance of actors and singers as originally intended when the building was full of ropes, pulleys and lethal trap mechanisms. And all the other elements of contemporary theatre will be carefully integrated into the fabric of the building sound, projection, communication systems; all will enhance the ability to support contemporary work.

But the real joy will be when, by means of modern technologies, the Theatre Royal will be able to extend its forestage, darken its stage and lighten its auditorium, roll back the centuries and present a play straight out of the Georgian repertoire using all the technology that modern-day developments can offer.

Colin Blumenau is Theatre Director at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds.
www.theatreroyal.org
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