‘the Perth Theatre redevelopment project will transform a much loved building into one of Scotland’s most enjoyable theatre spaces’ Philip Deverell, director, strategy Creative Scotland
Welcome
April 2016 Hats off to lots of progress on Perth Theatre site! Construction is now fully underway on site and demolition work has begun to make way for the new extension. The three storey extension adjacent to the B-listed Edwardian auditorium will contain new foyer space, restaurant, bars, new 200seat studio theatre, community room and lift to all floors. The demolition has started to expose the original auditorium wall, constructed in 1899-1900 which will be retained as a feature of the redeveloped space while the interior of the auditorium is fully restored.
The restored and redeveloped Perth Theatre will be there for all generations of theatre lovers
Read on to find out what to expect as Perth Theatre stays Out and About, meet our new artistic director for Perth Theatre and delve into the history of Perth Festival of the Arts ...
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Open Sessions We continue to invite members of the public to come along to free open sessions to find out all about the Transform Perth Theatre project. The next drop-in session takes place on Monday 16 May at 2pm in Perth Concert Hall’s Norie-Miller Studio. Feel free to come along!
Changes are happening both inside and out as restoration and redevelopment work continues
www.transformperththeatre.co.uk
tickets: 01738 621031 I horsecross.co.uk
Perth Theatre Out and About This season theatre goes out and about to a Perthshire barn with The 306: Dawn, our co-production with the National Theatre of Scotland from Tue 24 May to Sat 11 June. This poignant drama charts the heartbreaking journey of three of the 306 British soldiers who were executed for cowardice, desertion and mutiny during the Great War. Find out more about the making of The 306: Dawn and Scotland at war at our pre-show talks on Wed 1 and Thu 9 Jun.
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Rapture Theatre and MacRobert Arts Centre’s witty and compelling Democracy in Perth Concert Hall on Tue 13 and Wed 14 Sep follows charismatic West German Chancellor Willy Brandt who sees his own party turn against him as he ‘dares more democracy’. ‘Pit the kettle on mither, this is braw news’, The Broons come to life in Perth Concert Hall from Tue 27 Sep to Sat 1 Oct in a production filled with laughs, love and comic-strip visuals, all set to a Scottish soundtrack. The longest running show in the history of British theatre is in Perth Concert Hall from Mon 10 to Thu 13 Oct. Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap creates an atmosphere of shuddering suspense as a group of people isolated in a country house discover a murderer in their midst. And, get in early for the best seats at Perth’s family panto Dick McWhittington in Perth Concert Hall from Sat 10 to Mon 26 Dec. Brought to you by the team behind five star success Beauty and the Beast, this annual festive tradition will have you booing, hissing, cheering and singing along as you follow the fortunes of Dick, Kitty Cat and their colourful chums!
Alison Williamson, Hor-
‘I can't wait to get into the new space, it looks amazing and inspiring. It will really help all the kids at Perth Youth Theatre to do a lot more to learn all the behind-the-scenes stuff and improve our acting skills, we are really lucky’ Ella Preece Perth Youth Theatre P4-7.
Your new theatre - creative spaces As well as the loving restoration of the auditorium, the transformation of Perth Theatre will open up bright, new and fully-equipped spaces for everyone to use. The community areas will be used either as a larger performance room or divided with an acoustic folding wall into two smaller rooms. Clerestory glazing will infuse daylight. A second multi-functional room, which will offer either dedicated rehearsal space or an additional community and workshop area, will be located on the second floor. Technical equipment will be installed to allow full flexibility in the type of work all of these rooms can support. Such equipment is dependent on securing the remaining £1.5m.
Your Theatre Your Heritage Your Future Barrie Hunter, Beauty and
The new studio theatre will sit 200 in a flexible space
The studio theatre will feature retractable seating and a first floor gallery. The design will comprise 200 seats with wheelchair spaces easily installed at the front of the stalls and at each side of the gallery. The control room and sound desk will be at the rear of the gallery and energy efficient ventilation systems will be used to feed air supply to ground floor level. Equipment, such as the sound desk, required to ensure the studio can be put to full use, requires further funds to be secured. From the outside, the studio theatre will form a principal element of the new Mill Street façade and will appear as a simple box floating above a wide glazed entrance. The panes of glass will include feature lighting as well as logos and advertisements which will create a varied and enticing frontage both day and night. Funders are invited to support the development of the plaza area through the purchase of a large scale LCD screen to be used in part for commercial purposes.
Visit www.transformperththeatre.co.uk to play your part in raising the final £1.5 million!
Play your Part A gift of £20 or more ...
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Receive a Perth Theatre supporter’s pin badge
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A gift of £50 or more …
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Be acknowledged in Perth Theatre’s reopening programme
A gift of £250 or more … Dedicate a seat in the new studio theatre
A gift of £400 or more … Dedicate a seat in the fully restored Perth Theatre auditorium
A gift of £500 or more … Support a Perth Theatre production shot on our ‘Wall of Fame’
A gift of £1000 or more … Be acknowledged on the Perth Theatre Donor Wall
‘the transformed theatre’s doors will be wide open to the local community and to artists across Scotland’ Lu Kemp, artistic director, Perth Theatre
Lu Kemp appointed artistic director The journey to a new century of theatre in Perth is gathering further pace with the appointment of Lu Kemp as artistic director, Perth Theatre. An award-winning theatre director and creative leader, Lu Kemp has worked with a wide variety of companies including the National Theatre of Scotland, The Citizen’s Theatre, The RSC and Tricycle Theatre, touring productions across the UK and internationally. Most recently she directed Rapunzel at Citizen’s Theatre Glasgow and also directed critically acclaimed productions Bondagers, Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, Don Quixote, Òran Mór and the CATS nominated production The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish for the National Theatre of Scotland. Lu, who will work closely with Horsecross Arts from May this year, launching her first theatre season when Perth Theatre reopens said: “Together with the inspiring team at Horsecross, I am thrilled to be able to relaunch Perth Theatre after its restoration and redevelopment. The transformed theatre’s doors will be wide open to the local community and to artists across Scotland. It will be a place of dialogue and debate, a place where all sectors of the local community can meet, participate in, and be Lu Kemp will work closely with Horsecross Arts entertained by brilliant, accessible and inspiring theatre. It will be a venue from May 2016, launching her first theatre season which welcomes theatre makers at all stages of their career and where, in conversation with our local audiences, artists have the support to develop when Perth Theatre reopens their art-forms in exciting and unexpected ways. The theatre has a special place on Scotland’s cultural stage and in the hearts of the people of Perth and we look forward to building on its long and successful history.”
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‘the children and staff are thoroughly enjoying the Little Stars workshops. We very much appreciate the time and effort that has gone into the preparation and delivery’ Susan Johnstone, Letham Primary School Nursery
Creative Learning News Little Stars: Creative Play In January the creative learning team secured funding from the Big Lottery: Communities and Families fund to deliver a Little Stars: Creative Play project in five nurseries across the region. The nurseries have children facing a range of challenges including: rural isolation, economic deprivation and English as a second language. The project will see the nurseries receive up to 30 weeks of dance, drama and music workshops for their 2-4 year olds.
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Little Stars: Creative Play will take place in five nurseries across the region
Musicians perform A number of our musical participants have performed at events over the spring. Leven Voices and Horsecross Glee Seniors both performed at Sing for Syria a fundraising event at Kinross Parish Church. Our young Gaelic singers Horsecross Glè performed during the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow in January and more recently at The Green Room, Perth, where they supported professional band Pons Aelius. Horsecross Glè performing at The Green Room, Perth
Perth Theatre Memory Collective Since August we have been working with a dedicated team of volunteers to research the history of Perth Theatre. Working closely with the archivists and social history teams at the AK Bell Library the Memory Collective have been exploring a range of research topics. Their research will feed into a number of projects, exhibitions and resources over the next two years. On the following page, Memory Collective member Iain Halliday shares his research into the history of Perth Festival of the Arts.
‘Perth Theatre has been hugely important to the festival. We are excited that it will be opening again very soon!” Sandra Ralston, festival administrator, Perth Festival of the Arts
Perth Festival of the Arts When Scotsman critic Conrad Wilson wrote in the early seventies: “Perth is an ideal festival city without a festival”, he may not have predicted that his remark would give rise to one of Scotland’s most successful and enduring arts festivals – Perth Festival of the Arts! Now in its 45th year, Perth Festival of the Arts, which takes place in May every year, was initially built around the regular visits to Perth by Scottish Opera. Following the rather tentative programming for the first Festival in 1972, Perth Theatre became regularly used as a venue for drama, dance, opera and light entertainment. PFA found innovative ways to stage these various art forms in the main building itself and in other venues. When full-scale commissioned opera became involved, requiring alternate nights “off”, one night/one man shows were engaged to perform within the fixed stage set of the operas. Artists such as Peter Barkworth, Alex McCrindle, Richard Baker, Prunella Scales, Nicolas Parsons, Brian Rix, Ned Sherrin – and many others – performed in this setting. Additionally, Perth Theatre enjoyed regular visits by Scottish Ballet and various visiting ballet and dance companies, from both the UK and abroad. St John’s Kirk and St Ninian’s Cathedral staged appropriate drama and opera experiences and, with the opening of Perth Concert Hall in 2005, the festival has continued to develop, entertaining audiences of all ages with a broad range of programmes. Iain M Halliday Perth Theatre Memory Collective
Opera is one of the cornerstones of Perth Festival of the Arts which features regular appearances by English Touring Opera and Scottish Opera. Perth Festival of the Arts runs from Thursday 19 to Sunday 29 May. Tickets: 01738 621031 www.perthfestival.co.uk
‘after trying so many failed hobbies for him over the years I am so happy to see him with such enthusiasm about something’ Perth Autism Youth Theatre parent
A special visitor for young theatre group Perth Autism Youth Theatre had a special visitor in March when Perth-born actor Andy Gray joined them for the evening. Andy, who supports the local charity, was keen to meet the youth theatre and share his experience of being a professional actor. The young people had the opportunity to ask Andy questions about his professional acting career and he was very open to sharing his knowledge with them, offering the youth theatre advice on their upand-coming performance in the Horsecross Youth Arts Festival which takes place in June. The young people then put Andy through his paces getting him involved in their theatrical warm up, improvisation exercises and script read through. The youth theatre participants have been working extremely hard on their script for the Festival and the evening of Andy’s visit was their first read through of Perth Autism Youth Theatre enjoyed their visit from actor Andy Gray the finished product. Andy was extremely supportive of the script and giggled the whole way through the read through, which gave the young people a real confidence boost in their creative ideas and visions. Andy is now hoping to be back for the final performance in June so he can see how far the production has come. An extremely enjoyable evening was had by all and we very much appreciate Andy taking time out of his busy schedule to come and support one of our community groups. Perth Autism Youth Theatre is a partnership between Horsecross Arts and Perth Autism Support. The project has been running for three years and is Scotland's only youth theatre for young people on the Autism Spectrum.
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‘I made some of my most enduring relationships at Perth Youth Theatre and developed a skill for improvising that has served me well’ Rhod Sharp
Star Acts
Rhod Sharp Perth Youth Theatre turns 50 this year and, in honour of this, we have tracked down one of its original members! BBC Radio Five Live presenter Rhod Sharp joined PYT the year after it started in 1967. His first role was as a villain in a fantasy children’s show directed by Cathy Robbins alongside Stuart Cosgrove and Joy Hendry: ‘I played my first custard pie scene with Stuart Cosgrove. It used a lot shaving foam and Stuart usually came off better!
Further rising stars Rhod worked with during his time at Perth Youth Theatre included Mike Ockrent who went on to work as a theatre director in London and David Birch who went to Pitlochry Festival Theatre. ‘I made some of my most enduring relationships there and developed a skill for improvising that has served me well. I gained freedom from the shackles of home that I never had before and if I close my eyes can just about remember the cool damp smell of the rehearsal hall at 49 York Place. I remember the bench that ran its length which Cathy, being short of stature, stood on. I became open to new experience and laughed at myself. I also developed a thick skin and fell in love, as I think we nearly all did. What happened to us there - boys and girls - was profound, and often profoundly funny. We didn't know who we would become, but few of us had doubts that we would become something.’
Star in the making! Our congratulations go to recent Perth Youth Theatre leaver and former member of The Gordon Duncan Experience, Aron Dochard who has been offered a place on the BA (Hons) Actor Musicianship course at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in London.
Your Theatre Your Heritage Your Future ‘we did not know who we would become, but few of us had doubts that we would become something’
Restore … The beautiful B-listed Edwardian auditorium will be meticulously conserved, the ‘gods’ will be reinstated and an orchestra area will be created. Improvements to the auditorium will ensure that theatre-goers enjoy high quality creative experiences.
Build … A new 200-seat studio theatre will meet the demand for staging small to mid-scale performances including drama productions, music events, comedy gigs, children's workshops, family events and local community performances.
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Create … Dedicated creative learning areas will provide space for our growing community, education and outreach programme and a new home for Perth Youth Theatre, the oldest of its kind in Scotland.
Improve ... There will be ground floor access and a public lift to all other levels. The High Street entrance will be retained offering shoppers and visitors a direct route into the building. Perth Theatre will be more welcoming than ever before!
Thanks to our funders and partners
If you have any comments, feedback or stories to share contact the development team 01738 472731 transform@perththeatre.co.uk Horsecross Arts Ltd is registered in Scotland, no SC301328 and a charity no SC022400. Registered office: Perth Concert Hall, Mill Street, Perth PH1 5HZ