Shakespeare Memorial Theatre

Rather surprisingly given the enormous industry which has now grown up around him, the first theatre in Straford-upon-Avon dedicated to the genius of Shakespeare didn't open until 1879. In 1926 the original Memorial Theatre burnt down, and was replaced in 1932 by an austere Art Deco building known in the Biz and to the town as the Jam Factory. This was said to be a difficult space in which to work: it was a traditional proscenium arch theatre, with a distance of about 90 feet from the back of the stage to the back of the stalls; and back-stage conditions were said to be fairly squalid, even for the Talent.

About ten years ago the Powers That Be came up with a plan to demolish the Jam Factory and replace it with a kind of Shakespeare Village running out across the Bancroft Gardens. As soon as I saw the artist's impression of this proposed development, which looked more like a shopping mall than anything else, I knew there would be trouble: this is a town in which the moving of a litter bin from its traditional site to a new location would elicit pages of furious letters to the local paper, so I couldn't see the redevelopment of the theatre passing without comment - and I'm happy to say that I was right. The green ink brigade won unexpected support from historians and architects: it transpired that not only did people actually like the Jam Factory, but it was historically significant in being the first public building in the country to have been designed by a woman (Elisabeth Scott). Faced with implacable opposition the PTB eventually backed down, and the plan was rethought. The Art Deco frontage, foyer and staircase were retained, and a new auditorium with a thrust stage and galleried seating, as well as new back-stage facilities, were created behind it.

The photo shows the old Jam Factory Frontage to the left, with the new Rooftop Restaurant above it; in the centre is the glass frontage of the new box office area and a tower whose purpose leaves me slightly perplexed if I'm honest; and to the right the Swan Theatre, which is a smaller performance space housed in what remains of the original Memorial Theatre.

This is my entry to hobbs' new challenge Wideangle Wednesday, the theme for this week being "distortion". This was taken with a Canon EFS 10-18 lens at 10mm (though on a crop sensor camera, making it more like 13mm). Thank you hobbs, for making me get out my favourite lens for the first time in a month!