The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1928. A MUNICIPAL THEATRE

Southland Times, Issue 20524, 28 June 1928, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. THURSDAY, JUNE 28, 1928. A MUNICIPAL THEATRE

When old buildings are taken in hand for alterations and modernization the difficulty is not to find what to do, but where to stop, and this probably is the explanation of the Town Council’s diffidence about spending money on the Municipal Theatre for the purpose of bringing it up-to-date. From £lO,OOO to £20,000 could be spent on the building in the work of modernizing it, and there is small chance of the municipality undertaking that outlay, especially as a modern theatre is promised and will be put in hand shortly. There are changes, however, which can be made with advantage and comparatively small expense, improvements which may be regarded as necessitous. One of the chief characteristics of the Municipal Theatre is its draughts. The building is heated with gas radiators, but these do not cure the cold breezes which blow on the stage and when the curtain rises lower the temperature in the stalls. On the stage the draughts are very bad, and almost every company that uses the building complains of these as well as of the ice-boxes which do service as dressing rooms. Nor does the trouble end there. The orchestral well is subject to all the winds that blow. Cold blasts of air fed through ventilators, through doors and over the footlights affect the players and

tend to flatten the pitch of the instruments. This could be cured in part by the introduction of a more efficient heating system with a central generator placed under the stage, and by the construction of a room off the entrance to the orchestral well. At the present moment the great space under the stage is cold, cheerless and unhygenic, and if nothing else is done some steps should be taken to cure these ills. Proper accommodation for the players and proper conveniences would remedy many of these ills without much cost. The recent season of opera disclosed, too, how inadequate is the space provided for the accommodation of a modern orchestra. Fifteen or sixteen players were in the orchestral well for the opera and they were cramped, without the presence of a drummer and his equipment. What would be the position if an orchestra of twenty-five, none too many for the proper presentation of opera, were brought to the Municipal Theatre ? They could not be accommodated under conditions making for reasonable comfort or good music. It would be difficult to lengthen the well, but provision should be made for widening it, even if it means the loss of the present front row of seats. A glance round the auditorium shows, too, that the corporation has plenty of room for improvement in the interior decoration. The municipality has a good tenant and the playhouse is returning enough revenue to free the general account from any charge, but unless something is done to remedy some of the evils which are glaringly apparent the Town Council will find that visiting theatrical organizations will be so hampered that they will seek other theatres or cut Invercargill out. The things we have mentioned are only a few of the serious handicaps under which the tenants of the theatre labour, but they are all curable and they are necessary. Other improvements could be suggested they may be suggested, but in the interests of theatrical entertainment in this town the ills to which we have referred should be taken in hand at once. Neglect has gone on too long.