SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

Taranaki Daily News, 8 July 1929, Page 7

SHAKESPEARE THEATRE

MEMORIAL AT STRATFORD. FOUNDATION STONE LAID. London, July 3. In the presence of 4000 members of the public and 700 Freemasons, Lord Ampthill, Past Provincial Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of England, with Masonic ritual laid the foundation stone of the new Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon, with a maul that was used in Egypt 4000 years ago. The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre at Stratford-on-Avon was burnt down on March 6, 1926. The loss was estimated at £40,000. Soon afterwards the idea of re-building it was taken up with enthusiasm in Britain and America, with the result that the necessary fund was raised by public subscription. A competition was instituted for designs for the new theatre and the 75 submitted from Britain, the United States and Canada were assessed by a committee of three judges. On January 9, 1928, Miss Elizabeth Scott, the 29-year-old daughter of _ a Bournemouth doctor, made a sensation in the building world by securing the position of architect of the new theatre. The judges adjudged Miss Scott’s design as easily the best of those submitted. Mr. George Bernard Shaw remarked , at the time that Miss Scott alone among the competing architects possessed real theatre sense. Miss Scott, after she had heard of her success, said: “My idea is that anyone stepping from outside should know that it is a theatre in which Shakespeare is being played.” The whole external plan of the theft' tre, elaborate and picturesque though it is, has been strictly determined by the uses to which the interior will be turned. Bold use has been made of the stage as a basis for design. The auditorium has not been allowed to dwarf other features of the building, and is in no way disguised.. Dressing room accommodation has been provided in an annexe which removes any too great severity of aspect. Inside the theatre Miss Scott has accurately followed the conditions set down by the expert’ committee which called for the competitive designs. Settiim the accommodation for spectators at 1000 seats, the conditions stated that, while a wide proscenium was not desirable, the stage should be at least 50ft. in depth and of as great a width as plans would permit. So far as was humanly possible the new theatre should be adequate to the presentation of Shakespeare in any style that later generations should desire. Broadly speaking, there were three types to w’/ch the stage ■of the new

theatre should be —at will —convertible, the modern or picture stage, the Elizabe xn or apron stage and the Greek stage. Provision for the Elizabethan stage, the committee suggested, could best be made by means of movable extensions on the front of the stage. This provision will allow modern audiences to see the plays of Shakespeare produced under conditions more or lees approaching those of their original Elizabethan presentation. The site of the theatre is liable to floods, so the building and approaches must be built above ground level. It will stand on a vast platform above the level of the Avon floods. There will be ornamental steps from the ground level and terraces, promenades and landing stages on the riverside. A formal garden in front is included in the design and along the river bank runs a wall which, like the building, will be of stone. A round tower at the corner up which the stairs to the dress circle will run, in contrast to the flat and receding wall

and roof surfaces, will give a suggestion of mystery to the very modern conception. The theatre will have a sliding roof which can be opened to the air and (for matinees) to the sun.