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Amateur Theatre |
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The Royal Manor Theatre, PortlandThe Royal Manor Theatre at Portland, has been delighting audiences for over fifty years, with all types of productions to suit all tastes. From Educating Rita to Charlie's Aunt, they've done it. The theatre's opening production was Wedding of the Year in 1978. But the company dates back to as far as 1947, when they were hiring local village halls and schools. The Royal Manor Theatre, as it is currently known, has come a long way since the dark days of taking sets through the streets. It now has it's own building, which was kindly donated by friends of the company. This proved to be a true investment. The building donated was an old Methodist church, and has been carefully converted into what is now a beautiful, intimate theatre. It can boast a seating capacity of nearly 100, and has several floors to explore. Nearly everything in the building is home-made, including all of the sound and lighting equipment, which has all been made to the building's requirements. They have their very own tailor made "Loop" system, which allows people with hearing aids to hear what's happening on stage, and also the auditorium too. It has intelligent house lights, which are "self-dimming", and also a lighting system, which can be controlled by voice! This is still in hand however, and has not yet been fully set up. The advantage of a system like this, would be that if you were on stage and you were setting your own lights, all you'd need to do, is call out the number of the lamp that you're at, and it would illuminate accordingly. They are always looking for people to come along on a Wednesday afternoon, where they hold workshop sessions. This is where you can actually see the set being constructed. Assist with a little painting and decorating, or maybe some carpentry is more your cup of tea. Whatever you're into, you can get into this. People from all over the country have come to perform in this delightful little theatre, but sadly; times they are a changing. It's very difficult to get people out and about to visit a theatre now. Unless there's a famous star appearing, or unless there's a concert not to be missed, few people express an interest. It's sad, because a building of this size is most expensive to maintain, and like everything else, may one day have to close. It is now, that we seek people's assistance. We're putting on a show that should delight audiences from near and far, and we hope that people will come if only just to see how delightful the place really is. So many people are unaware of the building's existence, and it would be great if we could increase awareness of this. From Monday 3rd - Saturday 8th December this year, they'll be performing Outside Edge, a hilarious comedy about two cricket teams competing against all odds, and making a success of themselves, or so they think! |
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