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Articles
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Articles |
Theatre in Eastern England: Norfolk"Very flat, Norfolk," says one of Noel Coward's characters, and so it is. This is fen country par excellence: vast horizons, big skies - and very often freezing winds sweeping straight down from the Urals! The seaside town of Cromer still preserves one of the great British seaside entertainment traditions, which, although once common, has died out elsewhere, the end of the pier show. Its Pavilion Theatre, built in 1906 and rebuilt in 1953, a home for the seasonal variety show, is built out over the cold waters of the North Sea. It seats 447. Along the coast at Gorleston-on-Sea is the Gorleston Pavilion (300 seats) which presents a mixed programme. and in Great Yarmouth, of which Gorleston is essentially a part, there is the Britannia Theatre, a national touring house which also presents a summer season (from the end of June to mid-September). It has a capacity of 1200. At Hunstanton (on the Wash) there is the Princess Theatre (464 seats) and some 16 miles away is King's Lynn (also on the Wash) which has two venues presenting varied programmes. There is the King's Lynn Arts Centre, seating 349, and the Corn Exchange, which accepts mid-range tours, which seats 738. Sheringham - yet another seaside town - has its Little Theatre, an amateur venue which produces an eleven week summer season and is also available for hire. It seats 180. And in Westacre we find the River Studios. As its name suggests this is a studio venue, seating 100. The county town of Norfolk is Norwich. It has five theatrical venues and is the only place in Norfolk, which is not a seaside town, in which professional theatre can be found. The delightfully named Maddermarket is an amateur venue, the home of the Norwich Players, who present twelve plays a year. Seating 310, it also hosts the occasional professional production. The Norwich Arts Centre, with a performance space which seats 120, presents a wide range of shows of different kinds, whilst the Norwich Playhouse (310 seats) is purely a receiving house. The Theatre Royal is by far the largest venue in the city at 1314 seats, and is a national touring house. The last Norwich venue is a very unusual one, the Norwich Puppet Theatre, which actually has two auditoria: a main house seating 198 and a studio of 50 seats.
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