So, what is an excellent birthday present for a theatre
obsessive? Maybe a backstage tour of one of her favourite venues? Well thanks
to my membership of the Lowry’s Friends scheme, my spotting of a twitter competition,
and some fortuitous scheduling on the Lowry’s part, that is exactly what I did
on my birthday this year, accompanied by my lovely pal Michelle.
I didn’t know what to expect from this event. I assumed we would
be given some kind of whistle stop tour of one of the stages and maybe a
dressing room, and then be released back into the night, and I would have gone
away happy. But what we got was so much more, a brilliant evening being shown
around all the stages and many backstage areas, with heaps of fascinating
information about the Lowry including the history of the spaces, the behind the
scenes life of a theatre, the technical complexities of the various types of
programming, the challenges faced in making the books balance whilst still
providing a unique mix of funded and non-funded work, and even a bit of theatre
superstition, all rounded off with a drink in the very lovely Quay Club bar,
which I’d always been very curious about, but never in the privileged position
to enter.
August is traditionally the time when many regional theatres
are ‘dark’. Whilst there may be no programming on, it’s a very busy time for
the technical team as its when all the spaces and equipment get serviced,
tested, and generally spruced up, and, having seen a small part of what’s
involved in this we were very lucky that Technical manager Dave and one of his
colleagues were able to take time out from their busy schedule to join us and
give us an insight into the hidden life of the theatre.
We started off in the Studio area, which began life as a
non-theatre space (which explains why every time I visit the studio these days
I get flashbacks to visiting a Cosgrove Hall exhibition there many moons ago).
It has now been cleverly adapted into three extremely flexible spaces, the main
Studio theatre and two other areas which are used for all kinds of things such
as rehearsals, performances and private events. The three separate areas can
even morph Transformer-like into one large room to host big events and functions.
The Studio is the venue that I visit most often these days at the Lowry, it has
an extremely varied and interesting mix of programming and I’ve seen some real
gems there over the last few years. It’s also incredible value for money, with
most tickets coming in under a tenner.
A ride in a service lift and a few labyrinthine corridors
later (I think new staff must be issued with balls of twine and homing devices
as standard), and we emerge underneath the Quays theatre. Now I’ve actually
been here once before, as part of the Crypt Project, but this time it’s filled
with banks of seats from the auditorium. I’ve only ever seen productions there
with the standard set up (Proscenium Arch), but the ground floor of the Quays
is completely flexible and can be converted to thrust stage, theatre in the
round, or no fixed seats (in fact, we did get a top tip that the Library
Theatre Company’s Christmas production of Arabian Nights would be using one of
these alternative configurations which I think should make for an even more
magical experience so get booking!).
Underneath the floor of the Quays is a very clever lift
system that collapses into itself, allowing the seating banks to be removed,
and some of these seating banks are actually ‘hovercrafts’ allowing them to be manoeuvred
easily. Apparently all the seats can be removed and stored (as long as you do
them in the right order!) in around an hour and a half, which seemed amazing.
After having a quick look at the stage of the Quays we
exited the at the rear of the space into a large area that links the two main stages at the
Lowry, which has direct loading bay access, and from there walked on to the
huge stage of the Lyric Theatre. It’s quite an awe inspiring sight standing on
that stage and looking out at the vastness of the auditorium. However I was too
busy listening to the fascinating facts, stories and insights being imparted by
our tour guides (who seemed to have multiplied at this stage, but no one was
introduced so thank you all whoever you were!) to remember to take a picture.
All too soon it was time to move on to the next stop on our itinerary for those
who dared, an ascent of the fly tower. I was a little nervous at this juncture
as my brain tends to have an unpredictable reaction to heights, but actually as
we walked round the galleries that skirt the stage many feet up I felt
completely comfortable, and fascinated to see the arrangements that allow
backdrops, lights etc. to be moved in and out of the stage area. When we
reached the very top of the tower however, where the floor is made up of a grid
of bars through which you could see the huge drop down to stage level, I did
find myself holding tightly to a girder for reassurance. Again sadly no photos,
mainly as I knew if I dropped my phone it would not have stood a chance of
surviving and might have taken someone out on the way down!
As we headed off to join the rest of our party in the Quays
bar, we had a couple more stop offs, once in what my non-technical mind can
only describe as the biggest fuse box you ever saw, and once to get a closer
look at some of the lighting suspended above the auditorium. If you ever visit
the Lyric Theatre at the Lowry, look upwards towards the ceiling from your
seat, you may be able to glance a wire grid – apparently this is quite suitable
for being walked on, but I have to say I’m not in a rush to test out that
theory!
The Lowry team really put a lot into this insight into their
work, and although the tour was around two hours long, I left wishing it could
have been longer because it was so enjoyable and enlightening. I had learnt
loads about the inner workings of the theatres, and it has made me appreciate
all the more how lucky we are to have such an amazing arts centre and such
dedicated staff on our doorstep. Thank you Lowry for an utterly brilliant
birthday treat.
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