Theatre News

Summer Restoration Works 2007

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• Campbell Smith and Co Ltd will be carrying out the redecoration of the ornamental plasterwork, once Hayles and Howe have repaired it, and once Fagans have done the technical work. Robert Cousins and his team of specialist decorators are from Fleet in Hampshire, and once again we are delighted to be working with a local firm. Robert and his decorators will be painting the plasterwork as detailed by the decorative scheme developed by the theatre's Architect, Mr Tim Ronalds, and Decor Consultant, Mr John Hinton. This has been a long process to find the right scheme for this much loved local landmark, so a very careful scheme has been developed that takes what everyone has loved for generations and makes it better. Therefore, the auditorium will not look radically different than it does today, but it will be much enhanced, and retain the atmosphere and friendliness that has endeared it to everyone who sees a show there. The most noticeable change will be the treatment of the non-ornamental side and rear walls of the auditorium on each level, which will have the "delightful" "Taj Mahal" red flock wallpaper removed to reveal the original glazed tiles at stalls and gallery level. The plain plastered areas on the sides and rear will be painted a dark red, called "Volcanic Slash". This is all being done to darken down these non-ornamental areas, so that attention will be concentrated on the ornamental plasterwork itself. You can have a look at the first part of this already, as the right hand side wall of the gallery has already been done in this new scheme, and looks lovely. Many Thanks to the volunteers who have done this first part of this work, and we hope that some volunteer working parties over the summer will continue this task of removing the wallpaper.
• A special thanks to Ms Kelly Hickman from the University of Portsmouth Fine Arts Course who has been spending many hours redecorating the dress circle box front on the left hand side of the auditorium. As part of her final year project, she has been working with John Hinton to develop the right decor scheme for the Kings, and the results of her excellent work can be seen on the box front. We would also like to thank Kelly's tutor, Mr Nigel Mussell, who has helped both Kelly and the theatre with technical advice on paint finishes. I am delighted to report that Kelly has been awarded a first class honours degree, a true reflection of her talent and skill.
• In the meantime, while all this work is going on, the stage itself has been converted into a "Black Box" Studio Theatre, which has been called "Stage 2". Seating about 120, it will have a packed programme of a wide variety of smaller scale shows that ordinarily would not be able to play at the Kings in the "main house". It runs from 25 June to 4 August. This is a very exciting venture for the Kings, and will be a very different way of using the stage itself for both performers and audience.
• So that's the main programme of works going on in the auditorium, and it will be complete when the last contractor leaves on Friday 14 September, so we can put everything back in place and get the theatre ready for the Centenary Birthday Gala Concert on Sunday 30 September, and then on into the exciting Centenary Autumn Season.

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