Theatres and Halls in Guildford

Above - The Borough Hall in North Street, Guildford - From a postcard circa 1920.

 

"Of Cabbages and Kings" an article by Alan Chudley The time has come, the walrus said, To talk of many things, Of shoes, of Ships, of sealing wax, Of cabbages and Kings. Thus wrote Lewis Carroll, whose sisters lived in the shadow of Guildford Castle which once housed the Plantagenet Kings and Queens of England, it is in this house that Lewis Carroll died and is buried in Guildford's Mount Cemetery. This happy little rhyme would aptly describe the theatrical activity in Guildford before the coming of the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in May 1965. Within a stones throw of Guildford Castle is Market Street, at the bottom of which is North Street, it is this area which was the centre of theatrical activity, in Guildford until 1963. The Victorian vegetable market was in Market street on a site now covered by the retail shops; Free Spirit and The House of Frazer and it was here the Georgian Guildford Theatre was situated. This opened in 1804 and was until 1828 part of Richard Thornton's circuit of country playhouses. This building was demolished circa 1889.

Mentioned on this page are the following places of entertainment in Guildford: Borough Hall of Varieties / Guildford Theatre Borough Theatre The Borough and County Halls Central Hall Picture Palace Constitutional Hall Georgian Guildford Theatre Guildford Hippodrome Guildford ( Repertory) Theatre / Guildford Theatre The Amersham Repertory Company at the Guildford Theatre (1) The Amersham Repertory Company at the Guildford Theatre (2) Guildford Cinema The Mobile Century theatre The Plaza Picture Playhouse The Theatre Royal, Guildford Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (1) Yvonne Arnaud Theatre (2)

 

The Theatre Royal, Guilford

Above - The Theatre Royal, Guildford. - The bill for the week of July 28th 1913 was; "The Lorch Family," there were 10 of them and they took the entire second half of the programme, They were a "Risley Act", that is a balancing act , mainly on each others shoulders, so named after Professor Risley and his two sons who performed this type of Act at Drury Lane Theatre in 1846. The males member of the family can be seen in Straw Hats. Geo Barton Impressions of Coon Characters, The Vocal Duo, Mabel Costello Prince of the Principle Boys, Lily Wynville Charater Comedienne, Will Brocton Vocal Comedian, The Bioscope Time permitting, The Borough Hall was to the right of the picture, and Leapale Road is to the left, the doors seen there were the Pit & Gallery entrances and exits, these and the North Street front of the Theatre Royal and Borough Hall, were later covered with an elaborate Iron and Glass Canopy. - From an old press cutting from the local newspaper files of the Guildford Library, and now in the Surrey Local History collection at Woking. - Courtesy Alan Chudley

The Theatre Royal seated 1,055 in Stalls, Pit, Dress Circle, with two boxes at the rear of the Dress Circle, and a benched Gallery above. The Theatre Royal was a long and narrow building with plain side walls. The stage had a proscenium opening 31 feet wide, the Stage depth was 30 feet, and the stage was 55 feet wall to wall, the shallow fly tower was 39 feet high; the same height as the Yvonne Arnuad Theatre, and there were 8 dressing rooms, which although not ideal, were a lot better then the dressing rooms found in other theatres of this ilk. There was said to be 200 lights of between 30 and 50 candlepower each, these were the footlights, and three overhead battens of three colour circuits each; usually Red, Blue and open white. There were 60 watt lamps at 6 inch centres dipped in Red and Blue lacquer, hence 30 candle power for the colours and 50 candle power for the open white circuit. This and a carbon arc follow spotlight on a perch each side of the stage, just inside the proscenium wall, were the sum total of the Theatre Royal's stage lighting,. Also in the prompt side perch ( actors left) was the stage switchboard and under this perch was the stage manager's corner. The perches were masked by a scenic device known as a Tormentor which was a painted flat with an entrance for artistes at stage level and an aperture for the spotlights at perch level, and were set at 90 degrees to the proscenium wall.

Above - The Auditorium of the Theatre Royal, Guildford, from an old press cutting from the local newspaper files of the Guildford Library, and now in the Surrey Local History collection at Woking. - Courtesy Alan Chudley

Here I pause for a moment because I am often asked; "Why are they called tormentors", I do not know the answer. The term Tormentors can lead to confusion. Some years ago, a new pair of Tormentors were required by the East Ham Palace theatre, and were made in the scenic dock of the Chelsea Palace theatre. When the carpenter had built these, he arranged for them to be transported to East Ham and telephoned the East Ham Palace to request that staff be available at 10.30 the next morning to receive the said Tormentors. On arrival at East Ham the carpenter was amazed to find the theatre ship shape and Bristol fashion - unusual for the East Ham Palace -and the staff in their Sunday best Togs; "A bloody fine time to bring those," ranted the stage manager; "We are expecting the VTC ( Variety Consolidated Theatres) directors at any moment. What had happened is that the girl in the box office had taken the telephone call about the arrival of the Tormentors and informed the staff that the theatre's directors were coming to inspect the theatre at 10.30 the next morning. The Theatre Royal's stalls bar was under the stage to which the artistes had access, however, the preferred house of call was the Carpenters Arms opposite the stage door in Leapale Road where many of the Theatrical Digs were. Very few artistes could afford to stay in hotels in those days.

Above - Plan of the Theatre Royal Guildford from the Surrey Local History files at Goldsworth Road Woking, Surrey. - Courtesy Alan Chudley.

And so came the long awaited opening night on 9th December 1912. The opening show was; "The Girl in the Train", it was this musical that was to make the composer Leo Fall a household name in Great Britain. Originally produced in Germany as; "Die Geschiedene Frau" this gay little romp in the divorce courts opened in London at the Vaudeville Theatre in June 1910 and ran for 340 performances. It concerned a wife hell bent on getting a divorce from her husband whom she accused of high Jinks with an Amorous, Glamorous, no better then she should be actress in a railway carriage. In true musical comedy tradition all comes well in the end, it was a question of mistaken identity, of course; the divorcé court judge and the actress become an item, husband and wife reunite in each others arms and live happy ever after. Before the curtain went up on the first performance, James Baker the managing director of the Theatre Royal called upon the Mayor of Guildford, councilor W.T. Patrick JP. to open the Theatre Royal; "For far too long it has been a case of to be or not to be", quoth his worship the mayor who declared the Theatre Royal well and truly opened. It is not unusual to hear the most unliterary councilors quoting The Bard on such occasions and no doubt the Bard was also quoted at the New Theatre Northampton which opened on the same night with a Variety show, the highlight of which, according to the local rag was Smaragda's performing cats, an act which was to work the Theatre Royal in June 1913, and maybe the Bard was quoted or mis-quoted as is often the case, at the Bristol Hippodrome which opened the following week. Thus up went "The Rag" at the Theatre Royal on almost 20 years of theatrical entertainment.

Above - Plan of the Theatre Royal Guildford from the Surrey Local History files at Goldsworth Road Woking, Surrey. - Courtesy Alan Chudley.

The Theatre Royal presented what Laurier Lister the first director of the Guildford Yvonne Arnuad Theatre was later to refer to as Total Theatre. All types of shows were presented, Variety Bills, Revues, Plays, Musical Comedy, opera presented by the local operatic Society, and in the early days a few films. To list all these shows would be a boring catalogue of names unknown to the modern theatre goer. In any case how can you compare Lockhart's Elephants (there were four of them, Salt, Mustard, Vinegar and Spicy,) with Sir Frank Benson's famous Shakespearian players; the musical comedies such as "No No Nanette or "Mercenary Mary" with the 'tat' twice nightly touring revues such as, "Ting a Ling" or "High Words", or the former organist of St Mary Cathedral Glasgow, G.R. Pattman FRCO who came with a massive organ weighing 9 tons and was capable of many special effects, with Budger Bann, the cowboy banjoist in ragtime, who came with the first pantomime "Aladdin." Also in this pantomime was the famous dancer and choreographer, Espinosa, it was this man who will go down in the annuals of theatrical history as the recipient of the famous telegram. Espinosa, engaged to work one of Stoll's suburban Empires was irked to find that he was last on the bill, he complained to the local stage manager who dared not change Oswald's Stoll's running order, so a telegram was sent to Oswald A Stoll; "Mr Stoll would you kindly change my position on the bill at the Shepard's Bush Empire, I am last on the bill, I live 18 miles from your theatre and need to get home after the show, How can I do it ?", back came the reply; "MOVE," Oswald Stoll.

Right - Front cover of a Theatre Royal Programme of 1928, the show was a revue, "Ting-a-Ling" with Leon Dodd as the principle comedian. - Courtesy Alan Chudley.

It caused quite a stir during the week of 17th March when Captain De Villers arrived with his Radio Airship which flew out over the auditorium, the airship stopped made a loud whirling noise, opened doors under the airship and bombed the audience with sixpenny postal orders; "What if this was an enemy airship and the postal orders were bombs, what then?" said Captain De Villers, all to soon the public were to learn the answer to that. It also caused quite a stir in January 1930 when the play; "Young Woodley" was presented, this play with mild sexual overtones concerned a young boy, 'Got at' by a woman old enough to be his mother, small beer by today's standards but at the time enough to arouse the damnation of the Clergy which had the effect of packing the theatre to the rafters that week. Ever a problem to predict what the public would pay to see, there were bad weeks such as when the musical; "Katinka" played to a mere £66 for the week, and the Visit of Fred Ropers Midgets which came a few weeks before the Theatre Royal closed, they played to capacity business.

Early in 1932 the Surrey County Council, as a licensing condition, demanded major structural alterations which the Baker family who owned the Theatre Royal, faced with opposition from the new fangled "Talkies"at the Picture Playhouse in the High Street and the Guildford Cinema just around the corner in Woodbridge Road, to say nothing of the "Bughouse" in Onslow Street, could not afford to carry out. The last professional show, on the week of June 6th 1932, was the Cabaret Revue; "All British" with the Arolf Jazz Band and Tommy Walker. Two weeks later came the very last production by the amateur Cockyolly Company in; "Alice", by request of his worship the Mayor of Guildford to celebrate the Centenary of Lewis Carroll. This was a great success and on the last night, June 25th 1932, the Mayor of Guildford, Alderman William Harvey made a passionate speech which ended by saying; "It has been said that tonight is the last time that this theatre will open its doors to the public, I tell you now, Perish that thought". Needless to say the Theatre never played to another paying audience again. The entire Borough and County Halls complex was sold to the Guildford Cooperative Society who used the foyer as a greengrocers shop where cabbages were sold and the under stage was used by the Co-op undertaker. Before world war two, for a few years the stalls was used as a Christmas Bazaar, and I recall as a child going up on the stage sliding down a chute to receive a gift from father Christmas at the bottom, I also recall fishing for presents in the Orchestra pit. During the mid 1950's the Theatre was converted into a shop known as Cooperative Corner. With the coming of the modern High Street National Shops the Guildford Cooperative Society failed. Argos occupies the site of the Theatre Royal and Mothercare is where the Borough Hall / Guildford Theatre once stood.

During the last war the cellars under the Theatre became an air raid shelter, but rarely used as such and a wood and sheet metal structure was used to enclose the Stalls and Pit from the rest of the auditorium, this was said to be an emergency warehouse, but drawings show that it was to be used as a makeshift morgue in the event of a serious air raid. In the late 1940s the Cooperative Society kindly allowed me to inspect the building, all seats had been removed, and the timber from the benched gallery used to raise the floor at the back of the Borough Hall, by then, the Guildford Theatre. On the stage which had largely been denuded during the war by the Canadian soldiers for their Garrison Theatre on Witley Common, the grid complete with pulleys but sans the hemp lines were still there as were the tie off cleats on the fly floors. The switch board was still in place, sans the dimmers, the spotlights were still on the perches but could not be arced up at this stage. The Tormentors and stage manager's corner were intact and it was still possible to work the number indicators on the proscenium arch from this corner. The safety Curtain had a doorway cut out of it but is was still possible to raise this from a winch on the OP fly floor and lower it in from the stage manager's corner. In a projection box between the two boxes at the rear of the Dress Circle the bioscope was still in place. There were pigeons nesting in the wash basins in the dressing rooms.

While rummaging around the backstage of the then defunct Theatre Royal Guildford in 1945, I found in one of the Dressing Rooms a canvass song sheet of Arthur Lloyd's song "Constantinople". This I was told by former Theatre Royal staff was used in a Pantomime, but I am not sure which. I was allowed to take the song sheet away, and this was again used at the Theatre Royal Aldershot in the 1943/ 1944 Pantomime; "Babes in the Woods."

Another story concerning the Theatre Royal was towards the end of World war one, a special performance was arranged for the servicemen in the area, Our Boys from the Queens regiment stationed at Stoughton Barracks were miffed at having to sit in the Gallery while our much beribboned cousins, Uncle Sam's soldiers from the USA, were in the best seats in the stalls. Forewarned about this, they gathered the waste from the North Street Vegetable market and when the Stars and Stripes were played at the end of the show Tommy pelted the Yanks with rotten vegetables.

Borough Hall of Varieties / Guildford Theatre

With the Surrey assizes moved to Kingston in the 1920s the Borough Hall was used as a multi purpose hall for stage shows and Music. The Singing and Dancing Licence was restricted to 60 performance each year with the rider that two performances of the same show on consecutive nights counted as double, hence twice nightly Variety presented for a week would have counted as 24 performances.

Right - Programme for the Borough Hall Of Varieties, Guildford - Courtesy Alan Chudley.

This seems to be dispensed with during the summer of 1942 when as part of the Holidays at Home scheme, the Borough Hall became the Borough Hall of Varieties presenting twice nightly Variety. This finished in the Autumn when the Borough Hall became the Borough Theatre for a few weeks when the Frank H Fortscue Repertory Company from the north of England presented a short season of plays. Frank H Fortscue was noted for plays with sexual overtones such as; "While Parents sleep" and; "No Orchids for Miss Blandish", but unlike; "Young Woodley" at the Theatre Royal over a decade earlier, these plays did not Pack 'em in to the rafters, and the venture failed after a few weeks. Apart from the odd play presented by the touring CEMA (Council for the Encouragement of Music and Arts) there was no theatrical activity at the Borough hall until when in May 1946 the Borough Hall became the Guildford (Repertory) Theatre. The Surrey County Council then withdraw the Music Singing and Dancing license and Guildford Theatre had to operate as a theatre club.

Left - Programme for the Borough Hall Of Varieties, Guildford - Courtesy Alan Chudley.

At first the plays were exchanged with the Amersham Playhouse's small theatre which was a former restaurant and had a very tiny stage (See below for more on this) (Guildford Theatre's stage was not much better) and 12 feet high flats were used throughout the life of the Guildford Theatre. This gave a fortnight's rehearsal for each play rather then the usual week. The very bad winter of 1947 finished the Amersham Playhouse and all but put paid to the Guildford Theatre who had to soldier on alone. However such was the high esteem in which Guildford Theatre was held, that the tide soon turned and they were able to present their plays for two weeks and subsequently for three weeks. In 1963 the Cooperative society gave notice to Guildford Theatre that in October of that year the Borough Hall would be required by them to extend Cooperative Corner, But it was not to be, in the early hours of 24th April Guildford Theatre. / Borough Hall was destroyed by a fire, which also gutted the roof of the former Theatre Royal. By then the new Yvonne Arnuad Theatre was under way. The Mobile Century theatre filled the gap for a while in the car park close to the Yvonne Arnuad Theatre which opened in a blaze of glory in May 1965, But that's another story for future historians.

Opposite the site of the Theatre Royal and Borough Hall in North Street, there is to this day on Fridays and Saturdays the town's open air market. Between the two wars close to where Alf and Percy sold their cabbages were two very colourful characters, the Garcia Brothers, they were respectively, The Chocolate King and The Banana King.

"Of cabbages and Kings " indeed.

The above article "Of Cabbages and Kings" was very kindly written for this site by Alan Chudley 2007. The images which accompany it are also Courtesy Alan Chudley who states that:

The images are from my own files. The Theatre plans came from the Surrey Local History files at Goldsworth Road Woking, Surrey. These were gifted to me by a friend whom I understand had permission to copy them. The programmes are from my own collection. The images of the Theatre Royal were from old press cuttings from the local newspaper files, then in Guildford Library, and now in the Surrey Local History collection at Woking. I have had these images for possibly over 50 years. The exterior of the Theatre has subsequently been published by The Surrey Advertiser, Stoke Bridges, Guildford in a book; "Images of Guildford" ISNB 1 85983 120 6. The Breedon Books Publishing Company Derby. Copyright Surrey Advertiser 1998, I have used this image several times, before the publication of this book without objection from the Surrey Advertiser.

 

 

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