Rococo Edwardian Theatre, England

This brightly-coloured Rococo Edwardian Theatre was built during the Edwardian era, during the early years of the 20th Century. The exterior is very unassuming, almost industrial in appearance. This dull facade hides a golden relic of a bygone age of stage performances and musical productions, which spanned over half a decade.

Brief History

The theatre originally hosted melodramatic performances in this 3000 seat venue. As the years marched on and entertainment trends changed, comedy shows and cabaret performances drew in a new generation of patrons. There were also rock and roll music shows, with stars coming here from all over the world to play in front of a packed house. There are said to be underground tunnels leading to a nearby pub and perhaps even other city center locations, so performers could enter and exit without fighting through the crowds.

The theatre operated until the late 1960s. Like many theatres, it then served as bingo hall and casino as the golden age of theatre began to fade. In the final years before closure, it was a short-lived nightclub and snooker hall, before the doors closed in the late 1980s.

It was bought by a church group in the 1990s, who held church services in the foyer for years. Most recently, the theatre was occupied by a group of squatters. They were evicted by the government after several months, and currently, the building is locked up once more.

Theatrical Rococo Decor

The decor is highly ornamental Rococo, or Late Baroque, in style. The exuberant golden gilded stucco plasterwork depicts floral-inspired curves and scroll elements. Inset into these floral curves and scrolls sit grotesques; theatrivcally exaggerated representations of faces or masks with stylised features. Clam shells are also seen around the base of the circle balcony.

The proscenium arch frames the stage area, decorated with more gilded floral patterns and groteques. Fluted Ionic columns flank the sides of the arch. Above these two columns would have been a matched pair of golden lions. Only the left lion remains, the other appears to have fallen or been removed. Above the center of the stage is a decorative ornamental tablet (a cartouche). Either side of the cartouche are putti; naked cherub figures, gilded in gold like much of the other arch decoration.