Royal Exchange Theatre, St Anns Square - Assignment Example

Royal Exchange Theatre, St Ann’s Square Introduction The Royal Exchange theatre carries forward the tradition of theatres in England. The theatre is situated in Manchester and is one of the major attractions of the city. The theatre houses different plays for the people of Manchester. The idea of the theatre maws conceived by a group of people include Casper Wrede, Richard Negri, Braham Murray, James Maxwell and Michael Elliott in 1968. The group of the people was involved in the theatre movements in the 1960s and their association with the theatre put the theatre into the cultural map of the country. The Royal Exchange theatre in addition to the cultural epitome of the city also attracted the people for its grandeur and the artistic splendor. The place where the Royal Exchange is housed is one of the most visited places in Manchester and is dotted with shopping centers and malls. Therefore, it gives the people every chance of entertainment and the people are too happy to take the chance. The architectural beauty of the theatre has been revered by all sectors of the society and it holds a place of pride for the people of the society. (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, n.d.; Background information, n.d.; Welcome, n.d.) Architecture The Royal theatre of Manchester was made in 1968. The theatre was constructed in a house, which was the place for the cotton trading of the world. The hall of the house was one of the largest places of trading in the world. The largeness of the hall raised the interests of the group of men and they conceived the idea of the theatre. The Theatre was damaged considerably in the bombing of the Manchester City Center in 1996. However, the management of the theatre was quick to reciprocate and the theatre came into being in a completely new shape and style. The new theatre had malls and eating centers attached to the theatre. This gave the people more reasons to visit the theatre. The theatre had become one of the favorite pastimes of the people in Manchester. The modern day theatre consists of three parts - the theatre, the studio and the corporate lounge. The theatre is where the performances or the theatres take place. The studio is the place where the performances of the small groups or the visiting theatre companies take place. The companies and the organizations for their private functions take the corporate lounge. Therefore, the theatre has encompassed itself in all types of activities. The theatre has become an absolute package for entertainment purposes. The theatre cater to the different sectors of the society-the common man, art lover and the corporates. The new management has been able to make the theatre according to the needs of the modern day society. The architecture of the theatre has been revered around the world. The theatre has been awarded for its architecture. The main part or the theatre is a seven sided structure covered by glass walls on all sides. The theatre is round in structure and is surrounded by the spectators all round. The seats are present in the top and the spectators can watch the performance from the top as well. There are four pillars, which support the structure and the seating arrangements of the top. The pillars also support the dome of the stage. The theatre is the largest one in the whole of England and it houses 700 spectators at a time. The floor of the theatre houses 400 seats in two rows. The above seats are two storied and each storey comprises of 150seats. The seats of the theatre are racked structure so that all the spectators get a good visibility of the performance. The architecture of the hall is so constructed that the floor takes the weight of the stage and the ground level seats. The lighting of the theatre is constant from all the angles and this makes the performance a visual delight for the spectators. The seats of the hall are based on two divisions and there is a gap between clusters of the seats. The comfort factor of the spectators has been taken care of in the hall. The secondary part of the theatre is the studio, which houses the small theatres and the plays from the visiting groups. The studio is much lesser in size than the main part of the theatre. The studio has the unique feature of the sliding walls, which can increase the space of the structure. The enlarged structure can house the technical area of the performance and the foyer. The space gets increased and it adds to the experience of the performance. The studio has the facility of the bar, which adds on to the experience of the audience. The studio has been popular among the audience for the small plays and it has added on to the facilities of the theatre. The theatre gives the chance to young artists to perform in the studio and it has been useful in the development of the art in the modern society. Another facility, which has been added on, is the lounge facility for the corporate and the business meetings. This is a private space and the theatre gives the corporate and the business houses the chance to use the facility. The lounge is one of the marvels of the modern day architecture and has been able to attract the corporate and the business world. The lounge is stylish and underlines a sense of intimacy. The sweeping staircase leads to the boardroom, which was the boardroom of the old cotton exchange. The furniture of the boardroom is oak paneled and this gives a sense of old world charm to the room. The lounge has a private bar, which can be used by the corporate and the businesspersons. There is a reception at the entrance of the lounge and this facility has been helpful for the people using the lounge facility. The boardroom has an oval shaped table, which helps in the interaction of the members of the corporate. The location of the lounge is unparalleled as it overlooks the St. Anne’s square on the outside. Inside the hall it overlooks the main performance area of the theatre. Therefore, it consists of two striking features at the same time- the glass walled structure of the theatre and the grandeur of the St. Anne’s Square. The lounge can be accessed from the outside of the main building with the help of a lift. The lounge has the facility of the toilet that helps the corporate and the business personnel. The structure and the shape of the lounge and the privacy attached to it have attracted a large number of corporate and the businesspersons of the country. The corporate and the businesspersons use the facility for private meetings and lunch. The facility has been popular among the businesspersons of the country for the facilities and the grandeur attached to it. The architecture of the place has followed some rules of the architecture and the place is charged with some inner meanings. The theatre, studio, and the lounge have some facilities that are the best in the country and the construction of the facilities has followed some of the most amazing structures and shapes of the architecture that can be interpreted the other way round. (Royal Exchange Theatre, n.d.; Negri, n.d.) Structures of architecture The architecture of the Royal Theatre in Manchester is a marvel in itself. The place holds an aura and intimacy that is popular with the audience. The stage of the theatre has a dome shaped structure, which is held by the pillars. The small stage is encompassed in all the sides and the top by the seats of the audience and the audience can be close to the performance. The audience relates to the performance well and therefore, the theatre has been popular with the audience. The seats of the audience are racked and this follows a geometrical pattern. The geometrical pattern of the seats follows the form of the bottomless pit where the seats in front are a little ahead of the back seats. The front seats are a little lower than that of the back seats. In other words, the back seats are a little raised. As a result the people sitting in the back can view the stage without being disturbed by the front seats. The visibility from each seat within the house is clear. The same is true for the seats in the upper portion of the hall. The upper seats are in two racks and the structure is the same as that of the floor seats. In the case of the upper seats, the back seats are much raised in a platform as the stage of the performance lies beneath the visibility area. The visibility of the stage is not blocked as the seats are raised and the front seats are below. As a result, the visibility of the stage is clear from every seat in the house. The sitting arrangement of the hall follows the basic form of the grotesque geometry where in the bottomless pit the front portion of the structure are elongated so that a person cannot see the bottom of the pit from the top by leaning aside. The effect in the hall is the same as the people in the topmost part or at the back can see the stager directly and cannot see the bottom. (Grotesque Geometry III. n.d) Sitting Arrangements Another marvel of the architecture in the theatre is the stairways of the theatre. It is the sweeping staircase at the entrance of the theatre and the staircase is another form of geometrical architecture. For the individual staircases in the case of the sweeping structure, the measurement becomes important. The size of each staircase is different and the shape changes at the juncture of the curve. The suspension of the stages by the pillars gives the theatre a structure of a building within another building and the people as the “Lunar Module” named the structure. (English Buildings, 13th November, 2007; Shyat, 1994) The theatre module is housed within the main building, which reminds the people of the Victorian era of the architecture. The building has features of clearly defined corners with domes in the outside that was the prevalent feature of the Victorian era. This reminds the people of the older culture of the place. The studio module of the theatre has the feature of the sliding doors, which increased the area and the space of the studio. The space of the studio increases and this is done with the help of the sliding doors. The increase of the spaces follows a geometrical theory and the sliding doors are one of the main components of the geometrical architecture. The stage of the main theatre module is round in structure and the seats are situated close to the stage that enables the audience to watch the performance closely. The hall itself is a seven-shaped structure and thus it follows the traditional principle of the architecture of defined corners. The sound system of the performance develops with the construction of the corners. As the stage is small and round it can be viewed uniformly from all sides of the stage and from the upper seats. At the entrance of the main theatre module, there are elevator staircases, which helps in the transportation of the audience. The domes within the theatre are beneficial for the lighting of the stage and natural lighting descends on the stage. This adds on to the experience of the performance. The glass shaped domes helps this. The inside hall is reminder of the bygone era and the older pillars are a stark contrast to the newer suspension pillars which holds up the dome and the upper seats. The lounge is one of the intimate areas in the theatre. The lounge is so designed to underline intimacy and grandeur at the same time. Sweeping staircases from outside which helps in underlying the fact that the lounge is a private space connects the lounge. The furniture of the boardroom underlines the charm of the old world and reminds the users of the grandeur of the cotton commercial center here. The boardroom was used for the trade and the commerce and the table is oval shaped which allows meeting to take place. The participants in the meeting can interact with the other participants freely. The location of the lounge is strategically done and it overlooks the square on the outside and the theatre module on the inside. Therefore, the corporate or the organizations that use the lounge remember the trade and commerce of the place and the development of the new generation culture. Flow Chart Plan of the Royal Theatre Conclusions The Royal Theatre in Manchester is one of the biggest and the most developed theatres around the world. The theatre holds the largest audience at a time and the visibility of all the audience in every corner of the room is unparalleled. This has been made possible with the help of the use of the geometrical architecture. The Theatre holds the older and the newer charms and is a confluence of the older and the newer architecture. The styles are contrasting but it adds to the charm of the place. The lounge and the studio are the marvels of architecture and are examples of the geometrical architecture. The theatre has been able to successfully state the older and the newer generation of the architecture at the same place. The use of the geometrical architecture has been important in this regard. References: 1. Royal Exchange Theatre. (n.d.). Available at: http://www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk/page.aspx?page=463 (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) 2. Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. (n.d.) Maps of World.Com. Available at: http://www.mapsofworld.com/cities/uk/manchester/royal-exchange-theatre.html (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) 3. English Buildings. (13th November, 2007). Available at: http://englishbuildings.blogspot.com/2007/11/royal-exhcange-theatre-manchester.html (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) 4. Grotesque Geometry III. (n.d.). Available at: http://www.cromp.com/tess/home.html (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) 5. Shayt,D. (1994). Society for the history of technology. Jstor. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/pss/3106526 (Accessed on 17thy April, 2010) 6. Negri,R. (n.d.). Available at: http://www.richardnegri.co.uk/exchange.htm (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) 7. Background information. (n.d.). Available at: royalexchangetheatre.org.uk/.../Executive%20director%202010%20background%20info.doc (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) 8. Welcome. (n.d.). Royal Exchange Theatre. Available at: http://www.royalexchangetheatre.org.uk/page.aspx (Accessed on 17th April, 2010) Read More