NATIONAL THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 13 October 1938, Page 5

NATIONAL THEATRE

PROVISIONAL PLANS READY IN LONDON. ABOUT £lOO,OOO NEEDED. Provisional plans for the National Theatre on the island site at South Kensington, London, will be submitted to the executive of the National Theatre Committee this month by Sir Edwin Lutyens and Mr Cecil Masey. Before the plans are adopted they will be submitted to famous actors, stage managers, producers and other technical advisers’ for criticism. The architecture will he plain Eng-

lish traditional style, to avoid a violent contrast with the museum buildings across the road. No decision has been taken on the choice of material. Concrete, with a stone facing, is likely. Specifications provide for:, A theatre to seat 1100, with one circle and large gallary accommodation. The largest revolving or rolling stage in London. Air conditioning. Roof gymnasium; reading and recreation rooms for actors. Subway to South Kensington station and the subway under Exhibition Road.

The auditorium will be small in comparison with the stage, which will be big enough for spectacles, although it can be used for “intimate” plays. The designers find it impossible to get an intimate atmosphere with a large auditorium.

Admission will range from a shilling to half-a-guinea. It is hoped to have special cheap performances for schools and other educational bodies. There are two garages near the site and it is hoped that the borough council and Ministry of Transport will sanction parking in Exhibition Road.

About £lOO,OOO is still needed. Thirty-five boroughs in and around London have agreed to collect £lOO each to endow a seat in the name of its district or memory of a famous playwright or actor. Similar appeals are to be launched in provincial towns.