Truck changes gear
A look behind the scenes at the new home of Hull Truck Theatre
There are twice as many ladies' loos, and you can still take your drinks in to the performances.
These are the facts most people want to know about the new Hull Truck Theatre, says chair of its enterprises board Geoff Sargieson.
"The question of seating also tops the list," he says.
"Because as well as the quality of what's on stage, the quality of where you put your bum to watch it is also important."
With that in mind, it might not come as a shock that the 440 seats in the main auditorium cost £307,000 – that's almost £700 each.
They're well-padded, wider than usual and have more leg room than in the old theatre on Spring Street (enough, in fact, for creative director John Godber, an ex-rugby player who stands over 6ft tall, to sit in comfort).
The seats are exactly the same as those in the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
"If they're good enough for Covent Garden, they're good enough for Hull," says Geoff.
Keeping the intimacy
Hull Truck's creative director John Godber with youth theatre members in the theatre's education suite |
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So we're sitting comfortably, we've been to the loo and we've got a drink. Now what about the quality of the action on stage?
Will there be more of the same award-winning plays serving the local community, but at the same time creating a national reputation?
"Just because we're changing one thing it doesn't mean we should completely reshuffle the cards," says John Godber.
"I think essentially the company's core driver should remain the same – plays that have a resonance and meaning to this part of the world."
That's plays like Up 'n' Under, about an inept male rugby league team coached to success by a woman, which won the Laurence Olivier Comedy of the Year Award.
And Bouncers, about a night out at a northern nightclub, which was ranked as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century in a National Theatre poll.
Plays like these have toured all over the world, but they began life at Spring Street where they were performed with a much-loved intimacy between audience and actors.
That's something else which hasn't changed.
"The old theatre was like being in your living room with the actors almost on top of you, and we've tried to keep that," says Darren Bruce, of Wright and Wright Architects.
In with the new
What is new, however, is the a 130-seat studio theatre which, in addition to plays, can also be used for live music, acoustic sessions, stand-up comedy, cinema, line-dancing and even keep fit sessions.
There's an all-day café-bar, and car parking at St. Stephen's is free after 6pm (access is via Portland Place).
Gone are the days of performing under Spring Street theatre's leaking roof (which was allegedly held up with gaffer tape).
The new building is a robust brick, wood and steel structure, designed to reflect Hull's status as a working industrial city.
But it's a welcoming place too.
One of its interesting features is that the pavement from the street outside continues into the foyer.
At the steering wheel
Still, John Godber admits feeling shell-shocked when he first walked into the place.
"It was like getting inside a North Sea ferry and thinking, how do you steer this?" John celebrates his 25th anniversary with Hull Truck this year.
During that time, the former drama teacher has taken his tally of plays to 54, and become the third most performed playwright in the country, behind William Shakespeare and Alan Ayckbourn.
And he says there are more plays in the tank – and even, possibly, one about moving into the new building.
"Whether or not anyone would want to see it, and whether you could condense eight years of purgatory into 97 minutes is a different story."
Keep on trucking
The touring theatre company got its name because – quite simply – it operated from the back of a truck.
Created in 1971, early rehearsals took place around a paraffin stove in a cold, damp, rented house in Coltman Street.
Needless to say the truck has travelled a long way in 38 years.
The new £15 million building has a dedicated rehearsal room on the upper floor.
It's the same size as the stage itself, and links to one of four roof-top terraces where actors, theatre staff and guests can enjoy 'moments of oasis.'
And you might still see a truck – reversing up to a large door which opens up directly onto the back of the main stage so that sets can be unloaded.
"I think this move is as significant for this company as the move from Boothferry Park to the KC Stadium was for Hull City," says artistic director Gareth Tudor Price.
"We have always felt ourselves to be a premier league theatre company, but now we'll have the premier league facilities to match that."
The theatre also prides itself on its education suite for young actors and on its green design, which uses natural ventilation, groundwater cooling, and lower energy light fittings for the main house and lighting systems.
Special relationships
The major funders of the project are the Arts Council for England, Hull City Council, Yorkshire Forward, the European Regional Development Fund, Yorkshire Forward and ING.
"The special relationships with local audiences will be strengthened in this fantastic new home," said Cllr Kalvin Neal, portfolio holder for quality of life at Hull City Council.
"The new facilities will cater for new and emerging talent and enable us all to see a much wider range of drama, music and performance than has previously been possible."
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