Monday, 27 January 2014

The Smallest Theatre


I regret there not being a proper art space in town for happenings to happen in. There's museums with a bit of room in them, a council hall for fusty exhibitions and stilted sculpture, and some commercial art shops selling overpriced oily things. Aside from school assemblies about overworked pit ponies, that's it.

Our proper theatre has nothing but tribute acts and has been-ers paying off a tax bill, and gigs are of the pub standard only, I'm afraid.

Myself, I like open spaces. But I also like small spaces, and in this town there are many – the old museum, caveish spaces in the indoor market, the tunnels under the town, endless pub upstairs rooms, side rooms, underrooms, overrooms..

Many places for people to think in are needed too, but a performance space is a must. I imagine having a theatre the size of a large living room, accommodating only the elite, with a small stage, a deranged MC in the Joel Grey crossed with evil Victorian scientist mold – oh how I wish this could be me – and small scale theatre, comedy, dance and burlesque acts.

The atmosphere would be elegantly depraved, on a compulsory level, and no low class kinksters shall be allowed. A door policy will be maintained, probably involving would be guests being able to quote from Kubrick or Cronenberg. No tracksuit bottoms, and anyone wearing Henri Lloyd within a thousand yards will be chased after by one eyed psychic bouncer, and killed.

Tolouse Lautrec will be raised from the dead to do the interior decor and publicity posters, and the official club anthem will be Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, as used in Zardoz. The bar will sell no lager, and anyone without an enjoyment of fine spirits will be ejected through the roof. There might be the odd event that will attract protests from the religious or the censorious – we will ignore all of them bar one, a random festive occasion in which all club members shall lynch our oh so moral enemies upon burning pentagrams.

But I don't want things to be too gothic, for I want the atmosphere to be welcoming to those who aren't adored to the nth degree. No nu-metal. No emo. But let's keep rules affecting the club members to a minimum shall we? And make those affecting the great unwashed who affect us positively DRACONIAN!

Copyright Bloody Mulberry 27.01.14

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