Friends of Peterhouse Theatre
About the venue
The Friends of Peterhouse theatre was originally a University Museum of Classical Archaeology; situated at the rear of the college, it was fully refurbished in 2005 and is used for concerts, theatre, film showings, and conferences. It has a distinctive curved auditorium, with a raised stage (no proscenium arch), a gallery, and a small projection room/technical control room.
Rehearsals
Normally, the theatre is only available for rehearsals in the immediate run-up to a play being performed there; bookings should be made via the Heywood Society ([
www.srcf.ucam.org/heywood]), Peterhouse's theatre society, who are resident there. Various conditions are imposed on its use by the College, and the Heywood Society have to ensure these are met. There is not normally a piano in the theatre: in the past, arrangements have been made for one to be moved inside temporarily, at cost.
Technical information
For pictures and up-to-date technical information, please visit the Peterhouse Conferences webpage at [
www.peterhouse-conferences.com].
The auditorium seats 180; it is air-conditioned and there is an adjacent room which may be used for, e.g., food and drink during an interval. The stage is disproportionately wide (for it's depth), and there is no permanent proscenium arch. There is no real wingspace, though currently (2007) black borders can be erected to provide temporary wings. There are two stage entrances, both stage-left; one on the rear wall (to a single dressing room with toilets and
makeup mirrors) and one on the SL wall (to the public entrance corridor). There is no get-around, though a white cyclorama may also be put up, leaving just enough space for unhurried passage from SL to SR. The College authorities insist on the wooden stage floor being protected somehow for theatrical productions. Currently, a rubber matting exists to do this, though other solutions are possible. Further information regarding the space can be found by contacting the Heywood Society.
Lighting
The theatre is equipped with a new (2007) 12/24-channel Strand 200 series
lighting control desk. In addition to A/B preset mode, the desk can store and
recall up to 99 states, and also allows programming of chase/effect sequences. There are four Strand dimmer packs providing 24 channels of dimming.
The theatre has very minimal
lighting stock as it is most frequently used for simple conferences. There are two Strand 19/32 Cadenza profiles permanently mounted in the roof void (with space for 2 more lanterns if required, though this position is very high above stage). There are four 1kW fresnels mounted at the sides of the gallery, which serve as the only practical frontlight rigging positions in the auditorium. Up to 8 lanterns may be controlled from these positions but they are very hard to access. A further 7 or 8 fresnels are mounted on two (manual) winch-controlled bars above the stage; these light the stage well but are too directly above for effective front or backlight. Winching is a lengthy process and these lights can only be "focussed" at working height, leading to some necessary guesswork. Ladders are not permitted due to safety regulations. When the temporary black tabs are in use (on two further winch bars, surrounding the
lighting bars), the motion of these
lighting bars is somewhat restricted.
Extra rigging positions do exist at the very rear of the gallery, but at such an angle and distance that only the rear of the stage can be lit, and only then by small lanterns with little "overhang" behind their yoke. In general, the provided rig is best left alone, with gels being added to vary the texture and feel of the
lighting.
Sound
A simple surround-
sound system exists in the theatre, due to it's dual function as theatre and cinema. The
sound from these is, however, somewhat poor, though the natural acoustic of the room is fine for unamplified concerts and speakers. Sound is controlled from a simple 12-channel desk with a talkback loop; a speaker is mounted in the projection room for the benefit of operators, as with the door shut, very little is audible from outside the room. A permanent rifle mic provides basic amplification for the control room speaker. There are stage dips for microphones and line inputs, primarily for use in conferences. CD and minidisc playback is possible, and there are a range of wired and wireless mics available if required. In general, this venue is much better for unamplified than amplified productions, however.
Last edited Thu 14th Feb by Stuart Cuthbertson
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