``Now is the winter of our discomfort made glorious summer by this ton of work.'' -- Richard III
Since we tore the roof off the Princess Street East building in November, the Studio just hasn't been the same, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, given the state the roof was in. That's all past history now, and the snows and rains of winter are all but forgotten. For those of you who haven't dropped by to have a peek, let me take you on a tour.
There's still a door at the top of the stairs, but now it's a solid core fire door, in accordance with a request from the fire marshall. Opening it reveals a presentation entrance, the sloped walls of which contain doors to a new costume cupboard on the left, and a new technical booth on the right. Ahead is the Studio proper, with its coved cathedral ceiling, and newly-reframed and soon-to-be-insulated walls. There's nothing remaining of the old closets and booths; instead there will be corner closets. In addition to framing the playing areas and offering some limited ``offstage'' areas, these will provide some much needed storage space. It's as we always say, ``What this theatre needs is some good storage space. That, and a few long-running, sold-out, musical-comedy crowd-pleasers''.
The work is being carried out by a handful of talented people, who meet once a month to do creative things to the space. These Wild Work Weekends happen on the second non-holiday weekend of the month, starting at 10am and running 'til 6pm Saturday and Sunday. A hearty lunch is provided. The next few weekends will occur May 11/12, June 8/9, and July 13/14. You don't have to be a construction worker to help out; sweepers, painters, carriers, and caterers are welcome as well. If you'd like to join us, give Paul McKone a call at the theatre (886-0660), or drop him some electronic mail at pdmckone@sail.uwaterloo.ca.