New theatre opens

It's half-term, and the fiinal preparations are well underway for the MGS theatre opening next month.  As you can see below, most of the action at the moment is on and above the stage, particularly involving the installation of the stage curtain system.  If you know the theatre, you may think from this image that little has changed.  However, the thrust stage is now a permanent, but flexible structure, and the front panels can be removed to reveal a full-height orchestra pit, ideal for our modern tradition of musical theatre.  Most radically, we now have a fly-tower above the stage which will allow scenery to be lifted in and out at speed, hopefully signalling the end of tedious scene changes.

'And what of the seats?' I hear the sufferers of old cry. Well, as promised in the fundraising literature, they are now all individually upholstered seats, erasing the memory of the wooden benches we used to have.

And you will notice that the rake of the seating is much steeper.  As well as improving sightlines within the theatre, this has allowed us to build a new foyer at the back of the theatre, further enhancing the audience experience.

Just below the ceiling you can see one of the walkways installed to make the technical servicing of the theatre comprehensive and safe.  From here, light and sound can be controlled by a pupil TechCrew to the full satisfaction of H&S regulators.

We have private shows taking place on November 4 and November 9, and we have tickets available for 'The Silver Screen' on November 27, when Old Mancunian Robert Powell will bring Liza Goddard and musicians to entertain us in the space where he first learned his craft.  Tickets from the Development Office at school.

Ten Ten Ten

Dinner at The Wizard at Alderley Edge on Saturday to celebrate an amazing event and some amazing people.  Old Mancunian writer Alan Garner published his first novel, The Weirdstone of Brisingamen, 50 years ago on 10 October 1960, making 10/10/10 its 50th birthday. Remarkably, it has never been out of print.  Assisted by the wonderful voices of his fellow OM friend, Robert Powell, Alan explained the genesis of the novel, let us in on the secret of the excrutiating first-version opening, and revealed that he is currently working on a (very unusual, naturally) novel to complete the trilogy started back in the 1950s.

For more details, see http://www.weirdstone.org.uk/ and http://www.theblackdentrust.org.uk/

An elephant balancing on its trunk

One of the great advantages of working part-time now is the flexibility to arrange a few days away.  So this week my wife and I have managed to escape the rain at home and visit friends living in southern France.  There is a work link, because he is an Old Mancunian, but this wasn't work.  We enjoyed a drive through the Camargue to the coast, seeing lots of horses, few flamingoes and even fewer tourists.  The sky was reliably blue and the beaches were empty.

We admired the house our friends have had built and talked a lot about the work that remains, most of it outside in the sloping garden.  We drank the odd bottle of very good, very local wine and enjoyed the absence of emails and phone calls.  We ambled round Arles, admiring the architecture and sampling some delicious cooking from the kitchen of an internationally renowned chef.

And, yes, we spotted an elephant balancing on its trunk as we emerged from one of the most spectacularly sited underground carparks in the world, immediately outside the Palais des Papes in Avignon.  Our tour round the Palais was excellent, the rooms full of atmosphere and well, not over, explained by commentary and signs.

So, three great days and, no, it wasn't raining when we got back to Liverpool's John Lennon Airport ('Above us only sky') but it was before we got home.