Andrew Kay: Curtain Up
What more needs to be done to save Brighton’s beautiful Hippodrome
As a theatre lover, nothing depresses me more than the news that yet another beautiful and historic building is under threat. Brighton has seen so many fall, converted to bowling alleys then demolished or simply allowed to fall into disrepair, I suspect in the hope that they might be condemned. For goodness sake, somehow the Palace Pier Theatre was dismantled and then lost – really, how do you lose a theatre?
Now it’s the Hippodrome in Middle Street. I was lucky enough to see this masterpiece many years ago when it was being used as a bingo hall. Despite the tacky plastic furnishings, which had been dropped into the space like an alien invasion, it looked grand, truly spectacular.
But with the advent of online gambling bingo halls are no longer as popular as they were I guess, and so the Hippodrome closed its doors.
I’m a great believer of preserving our heritage, although I’m no fan of the rampant misuse of that word, I quote; “heritage tomatoes”. Indeed! It strikes me in the same way that the word vintage now means second hand. As usual I digress.
Full marks to the excellent campaigners that are fighting tooth and nail to get any decisions regarding the future, or lack of a future for the Hippodrome reversed.
I cannot believe that someone thought that we needed yet another multiplex cinema in the town when quite often the ones that we have are sparsely occupied. Nor could I see any future for a massive food enterprise in a city where we clearly favour our home grown independent food businesses.
Right now the city has a smattering of theatre venues, from the tiny to the fairly large. We have a good representation at the smaller end, with excellent venues like The Marlborough that have run for years and support local writing and performing talent. We have medium sized venues like The New Venture and Emporium that programme adventurously and again support local talent. At the larger end of the scale we have The Dome Complex which offers great spaces for theatre, concerts and dance and of course the Theatre Royal Brighton which is run by the international Ambassadors Theatre Group and programmes a balanced year of the very commercial with a good proportion of exciting, if less commercial, material.
One could say that the ground is fairly well covered, and indeed it might be, were it not for the lack of a stage large enough to accept major West End touring shows, all of which go either east to the Congress in Eastbourne or west to the Mayflower in Southampton.
Okay, not that far away, but far enough and expensive enough to make a trip there not only pricey but also inconvenient.
“The future lies in a cohesive plan followed by a supportive audience”
So at almost every level I support the campaign to save the Hippodrome, my only caveat being this: any plan to save it needs to be a well balanced and commercially viable one, and please, not one that will see a negative impact on our existing venues.
Theatre is a vital part of our culture, entertaining and educational, and it would not be in the state that it is in if more of us went along to see it – and more often. The future lies in a cohesive plan followed by a supportive audience. My very best wishes go to the Our Brighton Hippodrome organisation in their fight to save this theatre gem.
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