Three Small Theatres – Part One

In the last couple of weeks I attended performances at three of the area’s smaller performing arts venues.  This provided an opportunity to reflect on the theatres themselves and their current and recent productions.  What ties these three together is that they are in older stand-alone buildings that had been repurposed from an earlier use.  Part One of this posting describes the venues and Part Two, their offerings.

     Jericho Arts Centre (JAC)

Located in the Point Grey near Jericho Beach is housed in a building that originally served as a gym for armed forces personnel stationed nearby. It was subsequently turned over to the city of Vancouver which dedicated it to arts use in 1993.  See
     http://www.lauramurraypr.com/the-venue-jericho-arts-centre
     http://www.jerichoartscentre.com/aboutus.html
Its resident theatre company is the United Players of Vancouver with guest resident companies of Fighting Chance Productions (FCP) and Ensemble Theatre Co-operative (ETC).

JAC is the most flexible of the three venues offering five possible configurations with seating for between 140 and 150 audience members depending on the configuration selected.

JAC seems to have more than its share of climate control issues.  For several performance of ETC’s summer program the heat was oppressive and stifling.  For this past weeks performance of Carrie the chill was reminiscent of the final days of the Bard on the Beach season – be sure to bring your blanket.


     Bernie Legge Theatre

The Bernie Legge Theatre is located in New Westminster’s Queen’s park.  It is the oldest of the three venues, having been converted from a Provincial Fisheries Exhibition Building to a theatre in 1951.  It is a true gem of a small theatre with very comfortable seating for an audience of 150 and a conventional proscenium stage with an elevated performing area.

The resident company is the Vagabond Players, a society created in 1937 with roots going back a further 15 years.  It claims to be the oldest community theatre in the province.
     http://www.vagabondplayers.ca/#!about/c1hdv


     The Theatre at Hendry Hall

This theatre is located in North Vancouver.  It was built in 1942 as an Air Raid Precautionary Post.  It was remodeled at the end of the war and served a variety of community purposes until 1972 when it was taken over by the North Vancouver Community Players for use as a theatre.
     http://www.northvanplayers.ca/aboutus.html

It offers a conventional layout in terms of seating (under100) with the performing area at floor level.  It is another gem of a small theatre with its luster dimmed only by an extremely cramped lobby area.

Coming soon – Part Two – comments on content