Some of the stage machinery inside the Playhouse Theatre clings to wooden beams dating back to the 1860s.
Out of view of the audience, this ageing bone structure has carried the weight of thousands of productions to have rolled into Williamson Square since the mid Victorian era. And while the building’s hidden muscles continue to instil confidence in the performers below, its vitality has long started to wane - with noticeable crow's feet hiding behind the sweeping stage curtain.
“Some of the mechanics and structures date back to when the playhouse was built in 1866,” Mark Da Vanzo, chief executive of the Everyman and Playhouse, told the ECHO. “You can imagine some have become obsolete, or if we don't do something sooner rather than later, they will eventually fail.”
