P&P Campaigns
Theatre Seats
May 2011:
Tthe Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury has been undergoing a major restoraton for a few years now. We had always been interested in it for its connection to Canterbury and because A Canterbury Tale had its world premiere there (when it was the Friars Cinema) on 21 August 1944.
Paul Tritton told us about a new book about the theatre which he had helped edit, Canterbury: Stage by Stage by David Manners, a regular on our annual ACT location walks.
That led to us checking out the theatre's web site where we saw that they were appealing for donations and offering to dedicate seats in the main auditorium. £500 (US$815) might sound like a lot to dedicate a seat, but there are a lot of people in PaPAS and a shared load is much easier. A donation of £10 from 50 people and we would soon be able to raise that and get a seat dedicated to Micky.
Of course we soon realised that the only correct thing to do would be to have two seats, side by side, for Micky & Emeric. But the donations were already flooding in by then and we soon raised enough to get one of the seats. In fact we were already over-subscribed and I had said that if the group managed to raise half the money then I would provide the rest. That was when we were just aiming for one seat, but it still applies to two seats.
I had previously contacted the theatre to ask if anyone had already dedicated a seat to Micky, or Emeric. They told me that nobody had yet and that they thought that it was a good idea, so I asked them to reserve two, next to each other, for us.
The total fund was standing at £570 when the theatre contacted me again to ask how the fund-raising was going and to say that if we could request the seats now then one of them would be the 200th dedicated seat and that they were doing a press release about it. Well, I always like a bit of publicity for P&P so I called them straight back and ordered the seats.
The seats are seats 25 & 26 in row 'L'. That's just in front of the transverse aisle in the middle of the main auditorium so will be clearly visible to people as they walk across the theatre.
The theatre has now acknowledged our donation and they have sent me a couple of handsome certificates signed by, amongst others, The Earl of Wessex (aka Prince Edward) who is the theatre's royal patron.
The covering letter says:
Thank you to the Powell and Pressburger Appreciation Society for choosing to support The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, by naming two seats in the stunning new main auditorium.
I confirm that as agreed, the inscriptions engraved on your seat plaques will be
In memory of Michael Powell
In memory of Emeric Pressburger
The Marlowe Theatre will bring a host of star-studded performances to its stage when it opens its doors to the public in Autumn 2011, offering the very best musicals, drama, opera, dance and concerts. Lasting for at least twenty years, these name plaques will be seen by generations of theatre-goers as they enjoy the many fine performances that will take place at The Marlowe Theatre.
By participating in the redevelopment of the Marlowe in this way you have helped to bring the successful completion of this fabulous new theatre a little closer and we are very grateful for your support. We look forward to being able to welcome you and other members of the Association to The Marlowe Theatre in the Autumn.
There have been further donations since then and the fund now stands at £710 so I didn't have to dig too deep to make up the difference.
People who like P&P are wonderful, to have raised that much in a month is very good and I thank them for their donations, especially in these recessionary times.
Steve
P.S.
I've told Thelma that there will be a nice surprise for her next time she visits Canterbury :)
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