In 2025, we received a grant of £250,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore our Gallery (top floor seating) back to its Victorian glory. The ambitious volunteer-led project needed to get delivered in just a few weeks over the summer during our quiet period.
What we did
Wooden decking, which was built on top of the Victorian tiering, was introduced in 1986 in an effort to improve sightlines, but it ended up having the opposite effect. The scruffy carpets and old tip up seats, which dated back to 1930’s, were also at the end of their life. We have now brought back the sumptuous Victorian timber surfaces, redecorated the floors with a colour that matches the theatre’s original colour scheme, and installed new seats. The Victorian audiences sat on the bare benches! We also have new handrails which are in line with what would have been there originally.
Thanks
The project was delivered by our own staff and a team of volunteers, and we could not have done it without the truly heroic effort from everyone who pitched in. Thanks also to all who generously donated to our CrowdFunding campaign and “rehomed” some of our old seats. We’re delighted that over half of the seats are now in the homes of friends of our theatre! The money raised from the campaign covered the cost of skipping the broken and unusable seats.
Going forward
There is still some work to be done to finish stripping the paint (over 100 volunteer hours have been spent already!), installing additional handrails and kicking boards, and bringing in some additional seating. We also made an unfortunate discovery of dry rot in the Gallery toilets, which we are currently treating and refurbishing up to a high standard befitting the lovely décor inside the auditorium. The Tyne Theatre & Opera House Preservation Trust is investing over £60,000 in the repairs over the next few months.
