Almost at the summit...

This is the view from the window of the lighting box on one balcony across to the sound box on the other. There are just two seating platforms to be fixed in place before we can show you the view from what will be the back row of the auditorium, albeit without the seats. Suffice it to say, however, that as a significant number of patrons will now be sitting above stage level, choreographers will be able to indulge in more Busby Berkley-style dance routines and lighting designers will be able to project pretty patterns on the floor (that’ll keep Alex Lewer happy at least). I suspect that, from row G backwards, it may feel a bit like sitting in the dress circle at the Everyman while remaining close to the stage.

One or two readers of the blog have said they can’t quite make out from the photos the height of each row, so hopefully this close-up will help. This pillar was located alongside the old row G, which was the back row of the front section, and the level of the old floor at this point is clearly shown where the paint changes from brown to red. The lower of the two steps shown in the photo will be the new row E, the front row of the rear section. The higher of the two steps will be the new row F. Don’t forget, there will also be a riser between the two rows – you won’t actually be walking up 13-inch treads!

And it was gone...

No sooner had it appeared than it was gone again. Apart from a brief glimpse if you stand at the rear of the auditorium, the pool is now covered over once more, as the guys cracked on yesterday and laid a great deal of the new floor. The photo (left) shows some of the platforms on which the seats will be fixed and gives a good idea of how greatly improved the visibility will be over the heads of the people in front. And if you are worried at just how high each step appears to be, fret not – a further set of shallower step platforms have yet to be installed between each of the seating platforms.

The seating capacity of the previous auditorium was 230 and, to ensure better comfort and visibility, this is being reduced by over 40 seats (although row A will be permanently in use and not require removal when the orchestra pit or apron stage is required). A little piece of research has revealed that in the 1950s, they somehow crammed a total of 272 seats into this same space! The seats must have been much narrower and leg room must have been minimal. The seating plan from the time shows that each row had as many as 20 seats in it, with no central aisle and two seats the other side of the existing pillars, resulting in very narrow aisles at either end (and presumably very poor visibility of the stage). There was also one row at the rear of the auditorium that was only available for purchase on the night and one raised section of 30 seats at the very back.

Finally, an apology. There were actually TWO winners of the recent competition, as Phil Hopkins also guessed the correct answer of 648 bolts. Apologies to Phil, and a bottle of wine is on its way to him, too!

Another rare find...

We were all convinced that, once the old flooring was removed, there would be no more interesting discoveries to be made. Not so, according to yesterday’s Gloucestershire Echo where, on page 17, you will have seen the headline: “Hidden treasurers exposed by work” – directly under which was a picture of me, sat in the pool, looking for all the world like I’d been stuck down there since 1945 until rescued by the refurbishment. The caption under the photo read: “Rare find: box office manager Paul Scott.” Which is a bit rich, if you think how many hours I spend down this place. I’m not sure which I’d rather be: a ‘hidden treasure’ or a ‘rare find’.

And no, that isn’t the next competition.

But speaking of which, it’s time to reveal that the actual number of bolts involved in connecting the joists and steels will be 652. I’m pleased to say we had a lot of entries – a surprising number of people guessing 672 and 720 for some reason – and that the winner, with a very close guess of 648, is Liz Maisey. A bottle of wine will be delivered in due course.

Aside from that, what’s actually going on in the auditorium? Well, we can report that some of the said 652 bolts have already been used as the joists in the lower section of the new floor (nearest the stage) have all been bolted into place. Parts of the floor have also been laid.

The floor is also down at the rear of the auditorium underneath the steels. In the photograph on the right you can see where the walls of the corridor will be (note the wooden edging), the openings for the doors to the pool and store on either side, and a recess for a radiator.

Competition time...

Yesterday, yours truly and Andy Powell, the managing director of Spacetailors, the principal contractors for the project, had to wear hard hats and fluorescent jackets to enter the auditorium and have pictures taken in and around the pool for use in the Echo over the next few days. In addition to stills, the photographer took some live film which may end up on the Echo website to allow you to take a guided tour of the place. Keep your eyes on the paper and on http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/

To mark the end (almost) of the fourth week of the project, we have a small competition. You thought I was joking yesterday, didn't you? Referring back to an earlier posting on the blog, the question is: how many bolts will Craig have to use to connect the joists to the steels? And to give you a slightly improved chance, the answer is somewhere between 500 and 800.

There is a bottle of wine on offer to the person who gets closest to the correct answer or two bottles if they manage to guess it spot on. Answers should be emailed by 8pm on Tuesday 27 May to boxoffice.playhouse@virgin.net and the winner will be announced here on Wednesday morning, which - due to the bank holiday weekend - will be the first posting next week.

And for those of you concerned about the times some of these entries seem to be posted at, I don't really live down here, or think about the theatre in the middle of the night - unless there is very heavy rain or I have nightmares about a certain musical production from 2006. I just haven't found out how to make this package work in 'proper' time yet!

Yet more unseen Playhouse...

With the rear steels now in place in the auditorium, it is easier to see where the new front of house corridor is going to be. This photo is taken from the bar side of the theatre looking towards the foyer. To the left of this corridor will be a storeroom (and the shower) and, to the right, an access via door and stairs into the pool and furniture store. Fortunately, this will not be as low or as narrow as the tunnels found a few feet beneath! You do know about the tunnels, I assume?

This is an area of The Playhouse that few people have seen, although Craig and Scott ventured down here recently to see for themselves the construction of the building and the swimming pool in particular. Structural engineers have bored holes to ensure the pool floor can take the weight of the steels but Craig, being the conscientious site manager he is, likes to know every inch of a building he’s working on.

There is a series of brick tunnels below ground floor level that date back to the very early days of the building. One tunnel that runs all the way from the cellar to underneath the box office and boiler house, and while you have to crawl on all fours at the cellar end you emerge into a large, high chamber at the other. In this chamber there is still the lower part of an enormous chimney that dates back to the early-1800s and the medicinal baths and salts manufactory. This chimney, only capped at roof height in 1984, is clearly visible in a copy of an 1826 engraving we have in the theatre.

Another area of The Playhouse that few people have seen is the new front of house kitchen, replaced due to the floods. There is a great deal more storage space and anyone who has ever served coffee through that hatch will agree that this is a great improvement on the old one.

Make sure to check the blog tomorrow, as there will be a small competition for the bank holiday weekend with a bottle or two on offer!

No messing at the back...

Today’s photo gives you a better idea of the height of the new rake (and if you haven’t already discovered, you can click on the images to enlarge them so you can see things more clearly). The previous raked floor went to a height half way up the shower door – now the most infamous shower since Psycho based on the amount of talk about it - roughly where the steel in the centre of the picture cuts across it. Now look up. There are two steels at the rear of the curved wall, the furthest being slightly harder to see because the metal and the wall are both red. This is where row P is going to be! From the stage, this seems very high, but part of this is an optical illusion because your eye is drawn to the floor of the pool, rather than where ground floor level will be – not to mention that the rear rake starts much nearer the stage than the old one did.

What are all those holes for..?

A few more changes have taken place since yesterday morning. More of the brick pillars from the central section of the pool have been removed and the first of the rising steels has been put in place, giving some idea of the huge difference between the old rake and the new one in terms of providing visibility over the heads of the rows in front. We should get a really good idea of the overall structure this time tomorrow. The time consuming bit will come once the steel framework is finished. Each of the crosspieces holds the joists for the new floor. These will all need to be bolted in place – not just a couple of bolts, for as the photo shows, there are eight boltholes at every junction!

Meanwhile, after two rather trying hours of working out how to do it, the new seating plan has been installed on the box office computer and fully tested ready to start selling tickets in June. The wooden screen in the front of house lounge is being lovingly restored following its dip in the floodwaters and the new kitchen is being plumbed in. The repairs to the cellar have also been finished, so we shall soon be receiving another visit from Robin Shapero to seal up the hatch and make the theatre watertight.