TAKING THE DRAMA OUT OF A CRISIS Drama in the Theatre is usually welcome, but not when the scene involves gallons of water pouring over the stage, orchestra pit, dressing rooms and toilets. That was the scenario at 10.30am on Sunday 1 July when an accident in the Theatre damaged the sprinkler system and caused extensive water damage.
“The theatre was fully restored in time for the new season with a refurbished orchestra pit mechanism, stage flooring, front drapes, a new sound system, a large stock of new lights and redecorated dressing rooms. Our insurance company has been incredibly helpful and supportive which has made the process of renewal and replacement run smoothly and if anything the Theatre is actually in a better position in terms of sound and lighting than it was before. “So now it’s on with the show…!”
Having recently welcomed Jane Austen’s Persuasion - the first show in the Theatre since the incident – General Manager Martyn Balson has been reflecting on the lessons learned. “Back in 2015 I attended a workshop run by UK Theatre about major incident planning and heard a presentation by the Royal Shakespeare Company in which they outlined how they had spent three years updating their plans to deal with a huge range of possible incidents. “The senior management team at Lighthouse subsequently sat down and drew up plans for all kinds of contingencies. It resulted in a massive grid of actions to be taken, things like how we look after our people, how we manage PR, what the next 24 hours or seven days look like. The plans are detailed but obviously it’s impossible to consider every eventuality so the grid gives a flexible framework to follow once the building is made safe and the people are safe. “We only lost one show – an event in the Concert Hall that Sunday night was cancelled while we could still contact ticket holders to save them travelling. The other shows planned for the Theatre were relocated to the Concert Hall. “As part of our regular training last November we walked through a scenario in which a small fire in the Concert Hall had put the venue out of action for six months. That training was invaluable and now that we have dealt with a live situation we know our systems provide a robust response to a major incident.
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