A Look Inside: The Mary Wallace Theatre
Tour the riverside home of the Richmond Shakespeare Society, the Mary Wallace Theatre.
Located on the embankment of the River Thames in Twickenham, the Mary Wallace Theatre is unobtrusive, taking up little to no space between the Barmy Arms pub and St Mary’s Church.
However, upon entering, it becomes clear that there is much more going on beneath the surface. With a wall of framed adverts for previous performances, it is obvious that, year on year, the theatre throws itself into regular productions. Indeed, the theatre itself puts on nine performances a year, one of which is outdoors, often in the York House Gardens, and another being from the Young Actors Company.
In fact, the theatre itself was a late addition, as the Richmond Shakespeare Society itself was founded in 1934. It was only in 1981 that the theatre on the river was opened, by none other than Prince Charles. This was following the untimely death of Mary Wallace, actress, secretary to the society, and the theatre’s namesake. The generous bequest to the society that Wallace left behind allowed them to convert the building, which once was a dilapidated mission house, into the theatre we recognise today.
the theatre itself puts on nine performances a year
The foyer and the audience auditorium are part of the original building, but the stage and the backstage area are all new, built on unoccupied land behind the building.
The auditorium today can seat up to 96 audience members. Francis Abbott, the society’s chairman, recalls collecting the seats from a local cinema after it shut down to furnish the newly revamped theatre.
The theatre is set up in preparation for the upcoming performances of The Duchess of Malfi, with screens at the front of the stage and a stripped back performance space. Because the theatre own their own space, they make their own backdrops and props, renting as little as they can for each performance.
At the Mary Wallace, each show runs for a week, during which time the next show is already being rehearsed in St Mary’s Church. In a break from tradition, however, in April 2022, the company plan on opening a performance of both parts of Shakespeare’s Henry IV, which will run over 2 weeks, rather than the usual one.
they make their own backdrops and props, renting as little as they can for each performance
A fun fact about the Mary Wallace production runs, though, is that they never perform on a Wednesday. This is because every Wednesday is the St Mary's Church bell ringing practice, which takes place between 20:15 and 21:00 every week, slap-bang in the middle of the show. What once came about for practical reasons, however, now comes as a welcome respite to actors halfway through their performance schedule.
In the future, the theatre are planning on further renovation works in order to facilitate wheelchair access to the theatre space, and to redesign their foyer.
More information about performances at the Mary Wallace Theatre can be found on their website. Their next performance, HAY FEVER, begins on 11th December.
