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Introduction to Dolls House Theatre Richmond Theatre, London Anybody who has been to an event at a theatre, be it a play or musical From the outset I was fascinated by the sheer scale of it all. From the show itself, to the cathedral type architecture that enveloped it. The heat generated by the lights, the power and depth of a real orchestra, actors shouting their lines and odours of pop corn, grease paint and perfume took me to places that have never left me to this day. I think I was more taken by the technical aspects more than the performance side of things.  London Palladium Theatre From that moment I was hooked and yearned to learn all I could about what makes theatres work. I read everything I could and watched TV programmes such as Sunday Night at the London Palladium, The Good Old Days and even Last night of the Proms to get clues. All productions at that time were the best-of-the-best and what better way to learn than by watching the best in action from the most up-to-date venues. Encyclopaedia Britannica  Royal Albert Hall, London After the death of my father in 1980 my mother took me back to Richmond to have a good look around the theatre, during the day when the venue was closed. We were both given a guided tour by the then theatre manager. The tour filled my head with a mind boggling amount of information and gave me an insatiable appetite for the technical side of performance. I was intrigued by the Rake I wanted to re-create what I had seen all for myself but being young I could not own or manage one so this lead to my first idea of building a model. Not a "silly" puppet theatre you understand but a fully working model with lights, cast, sets and curtains. My first attempt in 1981-2 was very simplistic with no consideration of scale, proportion or perspective. See animation (left) and have a play! I was a kid after all. The shell was made using dozens of planks of unpainted soft pine screwed together with flat and right angled brackets. These bits and bobs somehow made a stage and the proscenium arch. I wasn't allowed a power saw to cut plywood - just a screw driver, hand drill and a tiny tenon saw to work with. Four dangerously mounted "hanging” type light bulb holders were quite literally forced through holes in one of the planks at the top/rear of the model. Each bulb/lamp combination had a standard domestic dimmer switch which was in turn plugged into the mains supply. You know, I must have killed myself several times wiring it up but learnt a lot in the process. My mother kindly fashioned a curtain out of a piece of expensive royal blue velvet trimmed with a gold material like that found on the bottom old lamp shades. I thought that curtain was amazing and still think it was the best part of the mode! Finally, the curtain was lit with a small strip lamp like that found above bathroom mirrors. Again, wired to a dimmer switch and plug. Now I had a model theatre, albeit basic, I turned my attention to putting some kind of show together. With little or no experience of producing or directing I decided to play it safe and go for the concert option, using a 12” vinal record as a sound track!  Showaddywaddy I decided, in my infinite wisdom, to go for the most popular act of the day - yours and my favourite, the awesome teddy boy band "Showaddywaddy" and formulated a cunning and spectacular concert to showcase my lovely shiny, wooden theatre. I had considered doing Queen, who were also big at the time, but decided I could not reproduce the speed of Brian May’s fingers on the guitar. I had eight numbers to perform from side one. The total running time would be ½ an hour plus 10 minutes for a tea and ginger biscuit interval. I should note that the interval included an optional orange squash cordial at no extra cost! The audience were booked to arrive in a weeks time – all seven of them - and so I had to get my skates on. I was extremely nervous but was confident I could meet the deadline and get rave reviews from the press. I hurriedly drew side and facing pictures of the band onto think card, coloured them in, cut them out and stuck them onto gardening sticks. The drum kit was carved out of dowels and cardboard and after a few rehearsals they were all ready to go! Granted their performance was going to be a bit wooden but for artistic impression they would blow the house down! It was all very well having the stage and cast but I now had to turn my attention to the front of house. The gay bit, as I call it. I remembered from Aladdin that when the show started the lights dimmed really slowly. So I decided to steal my mum’s standard lamp from the lounge and wire in, yes you guessed it, another dimmer switch from Woolworths for £3.49. Sorted. I also needed some way of hiding myself from the audience and so mum quickly made tabs Seating? Oh no, seats! After careful deliberation I made the executive decision to move the lounge, garden and kitchen furniture into my bedroom where the performance was to take place. I nearly broke my back doing it as I had to get it done before my mum got back from shopping. Luckily she shouted softly, so that was alright. I think she understood how nervous I was about the performance I was about to give but explained there were fold up chairs in the cellar that would have done the trick. The scene was set. The night had arrived and I had wet myself. The guests included a girlfriend of my mother, Alan Freeman (former record producer of Petula Clark and judge of New Faces), his two children, my brother and sister and a couple of other faces I cannot remember. They all arrived so quickly, I recall. There was no going back now.. Taking a deep breath I moved the record player arm so it hovered over track one. Slowly dimming the house lights with my trusty switch the room went deathly quiet – all except for an occasional snigger from behind the curtain from my sister. I carefully dropped the record player arm into the groove of track one and dimmed the curtain lights. You could hear a pin drop; the music exploded into action, the show had begun! I won’t tell you what happened; you’ll have to find out. But that story basically gives you an insight into something which has stayed with me for many years and which wont go away. Since then I have longed to re-build a model theatre into something very special and this web site is designed to follow its progress. At the time of writing this I have finished the design stage of Dolls House Theatre - a one twelfth scale model inspired by two very famous theatres in the U.K. and U.S.A. You’ll find out more about that in the “How It Was Made > Planning” section. I hope you enjoy what you see. If you do, please feel free to drop me a line from the contacts page. Maybe you have some experience you would like to contribute to the project or perhaps would like to know more about what we have planned for the future! Mike Clark |
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, always come away with a special memory - some more vivid than others. Mine derive from being hit over the head by a policeman’s truncheon at a 
