BARRY Purves, Director and Designer of the Garrick’s next production, Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense recently took members of Phoenix 90, a ladies group from Hale and Bowdon, backstage at the Garrick.
They couldn’t believe that the “the Garrick family”, made up entirely of volunteers, put on 12 plays a year.
First stop was the workshop where, that morning, Barry and his colleagues, had been painting the set for his next production. portraying some of the 13 characters created by two of the cast of three.
Below the stage, they visited three dressing rooms, a large one used by children in the panto and two smaller ones.
They saw hundreds of costumes including 200 from Aladdin as well as shoes, hats and gloves.
“We like sparklies,” said Barry.
The highlight was when they visited two different stages – the intimate studio stage in the 49-seater Lauriston Studio and the vast main stage overlooking 401 empty seats.
They soon realised they were standing on the spot that had seen eight productions of La Cage aux Folles and would, in May, house an ambitious production of The Producers.
They were introduced to Mark, the technician when Barry told about the sound and lighting systems.
This was also the site of the Garrick picture house’s monthly film presentation which, on February 23 at 7 pm.
If your group would enjoy this magical tour, fix a date by telephoning 0161 928 1677.
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