Restoration

Foyer & Stairs AUDITORIUM, SEATS & LIGHTS BEHIND THE SCENES

We’ve launched our most ambitious restoration drama ever – a project to restore many of the Criterion Theatre’s former glories, while also making it a safe, sustainable and efficient space for the 21st century.

Your generosity makes this possible, for every ticket purchased, £1.00 goes to our restoration fund – as a ticket buyer you are directly supporting the restoration work on this Grade II* listed building.

Foyer & Stairs

Look to the heavens

In 2019, we commissioned specialist company Hales and Howe to clean and restore our extraordinary foyer ceiling.

Look to the heavens

With our front doors opening onto Piccadilly Circus the years of traffic pollution had left their mark but once cleaned, and the paint work touched up, the richness of the ceiling was revealed.

Look to the heavens

The Cri staff had a great opportunity to get up close to the ceiling via the scaffold tower and find the signatures of the original artists on the murals.

Look to the heavens

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Hold on tight

In 2019 we restored the ornate handrails on our main stairway. Made in sections to accommodate the curves and turns, the brass connectors were repaired and a specialist French polisher brought in to treat the wooden bannisters on site.

The mysterious case of the disappearing wall tiles

Our decorative Victorian wall tiles are a West End treasure but repairing or replacing them has required some impressive detective work.

Our restoration team scoured the archives for clues to help us track down a manufacturer capable of matching the beautiful originals. After months of hard work, we finally identified the perfect partner – W.B Simpsons & Sons. Working together with Craven Dunnill & Coat the Jackfield Tile Museum in Shropshire, they’ve exactly matched our original tiles using by combining traditional craftsmanship and current technology.

What’s more, in a dramatic twist worthy of any great ‘whodunnit’, W. B. Simpsons turn out to be the company that made the very first tiles installed at the Cri back in 1874.

AUDITORIUM, SEATS & LIGHTS

Lights fantastic

In late 2017 we took down our chandelier for maintenance work on the winch system and to give the chandelier itself a well-deserved clean, service and refit.

It was painstakingly dismantled into its myriad parts and transported to the specialist workshop in Essex. In March 2019 it was re - installed, now fitted with energy efficient LED lamps which returned the sparkle to the auditorium we had greatly missed. The chandelier is lowered to stalls level for regular cleaning and lamp changes, looked after by our in-house electricians.

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From limelights to LEDs

We have been working on introducing energy-efficient lighting systems throughout the theatre, with a rolling programme of fitting replacements through the back and front of house areas. The modern back of house was a straightforward, if time-consuming task but the original front of house area created its own challenges as the energy saving systems available did not give us the period style we wanted to retain with the required sensitive dimming capacity. In addition, the existing house lighting fixtures in the auditorium were a mixture of different types and periods installed over many decades.

We worked with a specialist company to create a set of new lighting fixtures that matched an existing original design providing a unity in style that was lacking from the existing installation. While these bespoke fittings were being manufactured, we worked closely with Push The Button who researched and developed an energy efficient solution. We are delighted with the result - a retrofit to the auditorium lighting that offered all of the energy saving benefits of LED while retaining the look and dimming performance of the tungsten lamps and restoring a unity of style to the auditorium lighting scheme.

Classy dramas and comfy seats

We completely replaced the auditorium seating in 2012 and have an ongoing maintenance programme to ensure the continued comfort of our audiences. There are 598 auditorium seats. In 2018 over 165,000 people sat in the auditorium to watch our main performances. The seats have to be hard-wearing, chewing gum proof and constantly maintained with spare parts on hand for emergency repairs.

Behind the scenes

In March 2019 we closed the theatre for two weeks for an intensive period of restoration coordinating a number of projects in the front of house areas.

Technical facilities

We upgraded part of the technical infrastructure with the replacement and redesign of the stage management control desk situated in the Upper Circle.

Technical facilities

This means that shows can be run from either the on-stage prompt corner or from front of house giving greater flexibility to incoming productions.

Technical facilities

We also commissioned a new bespoke lighting bar for the Upper Circle and two side bars in the Upper Circle slips. The distinctive curve of the Upper Circle meant this could not be ‘off the shelf’.

Technical facilities

Stage Services manufactured our new lighting bar, painted to blend in with the architecture while the electrical installation was upgraded.

Technical facilities

This now gives us increased capacity for production lighting as well as making the hanging of lights easier and safer for our in-house team.

New loos!

As part of the March 2019 closure we decided to take the opportunity to completely refit our front of house facilities.

This was an ambitious undertaking as we had only 15 days to completely demolish and rebuild both the Ladies and Gents in the front of house areas. Whatever other work we did during the two - week closure we knew we could not re - open the production of A Comedy About A Bank Robbery without our loos! The countdown was on. With a few unexpected complications along the way, happily we finished on time and are very proud of our new facilities. As well as the cosmetic work we increased the capacity of the Ladies with an extra three cubicles and took the opportunity to continue our move to a more environmentally friendly venue by installing new flush systems and sensor taps to reduce water use and fitted sensor activated LED lighting.

2024 CRITERION THEATRE TRUST

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