Curtain rises on ultra modern Playhouse; As the new Whitley Bay Playhouse nears completion, David Whetstone sees how it compares with its much-loved predecessor.

ANYONE with fond memories of the old Whitley Bay Playhouse will look in vain for it in the new one - although it must be in there somewhere. The plan was always for a redevelopment rather than a rebuild.

Gone, though, is the quaint facade reminiscent of a bygone age of Ealing comedies and end-of-the-pier (which, of course, Whitley Bay doesn't have).

In its place - and stretching confidently across the pavement - stands a modern, angular foyer of glass and steel which screams modernity and business-like functionality. Stepping into the foyer of the old Whitley Bay Playhouse, which opened as The Kursaal in 1913, was a bit like entering your granny's parlour. It was tiny, with a cosy cafe bar to one side and every square inch covered in posters for forthcoming attractions.

The new foyer is a real surprise, as Culture discovered on a preview tour of the building yesterday. It's huge and airy with oatmeal-coloured tiles on the floor and light streaming in through that glass facade.

There are splashes of nursery paintwork - yellow over the bar, red on the ceiling and pillars of green. A hundred people could gather here and not invade each other's personal space.

Led by Paul Tappenden, marketing director of SMG Newcastle, and Nichola McKenna, marketing executive at the new theatre, we venture into the ladies'.

Vital, this, in any comparison between old and new.

In the old Whitley Bay Playhouse it was wise for ladies to grin and bear it. So miserly was the toilet provision that pennies could only be spent two at a time - there being just a brace of cubicles - and the interval was never long enough to accommodate a desperate crowd.

Well, relax, theatre-goers of the female gender. Whitley Bay Playhouse ladies' now boasts 15 cubicles and nine sinks, which can only be an improvement.

(In our excitement, we forgot to check the gents' so fingers crossed, lads.) The auditorium of the old Whitley Bay Playhouse used to have 746 red seats and they were old and tired. They groaned and squeaked and if that didn't relieve them of their burden, some of them would slope gently downwards as if trying to deposit the sitter on the floor.

This has all gone. The new banked auditorium has 640 seats and most of them are blue, dark in the front rows and light at the back, although a handful, dotted about, are red.

"Artistic licence," explained Paul.

Between the rows of seats, which recline slightly as you sit down, is very generous leg room.

Upstairs - a sign of the modern age - is a balcony section with 10 seats and an area for serving food. It's for hire, corporate entertaining having entered the Playhouse lexicon under managers SMG, who also run Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena and The Journal Tyne Theatre.

There is a very large upstairs bar with red carpets and - today - tremendous views of the grey North Sea and the scaffold-shrouded dome of the old Spanish City. What will it become? No one at the Playhouse has a clue.

The only sign of the old venue is the brick wall at the very back of the stage with its painted "QUIET PLEASE" and assorted theatrical graffiti.

To all intents and purposes, this is a new theatre for a new age - and hopefully a sign of good things to come for Whitley Bay.

North Tyneside Council has arranged open days for local residents to view the building on August 10 and 11.

The theatre, to be managed by Ailsa Oliver, who has transferred from The Journal Tyne Theatre, is due to open on September 12 with tribute band The Stones.

The ticket hotline is 0844 277-2771, but the box office will be open throughout the day. Details of shows and opening times are in the inaugural seasonal programme or on www.playhousewhitleybay.co.uk.

INFORMATION

Edward Woodward, who was to have starred with wife Michele Dotrice in Love Letters at Whitley Bay Playhouse, has had to pull out of the planned tour.

According to staff at the venue, the famous actor, who is 79, has injured a hip.

It is hoped that the tour can be revived when he has made a full recovery.

The play was to have been performed at the revamped venue on October 23 and 24.

But plenty of other attractions remain including Agatha Christie's Murder On Air (Sept 21-23), The BFG (Oct 6-10) and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Dec 1-13).

Whitley Bay Theatre Company present Fawlty Towers (June 2-5) and Whitley Bay Operatic Society offer Crazy For You (Nov 2 to 7). Tel. [phone] for tickets.The only sign of the old venue is the brick wall at the very back of the stage with its painted "QUIET PLEASE"

CAPTION(S):

AT THE HELM Nichola McKenna, theatre marketing executive at the Playhouse, Whitley Bay, in the auditorium. SPLASHES OF COLOUR The new Playhouse, Whitley Bay. Theatre director Ailsa Oliver, pictured right.