Come on Andrew. Gaynor is making a very fair point. I attended one of the first shows and was struck by how small the theatre was in relation to the size of the building. I also think the cedar cladding on the outside makes it look like a glorified shed. Not much improvement over the Music Hall.

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Having worked in the construction industry, with time working on the refurbishment of the Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton, I was amazed when I first saw the amount of timber cladding used on the Theatre Severn. Not only does it cover the whole of the end nearest the bridge but under every window around the side by the main entrance. I only hope that all this timber has been pressure treated with preservative and even if it has it will not stop it from becoming bleached to almost white the longer it is exposed to the elements.The timber wll need constant treatments both to retain its life and hopefully give it a better colour. This will mean that we can expect to see scaffolding around the building at regular intervals for this work to be carried out. I also hope that the cladding has been securely fixed to its backing supports as exposure to the elements, especialy the sun, will cause the wood to buckle, split and come away. The interior of the auditorium I find to be dull with dark browns throughout including the proscenium arch.The architects passion for wood is not only confined to the exterior of the building as the front of the dress circle also has brown wooden panels adding to the dullness of it all. Where are he maroons,golds,greens, pinks and other colours associated with theatre interiors?Apparently those sitting in the dress circle find the ceiling of the upper circle very oppressing as it is just above their heads. All in all the architects could have and should have shown more imagination both inside and out when designing the building – had they ever designed a theatre before – no wonder it is now becoming known by some theatre goers as The Shed.

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Why do people complaining always feel the need to extend their moan beyond the actual problem they experienced. Not being able to see half the stage does indeed sound like a problem. Genuine grievance.

However, complaining that there are only 650 seats is weird. How many were in your party? 651? How would 1,000 seats have improved your enjoyment exactly?

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The wooden panels you can see around the auditorium are actually acoustic pannelling…… meaning the sound in there is actually excellent, including bands.

I have been told by lots of people that the circle and the upper circle offer excellent views and anywhere apart from the front row offers excellent leg room. Believe it or not we are not living in a country full of giants who are unable to fit into a row in a theatre.

If they had made the theatre any bigger people would be moaning it was too big when it didnt manage to sell out shows. People would complain if it were 1500 or 500. Have those who moan about its size forgotten that it all costs money and you would further enrage the taxpayers who have called it a waste of money and that the Music Hall will do (an idea which was ludicrous).

I would love to know which show “John Howard” went to see when he got the impression it was not much better than the Music Hall, i have seen a number of shows there and the 2 venues are poles apart in terms of quality for the artist and the audience.

It has its faults, not having worked in the industry i couldnt say why they have restricted view seats, but im told they are reduced price and this depends on the show. Are you really going to have a huge complaint at paying about a tenner to see a comedian stand right in the middle of the stage where EVERYONE can see him? Remember it is supposed to function as an entertainment venue, it doesnt necessarily have to wow you with its looks on the outside. I cant remember the last time someone didnt complain about a new structure in this town.

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I agree with Charles Armstrong about the cladding it is oak and will be a silver grey when weathered, ironically the same colour as the lettering was originally!
What I am appalled about is that he has not corrected folk here with regard to who designed Theatre Severn. The original architects, Levitt Bernstein designed a beautiful building to be sited over the bus staion. The Gay meadow was then considered and discarded and would have been the perfect site.
The architects did not carry on with the design on the present site as the constraints were too many and the theatre ended up being designed by the in house design team of Wilmott Dixon and SABC planners.

If we had used the Gay Meadow site we would have benefitted from:
1) Views of the new building (which would have been a wonderful design) from the town and places like the Parade
2) Lovely views from the windows of the new building to the river.
3) Easy accessibility from Old Potts way for the huge vehicles needed to bring equipment.
4 Less money needing to be expended on the complicated foundations that the present site had.
5)Keeping the original covenant of the Gay Meadow being used for the people of the town
6) Discreet parking facilities for the theatre and probably the town too at ground level
7)Creation of an attractive riverside walk.
8)Abbey Gardens adjacent connecting with the site which would have been a great venue for open air Shakespeare etc.
9)Doing something more with the old Welsh bridge remains that have been lost under Theatre Severn
10) Connecting with the Wakeman School as a college for Arts and Theatre.
11) Having a wide enough site to not have any constrictions seeing the stage and the costs saved not having such problematic foundations could be spent on better quality materials (I don’t mean the oak cladding I mean the cheap nasty stone cladding and internal finishes)
12)The old path to the platform of Shrewsbury station reopened directly to the Theatre site.
13)The Theatre could have been larger for the same costs on this easier site so attracting better acts and or have included an Art Gallery which the town would really benefit from too
14)The Gay Meadow site could have easily accommodated a tall buiding whereas in the Frankwell site it is out of context (so is the awful Guildhall sadly)

I do not think it is fair to blame architects or ‘modern architecture’ for Theatre Severn.

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I’ve just had a brilliant idea,why don’t they moved the Gala bingo to theatre severn and then refurbish the old Granada into a first class theatre

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