University of York’s Scenic Stage Theatre opens to the public

There are plots aplenty being cooked up where the darkness gathers on this stage. A young wastrel out to cheat his grandfather of his fortune; an outwardly sweet-natured wife determined to cuckold her foolish husband at the first opportunity; a prostitute who has convinced a gullible old man that she’s a fount of virtue and honour.

Nobody is quite who they seem in Thomas Middleton’s Jacobean masterpiece, A Mad World, My Masters.

Richard Follywit, grandson to the rich Sir Bounteous Progress, considers himself a master of deceit. But as he and his gang exit the stage having plotted to cheat, kidnap and rob his grandfather, a character standing in the shadows observes slyly to the audience: “He’s the carrion, and they are the crows that gorge upon him.” Those gang members may not be quite as loyal as they seem… There’s plenty of sly wit in this rip-roaring, bawdy comedy that was first performed in about 1605. Sir Bounteous’ mistress is a prostitute, “Lady” Gullman, who has convinced her besotted admirer she’s as virtuous as a nun. But when the old man exits the stage “Lady Gullman’s” mother confides to her daughter: “Fifteen times I have sold thy virginity, and yet there is virginity enough for Sir Bounteous still.”

Middleton was a contemporary and rival of Shakespeare: and there’s an almost Shakesperian largeness of life about some of the characters, and about the ways in which they plot and scheme to outdo each other in deceitfulness and folly.

It’s an inspired play to have chosen to launch the University of York’s new Scenic Stage Theatre on the public of York.

In future, there will be fairly regular productions here – by the university’s own, in-house Out Of The Blue theatre company of staff and students; sometimes by professional touring companies; occasionally even one-character shows by stars such as Sian Phillips. There will also be acting masterclasses.

But tonight is the first opportunity for the York theatre-going public to see the new theatre for themselves.

They’re in for a treat. Part of the new, £30 million Department of Film, Theatre and Television building on the university’s new campus, the Scenic is a stunning, 200-seat theatre. The large proscenium stage reaches deep into the audience, and is surrounded on three sides by banked seating. Above, says Professor Mike Cordner, the university’s head of theatre and director of A Mad World, is all the lighting you could ever want.

The theatre is modelled on Sheffield’s Crucible, Mike says. “But we’ve made it better!”

The best thing about it, say young Mad World cast members Bex Darmody and Chris White, is that it brings the audience right into the action.

“The audience can see so much of you,” says Bex, a 21-year-old undergraduate studying Writing, Directing and Performance, who plays the part of Mistress Harebrain, out to cuckold her husband. “It’s quite nerve-wracking at first, but so exciting!”

There’s nowhere for an actor to hide, agrees fellow student Chris, who plays Shortrod Harebrain, the jealous husband. “It’s really designed for an audience. The seats are comfortable, and wherever you sit, you get drawn right in.”

As an actor, the best thing about the theatre, despite its size, is that you’re so close to the audience, he says. “You can look people in the eye as though this was a 50-seater venue.”

A Mad World, My Masters, opens to the public tonight, and runs until Saturday. Chris, from Scarborough, thinks those who come along will be in for a treat.

“I think the public of York will be wowed!” he says.

• Performances of A Mad World, My Masters are at 7.45pm every evening from tonight to Saturday. Tickets are £4 students, £6 standard, from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 01904 623568 or online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

The production is part of the ongoing York Festival Of Ideas.

For details of other events in the festival visit yorkfestivalofideas.com

To find out more about the theatre itself, visit york.ac.uk/tftv/