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HOE SUMMER THEATRE
THE PREFABRICATED HOE SUMMER THEATRE
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By the early 1960s
it had been decided to provide a more substantial structure to replace the Hoe Marquee that had served
Plymouth audiences as a Hoe Summer Theatre since 1950 and which could be used during the
winter months as well. As a result the 600-seater prefabricated Hoe Summer Theatre
was erected on the site of the
Marquee.
The first production was staged on June 8th 1962.
With the chequered life of the Palace
Theatre, which over this period opend and closed a couple of times, the Hoe Summer
Theatre became the venue for the local amatuer players as well as the professional summer
shows. But it could not accommodate an orchestra so in November 1973 the decision
was taken to add such a feature at a cost of £1,700. It was in place by the time
the pantomime opend at the end of December but had reduced the seating to 545.
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The prefabricated Hoe Summer Theatre.
©
Mr Gilbert Corran. |
As the 1970s passed the lure of television kept people in
their homes, espcially during the winter evenings, and attendances fell. In
September 1979 Councillor Tom Jones even wanted the theatre to be turned into a cafe and
in May 1981 the first five rows of seats were taken out, reducing the capacity to about
400.
At a Council meeting on January 11th 1982 the decision was
taken to close the Hoe Summer Theatre for good. Mr Peter Millington was the manager
at that time. A special show called "The Last Night" was presented on
Saturday February 13th 1982. Demolition started on May 18th 1982 and took about six
weeks.
Sources:
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