In brief ...

Open to the public ...

The Priestley has 2 auditoria: a 291-seat (plus 4 stewards' seats) proscenium arch theatre, with circle and stalls, plus a 70-seat studio which, thanks to movable seating, can be laid out in any configuration.

The bar occupies almost the entire floor area of the main building (less the servery, stock rooms and stairways).  As well as a licensed bar, hot drinks and confectionary are served here.  The bar provides an informal performance area as well as functioning as a meeting room.

Backstage ...

Twin stairwells give full access to all floors of the building (circle; stalls, apron and main stage; dressing-rooms and workshop; and the bar).  They are linked by a cross corridor at dressing-room level to allow full circulation.

The stage is equipped with a cyclorama rear wall, rear manually operated curtains, electrically operated mid-stage tabs (which act as screen mask for cinema use - see below), and electrically operated main tabs which can be drawn sideways or flown vertically.  The main tabs (together with the safety curtain) are behind the apron.  There is a full counter-weight flying system.

Lighting is provided from 3 above-stage bars (flown), plus a "Pent" bar over the apron (accessible from the bridge) and circle-front and ceiling bars, plus a number of side-wall bars.  The lanterns are an excellent mix of profile and fresnel patterns.  Control is provided from a computerised board with 74 channels, plus 24 group-masters, located in the "tech box" behind the stalls.

Sound is normally controlled from the tech box using a 16-mono + 2-stereo input channel mixer with 6 main, plus 6 auxilliary outputs.  These are linked via a patch pannel into 4, 2x600 watt, plus 4, 2x200 watt amplifiers.  In turn, these are patched into 20 loudspeakers giving a proscenium front-of-house system (with sub-bass driver); full side and rear auditorium surround sound; and 3 on-stage speakers which may be flown above the acting area or positioned at stage level.

For input to the system, there are 12 lines from each side of the stage for microphones, 'DI' boxes, etc.  There are replay facilities for cassette, mini-disc, CD and 1/4" reel-to-reel tape.  There is a 3-channel-per-octave graphic equaliser for feedback control when using microphones.

The Priestley also has cinema projection facilities.  The 22-foot screen can be remotely masked for different picture formats.  There are projectors for both 35mm and 16mm film.  VHS video and computer projection can be arranged.  Cinema sound is provided by the same equipment as for stage shows (one reason for the extensive patching facilities) with full Dolby stereo surround sound.

Next door...

All the above are in the main building at no. 6 Chapel Street.  The Priestley also owns no. 4...

The two buildings are linked at 3 levels to provide a 3rd fire escape route (in addition to front- and back-stage stairs), as well as providing good access between the 2 buildings.

From top to bottom, no. 4 has: rehearsal and props rooms; the wardrobe department (costumes for hire to individuals or companies); the Studio Theatre; and a basement rehearsal room/dance studio.

Access to the Studio is through the main building cellar bar, but there are local fire exits to front and rear of the building.

The Studio is an extremely flexible performance space.  Thanks to the seating being provided by individual chairs, the space can be laid out with the audience on any 1, 2, 3 or all 4 sides of the acting area.  (Unfortunately, that also limits us to a maximum of 70 performance days per year.)

The acting area is flexibly covered by a scaffold-barrel grid.  Appropriately for small scale productions, the permanent lighting system has 12 channels, but another 6 or 12 can be rigged temporarily as required.  The Studio has its own stock of lanterns, but these can be suplemented from the main theatre if necessary.

Sound in the Studio is provided on an "at need" basis.  Although nothing is permanently rigged (as befits the flexible layout) arrangements can be made for almost anything that might be needed, up to full surround sound plus acting area coverage for in-the-round performances... and simpler systems appropriate to thrust or end-on performances are clearly no problem.  Microphones are very rarely necessary except for electric music events; other sound replay media capability is as for the main theatre.

Both the Studio and the main auditorium are available for hire.  If you'd like to do so, or for more information, ring 01274 820666, or with your requirements.  The Priestley can almost certainly meet your needs - and at a significantly lower cost than Bradford's larger perfomance venues.