1Hi. Great to see you!
2I'm Jody, and I'll be looking after both of you for the first month you're working here at the Amersham Theatre.
3I'll tell you something about the theatre now, then take you to meet two of the other staff.
4It's an old building, and it's been modernised several times.
5In fact, as you can see, we're carrying out a major refurbishment at the moment.
6The interior has just been repainted,
7and we're about to start on the exterior of the building -
8that'll be a big job.
9The work's running over budget,
10so we've had to postpone installing an elevator.
11I hope you're happy running up and down stairs!
12When the theatre was built,
13people were generally slimmer and shorter than now,
14and the seats were very close together.
15We've replaced them with larger seats, with more legroom.
16This means fewer seats in total,
17but we've taken the opportunity to install seats that can easily be moved, to create different acting spaces.
18We've also turned a few storerooms over to other purposes like using them for meetings.
19We try hard to involve members of the public in the theatre.
20One way is by organising backstage tours
21so people can be shown round the building and learn how a theatre operates.
22These are proving very popular.
23What we're finding is that people want to have lunch or a cup of coffee while they're here,
24so we're looking into the possibility of opening a café in due course.
25We have a bookshop, which specialises in books about drama
26and that attracts plenty of customers.
27Then there are two large rooms that will be decorated next month,
28and they'll be available for hire,
29for conferences and private functions, such as parties.
30We're also considering hiring out costumes to amateur drama clubs.
31Now I want to tell you about our workshops.
32We recently started a programme of workshops that anyone can join.
33Eventually we intend to run courses in acting,
34but we're waiting until we've got the right people in place as trainers.
35That's proving more difficult than we'd expected!
36There's a big demand to learn about the technical side of putting on a production,
37and our lighting workshop has already started with great success.
38We're going to start one on sound next month.
39A number of people have enquired about workshops on make-up,
40and that's something we're considering for the future.
41A surprise success is the workshop on making puppets -
42we happen to have someone working here who does it as a hobby,
43and she offered to run a workshop.
44It was so popular we're now running them every month!
45Now, a word about the layout of the building.
46The auditorium, stage and dressing rooms for the actors are all below ground level.
47Here on the ground floor we have most of the rooms that the public doesn't see.
48The majority are internal, so they have windows in the roof to light them.
49Standing here in the foyer, you're probably wondering why the box office isn't here,
50where the public would expect to find it.
51Well, you might have noticed it on your way in -
52although it's part of this building, it's next door with a separate entrance from the road.
53For the theatre manager's office, you go across the foyer and through the double doors,
54turn right, and it's the room at the end of the corridor, with the door on the left.
55The lighting box is where the computerised stage lighting is operated
56and it's at the back of the building.
57When you're through the double doors
58turn left, turn right at the water cooler, and right again at the end.
59It's the second room along that corridor.
60The lighting box has a window into the auditorium,
61which of course is below us.
62The artistic director's office is through the double doors,
63turn right and it's the first room you come to on the right-hand side.
64And finally, for the moment,
65the room where I'll take you next - the relaxation room.
66So if you'd like...