A Personal View
For a venue that enjoys such a tenuous existence - always seemingly teetering on the edge of closure, and PERMANENT closure this time, we’re warned - the Palace continues to hold a special place in Southendians’ hearts.
For those amongst us who seek a little more of the richness of life’s delights than can be got from the “idiot’s lantern” in our living rooms, or from the predictable and formulaic Hollywood fare on offer at the cinema, the Palace, with its ever-changing and diverse canon of features, can often offer something excitingly different.
A few years ago, on learning that our theatre might be lost to us for ever, I undertook to visit the Palace more often. So, instead of musing: “Mmmhh…I might like to see that”, and "Yeah, that might be ok", on learning of something coming up, I, along with some like-minded friends, determined to cough up and get our feet wet, and only on a few occasions has any of us been disappointed.
The main auditorium, redolent of past grandeur and faded opulence, and - I love this - boasting a “is it true, or isn’t it?” ghost story, is my favourite.
Although recently we’ve seen and enjoyed plays direct from the West End, comedians, and topical, musical revue-type shows, the main theatre is at its best as a mid-sized rock gig venue. It may be much smaller than its sister site, the Cliffs Pavilion, but I reckon this auditorium beats it into a cocked hat for a music evening, allowing faithful acoustics, a decent view, and a good, positive atmosphere, with some semblance of intimacy.
Then there’s the Dixon Studio, which features ambitious and sometimes cutting-edge productions from smaller, independent local theatre groups such as the Lindisfarne Players, or the excellent Southend Shakespeare Company.
This venue has a much more intimate feel, and suggests to me that this was how live theatre was born, with players doing their stuff only feet away, close enough to touch.
This is theatre very much in a bearpit, every emotion laid bare to see, and I’ve known the air crackle with emotion during a very highly-charged piece.
A new venture is feature films, shown in the main auditorium, a welcome initiative.
I'd like to see speciality, independent films, European cinema maybe; there is such a wealth of classics from French, Italian, and Spanish directors, countless stories to plunder the heart and soul from the last 40 years or so. This was a speciality of the Leigh Film Club, sadly no longer with us.
Sadly, though, as markets tend to dictate, Hollywood fare is probably what we will get.
I, however, have every faith in the cultural integrity of the people of Southend and its environs, and, given adequate publicity, there's a crisp fiver in my pocket that says they will come even if the output of Tinseltown, the catch-all blockbusters, were avoided.
If I'm wrong? Ho hum, it would still be a good place to watch a film.
