Consett History Society: The Iron Theatre

 An Iron Theatre for a Steel Town

Consett's unique Iron Theatre was the brainchild of Sir David Dale, Chairman of the Consett Iron Company towards the end of the nineteenth century. A keen amateur dramatist, Dale was a caring employer who endeavoured to provide pastimes and entertainments for his workers that would provide an alternative to drinking and gambling.

In 1880, Dale commissioned the building of a theatre that would be the town's first (the Empire was not to open until 1912). Built entirely out of materials from the Iron and Steel works, the Iron Theatre was completed in record time; surviving records are few, but from the laying of foundations to the opening night is thought to have taken only a few months. The result is thought to be the only theatre ever to be so constructed.

To compete with the comedies and light entertainment that were the staple of commercial theatres in nearby towns and cities such as Newcastle, Dale was determined from the outset that his establishment would outshine its rivals. For this reason, the Iron Theatre quickly acquired a reputation for staging the works of Shakespeare and occasionally, spectacular productions of classical operas.

It is recorded that in the theatre's heyday of the 1890s, a production of Mozart's Don Giovanni made use of molten steel (conveyed by rail in crucibles from the blast furnaces) to create an unforgettably infernal vision of the scene set in hell - with the molten steel running through the theatre between the forestage and the audience down specially constructed fire-bricked channels. Spectacular as it was, the experiment was not repeated, as the heat from these special effects caused a number of members of the audience in the front rows to faint.