Bob Built still alive
Bob built safe
I’m sorry holidays, meetings and well lots of work has left a big gap in the blog. This week-end the Town Council has street fest on the beach lawns. The weather is set fair and some great music lined up well at least one as my son Johnny Edgar is on stage at 11.30am a bit early especially as I’ll be dropping him off. well all this leaves us a bit thin on the ground so it’s good that we have an addition to the staff in the shape of January, that’s actually her name, January has just finished at Uni and is working for 13 weeks at the Blakehay. So what has this to do with Bob Built well absolutely nothing!
Bob whoever he is, built a set, a box set which for the uninitiated is scenery that usually forms a front room with a window and a door or two. Now the set is well-built and was used at the play house for some years, I performed in a Pantomime at the Play House with Barry McGuigan and remember standing at the side of the stage, waiting to go on, with the Bob built sign right in front of me. The set moved on to Weston college. I know it was used for several shows eventually being used as part of the pantomime set. A set in which my son performed during his time on the performing arts course. Eventually due to lack of space it was decided to throw the Bob Built set out. Pete Tyler (the college techy) could not however bring himself to trash such a well-built set so he asked If we had anywhere to store it at the Blakehay, which we didn’t, but fortunately we had some space in a garage which we rent for storage. We stored it, and used it for the Blakehay actors Co production of Steel Magnolias. The garage became so full that the set, now in need of new canvas, though the wood is still fine, was again in danger, well we cleared out the garage and ditched the remnants of several past shows but Bob Built lives on. Bob, whoever you are, your set built-in the 1969, was it the summer of 69?, is still in tact. If anyone out there would like to donate the canvas I’ll recover the set and who knows how much longer it could go on for.
The ” BOB BUILT ” scenery was built by me when I was Stage carpenter and stage manager for years at the PLAYHOUSE.I am most impressed that bits of it still exist.
I also made scenery for FREDRICKs Studios in Langford road as well and the studios are still there. but used for other purposes these days.I put BOB BUILT on anything I built and that name was on lots of FREDRICKS scenery used for lots of Operatic shows that FREDRICKS hired out to operatic companys all over Great Britain.I also sewed most of the backcloths that Mr Jim Fredricks painted and this was no mean feat as most of the backcloths were a standard 35 feet wide by 22 feet high made of heavy fire resistant flax. Some cloths like large cycloramas made for sale were even bigger 60 feet wide by 40 feet high and put a severe strain on me operating the commercial Singer sewing machine that was used for this job.Getting the large lenghts of cloth to and from the sewing machine when sewed together was a mammoth undertaking and sometimes tipped the machine and base over with the weight.Stage curtains sometimes in heavy velvet were also made for various theatres in the UK.
I started to work on stage at the KNIGHTSTONE THEATRE in 1954 and the Old PLAYHOUSE before the fire there and worked at Fredricks at he same time in the day. Most of the theatre work was in the evenings after working at FREDRICKS.
I was stage manager at the Knightstone Theatre for years and after the Playhouse fire I took on the job as stage manager at the new Playhouse and ran Knightstone Theatre back stage as well for mostly Summer shows. Showing films at the Playhouse was also my responsability and was there when the projection box was built at a later date. I was also the theatre electrician and switch board operator in both theatres for many years as and when the need required.
Many happy years,very long hours, and fond memories of the shows that passed through both theatres at these times.
The many staff backstage that I employed are still in my mind to this day both fun and hard work and they are a story in them selves.
Thanks to the staff of the theatres past and present for making my life hell and fun and a great working team. No names, you know who you are.
BOB VARCOE.
Bob thanks for the info it sounds like you should be writing a book. I am no longer at the Blakehay but the box set is still in storage.
All the best
Jack Edgar