THE 50-year wait for the return of a purpose-built theatre in Durham City ended last night with the opening of the £14m Gala Theatre.
Right up to the last moment, the foyer seemed to be filled by workmen, but confidence remained high that all the drama would be confined to the Gala's stage.
Frantic last-minute work had been required to ensure that 510 theatre-goers could enter the latest wood-panelled, glass, stone, blue and red structure in all its finery.
By superb coincidence the venue's first-ever play is entitled GamePlan, by writer-director, Sir Alan Ayckbourn, of Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
His plan was to ensure that every member of the packed audience enjoyed the critically-acclaimed comedy, while the Gala's plan is to put the theatre on the map as the city's seven-days-a-week cultural heart.
Although Sir Alan has gone on record as expressing concern about an arts space trying to be "all things to all people", the intention is to switch between stage shows, concerts with an all-standing audience and a banqueting hall for 350.
From Saturday, the Gala'a giant screen cinema will start showing a "large-format" edition of Walt Disney's Beauty And The Beast, with seating for 116. Meanwhile, the caf, rapidly-completed bar area and 100-seater restaurant were engulfed in first night festivities.
The dramatic thunder has been stolen by Sir Alan's work. GamePlan is followed by two further comedies called FlatSpin and RolePlay, with the playwright confident that his "battle-hardened" cast were the ideal people to launch Durham's date with theatrical triumph
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