The Tower Theatre, Folkestone
(photo borrowed from The Tower Theatre as it was too dark to take our own)
This is another of Ren's solo adventures as going to The Tower Theatre has been a tradition of her and her Grandmothers for the last 20-something years. Every Christmas without fail (we exclude Covid here) they have been and this year was no different aside from the bonus Dover panto.
Grandma and I actually went to this one first and the Dover one 3 days later, but this one was more fitting as the Boxing Day special as it is familiar to me. We've been coming here since I was a very young child and to be honest I don't really remember a time where we didn't do the panto, but it isn't just the building that make this special, its the memories and the people.
The Tower Theatre was originally the Garrison Church of St Mark. It was built in 1941 by the Shorncliffe Barracks (which are being knocked down soon, but please note the late, great David Bowie's mother was born here too!) and was the intended church for those stationed here. It accidentally became a landmark even as far as Nazi occupied France due to its position on the hill, not to mention its Gothic looks and brickwork which was fairly hard to come by during this war. Construction was fairly quick which also contributed to the notion that prisoners from over-seas were used for labour which helped the site move along. But the British turned the accidental landmark and negativity over the church on its head. They decided that St Mark's would be a symbol of defiance against the enemy and a proud symbol of our resilience. This of course angered the Germans and Lord Haw-Haw determined the site as a target so they bombed it, but their attempt failed.
The church lived on until 1998 when it was no longer needed. Shorncliffe had shrunk and become the base for a Battalion of Gurkhas who worshipped elsewhere in Cheriton, and so the MoD removed the stained glass windows, banners, and the organ and put the church up for sale. FHODS (Folkestone & Hythe Operatic and Dramatic Society) bought the building in 2001 and renamed it The Tower Theatre. They converted it into a theatre while keeping the historical aspects of the gothic architecture, so from the outside it still looks like a church, but within it is a compact modern theatre complete with bar, foyer, stage, and dressing rooms. The first production put on was Oliver!
I have been lucky enough to visit every room in the building during my youth, I just wish I foresaw what I'd end up doing and took photos! I was part of the FHODS Youth Section in my teenage years and for a year or so I'd be spending Sunday nights doing acting workshops and making up plays which my group even won a award for (it was a murder mystery, real life cluedo, go figure...). I always said I'd return to FHODS but I haven't as yet, but there is still time! Tis luckily a life long thing so if I ever fancy returning to acting I know it'll be there.
I love this building and the plays it puts on and I hope to continue the tradition even when my Grandma no longer wants to (or can) come. I dread the day that comes around, but I'll always cherish what we had, the pantos, the intermission ice cream, and the Grand ol' Duke of York (even if it was Old Mcdonald this time) while slapping your knees!
The site is absolutely haunted though and I'm not talking about the ghost of the Gorilla that chases our heroes off the bench before the intermission. Some unsettling things have gone on and its colder than it should be, then when in the dressing rooms upstairs you never quite feel alone. There's something here I'm sure of it, but one day I'll drag Jamie along and see what he thinks!
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