The Repair Shop on the Road to feature Newcastle's Theatre with an Impressive Cultural Artefact

Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre & Opera House will be featured on the spin-off series of The Repair Shop, The Repair Shop on the Road on Thursday 20 February at 4:30pm.

The series follows the team as they venture across the UK to meet those caring for historical treasures and help them preserve their objects of interest. In the North East special, the theatre’s historic Victorian machinery will be centre stage.

The theatre holds Grade I protected status and has one of the only surviving examples of Victorian wooden modular stage machinery in the UK. The charity which owns and operates the venue, the Tyne Theatre and Opera House Preservation Trust has been working tirelessly to maintain the heritage from 1867.

The Tyne Theatre & Opera House has an extensive cultural history, and the stage machinery was used regularly within productions until 1985, when a tragic Christmas Day fire hit the theatre and caused significant damage to the stage house and historic machinery.

Thanks to recent funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and with support from a team of community volunteers, the restoration of the understage machinery is now nearly complete.

Jonathan Higgins, CEO of the Tyne Theatre & Opera House said, “We’re thrilled that the episode is airing this week; our team had a fantastic time filming with the crew and showing off our Victorian stage machinery’s restoration project. We’re privileged to be a part of this wonderful theatre’s history, and we can’t wait for the rest of the UK to fall in love with Newcastle’s cultural gem.”

Tune in to BBC One at 4:30pm on Thursday 20 February or watch the episode on iPlayer.

To see the Victorian stage machinery yourself, sign up to the one of the theatre’s upcoming Guided Tours, where guests can explore areas never seen on a normal visit, including the understage and backstage areas. Tours cost £12.50 which includes a hot drink at the end of the tour in the theatre’s brand-new 1867 Cafe Bar.

To check out more recently announced shows, head over to the Tyne Theatre & Opera House website: https://www.tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk/whats-on/