Cockpit Theatre, Marylebone - The Auditorium

The Auditorium

The auditorium is 8.5m high and 11m2 with a retractable seating bank on all four sides. Each bank seats 60 people and the seat cushions and backrests can be removed to create alternative playing areas. With the upstage, left and right banks retracted, the downstage centre bank can be pulled out from the standard four rows to 10 rows, creating an end-on configuration. The stage measures 6.6m x 8.6m in thrust setting and 6.6m x 5.9m in-the-round. Upstage, a series of trapdoors span the width of the stage with a series or movable and replaceable panels covering them. Under the stage is a large manually winched lift (now out of service) which can roll along the span of the traps. Although these could be used for stage effects, original plans show this sub-stage area marked as a "chair store" and was to be used as the storage area for seats removed when reconfiguring the space.