A Play in a Pod

Wednesday night we went to see Noel Coward's Hay Fever at the Royal Exchange Theatre downtown. The old Cotton Exchange building (which was a pretty snazzy place) has been converted into an arts centre (note brit spellings!). But instead of the theatre taking up the entire building, it's literally a little "pod" that's been planted in the middle of the exchange floor. Not unlike an alien spaceship. Here's their own description:

"The Theatre is a seven-sided, glass-walled capsule literally suspended from huge marble pillars. The unique design means that none of the 760 seats are more than nine metres from the circular stage, with seats all around, giving great views wherever you sit."

So the front row is literally the front row; it's a ring of seats around the stage but not separated from it in any way. And like they say, even in the back row, you're still right on top of the action with actors' entrances and exits happening from all different aisles of the round. Pretty wild.