A Child of the Theatre Part VI: The Guild Theatre

Rawhide Court may have been the first theatre The Upstart Crow built, but The Guild Theatre was the one I helped build, and I miss it.

Characters (Richard Bell, Dan McNellan) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre
Characters (Richard Bell, Dan McNellan) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre

The Guild was different from Rawhide Court, in that we had two theatre, well, us and the rest of The Guild did. Because of this it needed sound proofing on the wall that would be next to the lobby. We had gotten some sort of tiling to cover the wall with, and tile by tile we put glue on the back and covered the entire eighteen foot tall or so wall. I did the bottom. I remember this because I loved it and was sorry when it was done.

Character (Dan McNellan, Others) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre
Character (Dan McNellan, Others) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre

Over the years we worked at The Guild I would help with other improvements. When Macky Auditorium got new seats for their space, they donated the old ones to us, and we had to assemble them and stand them up. In later years I would help paint the lobby, and even learn how to drywall during one remodel.

Characters (Dan McNellan, Others) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre
Characters (Dan McNellan, Others) in King Lear (1986) at The Guild Theatre

But the main reason I miss The Guild is for all the other things I learned there (not that drywall isn’t important). The Guild is where I really learned to act, to use power tools, to sew. And I also learned to ride my bike in it’s parking lot.

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