The Gaiety originally opened in 1900 as a theatre and was subsequently equipped for projection by the provision of a fireproof Bioscope Box at the rear of the Ampitheatre, the rear part of the upper circle. This space continued essentially untouched for nearly seventy years, mostly used as a dumping ground for obsolete equipment once films stopped being shown.

As part of the centenary celebrations the Box was cleared out and turned into a sort of museum.  It hasn’t been restored as such as films cannot actually be shown (indeed the projection ports are currently blocked) and the theatre does not have a cinema screen to project on (or even a white painted screen shape on the safety curtain).

The projection room has a room each side (somewhat constricted by the curvature of the barrel roof) wih natural light into each room by a series of low windows. There is no direct access to the open air, however, possibly a dispensation by the Isle of Man authorities.

Our Treasurer is a Matcham buff and went on holiday to the Isle of Man this summer, arranging to meet the staff for a good look round.  (His general photos can be found here). The box is very small and a tripod wasn’t available so a couple of natural light shots from the smaller of two cameras are slightly blurry. Larger images can be seen by clicking on the photos.

The room is worthy of much more serious study and visual documentation as there are some curiosities in the arrangement seen.

The general view of the box, with the two machines complete with cowls above.

The view to the left of number one machine. There is a slide projector in the far corner, with a monitor horn speaker above. The lighting control is a Strand Electric Grand Master, originally from the Fortune Theatre in London and donated by Jim laws Lighting.

A view of the non-sync to the right of machine number two, (or B as it is labelled). Behind it is the amplifier rack which was moved from the wall opposite the projectors so that it was easier to bring visitors in.

The two large resistances for the arc lamps. These were also originally mounted on the exterior wall. The theatre had its own DC electricity dynamo from a gas engine so rectifiers would not originally have been required. It is unclear if rectifiers were subsequently ftted as mains electricity was connected in the late 1920s, although there are both DC and AC sets in the engine house.

Another view of the Grand Master switchboard (which had 44 resistance dimmers) and the slide lantern. The Grand Master wheel can be seen on the left and each of the four shafts can we selected to rise, fall or not move by the associated gearing.

The horn speaker above the slide lantern. There was no evidence of ceiling sockets above the machines, however. The release bar for the port shutters can be seen, apparently there was an external release wire at the back of the ampitheatre and this is still in-situ but was not seen.

A number of lantern slides have been fitted into this light box on the back wall. It has been uploaded as a large file so that there is sufficient definition to be able to read the slides, most of which are adverts for events elsewhere at other venues (a potted history of which can be found here.)

The room on the left of the auditorium (facing the stage) has some equipment of interest. There is a natural plinth here (above the gallery staircases) which has been used to display some vintage (and not so vintage) lighting equipment.

This is an early salt water dimmer, where lead plates are separated in a solution of brine in order to dim the stage lighting. They had their problems (they could boil if overloaded and the salt concentration had to be right) and are very uncommon fully assembled, although the ceramic pots can occasionally be seen. (Here is a picture of similar one at Ally Pally).

Opposite the salt water dimmer is an old projector found in a bricked up projection room on the island in a church hall. It appears to be an early Kalee 8 mechanism (with an external shutter) modified for sound. The display to the right is of material for the centenary, including the restoration book, Full Circle.

This slide lantern came from the same place as the projector and is branded with the name Gaumont, presumably of a batch specifically made for the cinema chain by an unknown Company.

The stage lighting in the right hand room. Here some internally wird lighting bars were provided connected back to dimmers so that the lanterns could actually be made to light. There are many familiar lanterns here including many of the Strand range that had Pattern numbers.

Here is the theatre’s last lighting desk and something else very rare- an original Vari*lite VL1. There is a good reason they are rare- firstly, you couldn’t buy them, only hire them in quantity complete with an operator. The other reason is that there are very few left, most being upgraded to VL2 devices. Behind is a modern lantern to complete the collection, the ETC Source Four that out-performed 1000 Watt competitors despite consuming a paltry 575 Watt itself.