At the end of last month Cathy and I went to a gig in Abertillery. It was in the Metropole Theatre, an historic venue dating back well over a century. It even had Charlie Chaplin perform there back in the early years of the twentieth century.
There's a series of information boards charting the history of the building in the corridor by the conveniences. I was waiting there and this reproduced newspaper clipping caught my eye. It was in a section about how the Metropole was built as the town's Market Hall was no longer considered a suitable venue for public events, following scenes like this:
I have so many questions... who was Dr Price? In what way was he "eccentric"? What was he lecturing about? Why did it result in the "unwashed" reacting violently?
But hey, the "hooting" and object throwing helped drive forward plans to build a theatre so maybe it worked out for the best.
