Real Lives: Beanstalk panto got John hooked on the Churchill

Published on Friday 20 November 2009 10:14

JOHN Treadgold, who was captivated by the Churchill Theatre as a child, has returned to work there decades after his first visit.

Mr Treadgold was barely out of his nappies when he fell in love with the Morningside theatre.

At the age of four, he went to see Jack and the Beanstalk there, and was instantly hooked.

He returned throughout his childhood, building up a relationship which has lasted decades, and when the opportunity returned there to work as an engineer it was impossible for him to ignore the opening.

The 39-year-old former Bruntsfield Primary pupil now spends his working day preparing the stage and other areas of the much-loved facility for the very productions that persuaded him to come back time and again.

He told the Evening News: "I remember going there for the Jack and the Beanstalk production and seeing the stalk coming up to the ceiling from the aisle.

"I grew up in Bruntsfield and now live in Polwarth so I've always been near to the theatre.

"I'd been working in various places before this job came up, so I decided I had to go for it."

He said a job being permanently based at the same theatre gave him an interesting perspective on areas of his work.

"Before you would get everything ready and go, and then come back to clear up and make sure everything was fine for the next performance, but being based here it actually allows you to see a lot of the performances and how it all works round the area you have helped prepare.

"It's quite funny just taking a few minutes to soak everything in and actually enjoy the performances, it's not something you often get to see."

Having worked at such events like T in the Park he is well used to dealing with large scale acts.

It is the variety of work at the 350-capacity theatre on Morningside Road which keeps him the most interested though.

"You have school shows, amateur performances, musicals, all kinds of things," he said.

"Even in the short time I've been working here there have been a few sell-outs, and it's a terrific atmosphere inside.

"In some ways it is a community theatre and in others so much more than that. It is a special place and rightly it is dear to many people's hearts.

"It is deeply valued in the community, not just in Morningside and Bruntsfield but the whole of Edinburgh. A lot of people will have memories of it in some ways.

"It is strange preparing the stage for shows when I saw so many as a child on the same stage."