Theatre being built in old chapel!

Jinx

I love churches as beautiful buildings in their own right. Not being at all religious I think a church being used for a positive use rather than falling to bits is a good move.

rustyboy21

mickeydonut wrote: »

i cant believe some people think its ok for performances to be held in a cemetry while people are trying to mourn their loved ones. Is a cemetry not a place for quietness and times of reflection and rememberance??? Would you really be happy with this in your village??? Not to mention parking issues, noise issues.
Disgusted with some posters responses. Hang your heads!!!

When do theatres usually do their performances? Usually around 7.30pm at night.

Considering that most if not all cemetries close at dusk( which is something to do with law, I think) why would it affect the mourners?

Also by the looks of it, the chapel is facing a road and not actually in the cemetry itself, so why would, again affect mourners?

Buildings like this are fallling apart all round this country. Is it used as a chapel of rest at the moment? If not it wont be kept in reasonable state of repair, if the theatre group take it on, it will be.

I think there is a lot of 'knee-jerk' reactions going on here, people putting ' Theatre. cemetry and chapel' all in one sentence and totally misreading the actual story.

It appears to be a very old building. Therefore the graves which surround it, would most likely to be as old too.Most likely, there are very few if any living descendants visiting the graves anyway. A cemetry usually fans out from the chapel. The newer the grave, the further away it would be from the chapel.

Also it is a theatre group using it, it is not going to be used for the next take that concert !

As already posted, I would rather a chapel be used for something decent than digging up the whole cemetry and knocking down the chapel and building a supermarket. which happened in St Helens Lancs when they built the Hardshaw centre. My dad who was a funeral director saw photos of the bodies dug up. They were dressed in their Victorian finery and just looked like they were asleep. They had in effect been mummified by the dry ground conditions.

rustyboy21

texranger wrote: »

so you would prefer this "let it be used as a drug den and a place for the homeless to break in for somewhere to sleeps."

I don't think that would happen to be honest with you.

Have you seen it on google maps?

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?rlz=1T4ADRA_enGB421GB424&q=RH18+5BW.&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x47df5f2c8c78db97:0x1d48068ea3ef486a,Forest+Row,+East+Sussex+RH18+5BW&gl=uk&ei=zJutTpntOY_B8QPL8PyHCw&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBwQ8gEwAA

I notice that there are very few flowers on peoples graves. I feel that it is more likely.... NIMBY !

Look for Priory Rd No 13 ( IS the chapel)

BTW how many private swimming pools does one need in a small village?

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Since Christianity has taken a kicking in this country and no one wants or needs the churches/chapels anymore,why not use them for something positive.
The dead are dead,you can't stop people living for the sake of them.
My brother lives in a realy large cemetary/crematorium,he's respectful of the fact but he can't stop life going on around the graves.
We still have family parties,barebecues etc.,his children played and now his grandchildren play there and he's never had one complaint from people who come to tend graves in the fifteen years he's lived there.
Life goes on,regardless of who lies beneath.
To deny the living because of the dead is absurd.

faithcecilia

The future of church buildings depends on their congregations (or lack of them). Some are bursting at the seams (my home parish you need to arrive half an hour early to get a seat - quite a shock for catholics who are used to arriving late!) others are being left to rot. The ideal, would be people going to church, but second to that I think reusing the building is the best idea, and a church will often be the ideal shape for a theatre. As long as its deconsecrated I have no problem whatsoever.

elsien

My nearest ex-chapel is now a bathroom showroom.
On balance, I think I'd prefer the theatre.

Techhead_2

mickeydonut wrote: »

i cant believe some people think its ok for performances to be held in a cemetry while people are trying to mourn their loved ones. Is a cemetry not a place for quietness and times of reflection and rememberance??? Would you really be happy with this in your village??? Not to mention parking issues, noise issues.
Disgusted with some posters responses. Hang your heads!!!

That's just a ridiculous over-reaction, church services/activities bring noise and parking issues. Would you be offended if a happy wedding or joyous christening took place ? Or children's nativity play?
(By the way, cemeteries contain monuments celebrating people's lives, not dour quiet rooms)

Andy_L

mickeydonut wrote: »

google " Forest row chapel barebones"

I did - only relevant result seems to be this thread, can anyone else give a link to the outrage?

http://www.google.co.uk/search?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=&q=Forest+row+chapel+barebones

peachyprice

mickeydonut wrote: »

i cant believe some people think its ok for performances to be held in a cemetry

I'm confused, the title of your thread is 'Theatre being built in old chapel' but now you're saying the theatre group will be performing in the cemetery?

Can you clarify please, as if it's the chapel building, which I presume is no longer being used as a chapel, I can't see the problem. What would happen to the building otherwise, would it become derelict?

Obviously if the actors are performing in the cemetery, and your last post suggests, possibly causing damage to headstones and trampling over graves, well this would be wrong.

Fiddlestick

mickeydonut wrote: »

i cant believe some people think its ok for performances to be held in a cemetry while people are trying to mourn their loved ones.

The two activities are mutually compatible.

Would you really be happy with this in your village??? !

I live in Edinburgh.

Believe me when I say I've seen far more tasteless things in the name of "art".