The secret life of a London music hall

摘要

Wilton's Music Hall is described in its publicity material as 'London's hidden stage'. It's not hidden terribly well, in that it appears on maps, and there are signposts to it, but visiting it still has something of the feel of stepping into another world. To reach it, you turn your back on the ramparts and gates of the Tower of London, and its attendant steel and glass towers, and walk along streets where office buildings give way to blocky city car parks and then to older brick commercial buildings, well-worn pubs and corner shops. With an elevated section of the Docklands Light Railway echoing and rumbling on one side, you turn down Graces Alley (which has the look of a turning that won't be there the next time you try to find it), and you're facod with what looks like a row of diminutive terraced houses of old, yellow brick with peeling paintwork on wooden window frames opposite a set of railings that are barely holding luxuriant bushes at bay. On the other side of the vegetation are the unmistakable, slightly haunting, sounds of a school playground. If you were expecting a grand entrance like a West End theatre, there's none to be seen. And for a visit to somewhere described as being restored, nothing looks like it's in mint condition.