IELTS Listening: Theatre refurbishment

Hi. Great to see you! I’m Jody and I’ll be looking after both of you for the first month you’re working here at the Amersham Theatre. I’ll tell you something about the theatre now, then take you to meet two of the other staff.

It’s an old building, and it’s been modernised several times. In fact, as you can see, we’re carrying out a major refurbishment at the moment. The interior has just been repainted, and we’re about to start on the exterior of the building – that’ll be a big job. The work’s running over budget, so we’ve had to postpone installing an elevator. I hope you’re happy running up and down stairs! When the theatre was built, people were generally slimmer and shorter than now, and the seats were very close together.

Questions 11 and 12

Which TWO changes have been made so far during the refurbishment of the theatre?

A Some rooms now have a different use – We’ve also turned a few storerooms over to other purposes

B A different type of seating has been installed. – We’ve replaced them with larger seats with more legroom.

C An elevator has been installed. NO – this has been postponed (delayed because the work’s running over budget)

D The outside of the building has been repaired. NO – we’re about to start on the exterior of the building

E Extra seats have been added. NO – fewer seats in total

11. We’ve replaced them with larger seats with more legroom. This means fewer seats in total but we’ve taken the opportunity to install seats that can easily be moved, to create different acting spaces.

12 We’ve also turned a few storerooms over to other purposes, like using them for meetings. We try hard to involve members of the public in the theatre.

Questions 13 and 14 

Which TWO facilities does the theatre currently offer to the public?

A rooms for hire NO – they’ll be available for hire (in the future)

B backstage tours

C hire of costumes – NO – We’re also considering hiring out costumes

D a bookshop

E a cafe NO – so we’re looking into the possibility of opening a cafe in due course (in the future)

13 One way is by organising backstage tours, so people can be shown round the building and learn how a theatre operates. These are proving very popular. What we’re finding is that people want to have lunch or a cup of coffee while they’re here, so we’re looking into the possibility of opening a cafe in due course.

14 We have a bookshop, which specialises in books about drama and that attracts plenty of customers. Then there are two large rooms that will be decorated next month, and they’ll be available for hire, for conferences and private functions such as parties. We’re also considering hiring out costumes to amateur drama clubs.

Questions 15 and 16

Which TWO workshops do the theatre currently offer?

A sound NO – We’re going to start one on sound next month

B acting NO – we intend to run courses in acting

C making puppets

D make-up NO – workshops on make-up, and that’s something we’re considering for the future.

E lighting

Now I want to tell you about our workshops. We recently started a programme of workshops that anyone can join. Eventually we intend to run courses in acting, but we’re waiting until we’ve got the right people in place as trainers. That’s proving more difficult than we’d expected!

15. There’s a big demand to learn about the technical side of putting on a production and our lighting workshop has already started, with great success. We’re going to start one on sound next month. A number of people have enquired about workshops on make-up, and that’s something we’re considering for the future.

16. A surprise success is the workshop on making puppets – we happen to have someone working here who does it as a hobby and she offered to run a workshop. It was so popular we’re now running them every month!