The Parc and Dare Hall, now known as the Park and Dare Theatre (), is a former Miners' institute but now serves as a large entertainment venue in the

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

Treorchy Treorchy (; ) is a town and Community (Wales), community (and electoral ward) in Wales. Once a mining town, it retains such characteristics. Situated in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf in the Rhondda Fawr valley. Treorchy is also one of t ...

, in the

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( ), is a former coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fawr valley (, 'large') and t ...

Valley of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. Since the demolition of the Abercynon Workingmen's Hall, the Parc and Dare Workingmen's Hall is the largest in the

South Wales Coalfield The South Wales Coalfield () extends across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire, Swansea, Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen. It is rich in coal deposits, especially in the South Wales ...

. It is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

building.

History

The Parc and Dare Hall was built in 1892, and began its life as a working men's library and institute. The workers of the Park and the Dare Collieries funded the building by a donating a penny from each pound of their wages.Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council Cultural Services department
/ref> It was a place where the miners could meet and socialise and featured a bar and a library. In the early twentieth century work began on the Parc and Dare Hall, adding a large

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, initially to be used as a

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical performances, sketch comedy, magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is normally introduced by a comp� ...

venue. In 1913 the theatre was completed, the external style of the building being influenced by the contemporary

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

of Welsh Nonconformist chapels. Due to the declining popularity of theatre and the emergence of cinema, by 1920 a cinema screen was installed. In 1930, the first '

talkie A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but decades passed befo ...

' picture to be screened was ''

The Broadway Melody ''The Broadway Melody'', also known as ''The Broadway Melody of 1929'', is a 1929 American pre-Code musical film and the first sound film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It was one of the early musicals to feature a Technicolor sequen ...

,'' and people flocked from miles around to hear this innovation. In 1975, the theatre was in such a state of disrepair that its closure was inevitable. The Parc & Dare Workmen's Institute Committee, faced with this daunting possibility, donated the building to the then Rhondda Borough Council. Today the Parc and Dare is still used as a functioning theatre and cinema. Most theatre productions tend to be locally produced, for example by The Rhondda Theatre Group, but the venue is also used by touring musicians and comedians. Over the years it has been graced by the biggest stars in show business including the likes of Max Boyce,

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English stand-up comedy, comedian, actor and singer. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer" and was primarily known for his live stand-up comedy, stand-up pe ...

and the

Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British rhythm ...

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...

. In 2007 the Parc and Dare was used in filming the theatre stage scenes in " Daleks in Manhattan" and " Evolution of the Daleks", the fourth and fifth episodes of series 3 of the BBC's revived ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' series.

Architecture and design

The former Parc and Dare Institute is now connected at various levels to the Hall and provides the rehearsal rooms, offices and public areas. The façade conceals an unexpectedly ambitious auditorium that, as with most of its kind in Wales, is at first floor level. It is a fine hall with two curved galleries, the slips of each extending to and meeting the proscenium wall. Each gallery front retains its original decorative plasterwork. The proscenium arch is attractively decorated over its entire length with plasterwork representing fruit and flowers. The Parc and Dare is still an

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

proscenium-arched theatre that acts as a venue for live performance, cinema and community events. The Parc and Dare is a Grade II* listed building and stands as the tallest building in

. The Parc and Dare Workingmen's Hall once had a clock above its entrance. The clock, on Station Road, was added around the same time as the theatre hall, but was removed in the 1970s during renovations and was never replaced.

Notes

{{coord, 51.6590, -3.5063, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Theatres in Wales Buildings and structures in Rhondda Cynon Taf Tourist attractions in Rhondda Cynon Taf Grade II* listed buildings in Rhondda Cynon Taf