The Regent Cinema

The Regent Cinema.  It’s one of those buildings that for my generation, at least, seems to have been standing there alone on Redcar seafront forever.  The only changes to its façade are those of weather and salt air corrosion.  Nowadays it doesn’t even look as though it’s open, but it is.

I remember when I was a little… cough… younger that it seemed to take forever to see new films.  I’m certain it was sometimes months before the new releases came to Redcar, and by then they weren’t really new anymore.  Perhaps my perception of time was a bit warped back then, being a child/teenager and wanting everything now please!

So there stands the Regent Cinema, stubbornly refusing to go away and leave us to our nice shiny, technologically advanced, seating superior, multi-screen, characterless shells of overpriced entertainment.  From the outside it looks beaten.  If it could speak I imagine the words would be, “I’d ask you in but you don’t think I’m worth it.  I’ll still be here if you ever change your mind.”  The voice would sound like Marvin the Paranoid Android, and somewhere beneath the shell would be a little despondent tear welling up, and as you walk past and disappear down the street you would hear the sigh of disappointment and resignation.

Last Monday I went to the Regent for the first time in 20 years, all thanks to a friend who told me that it is, in fact, open and showing current films.  We had to stand in the cold evening sea air while we waited for the owner to unlock the door, but that was okay; we were early anyway.  As soon as I walked into the foyer and was enveloped in that familiar popcorn/velour/old picture postcard smell I felt the history, but it wasn’t that of the cinema’s; it was my own young cinema-going history.  It was the countless fabulous and rubbish films, the slightly uncomfortable dates, the group of friends trips, the family outings.  It was sitting up high with a packet of fruit Polo's, sucking on them then throwing them down to see if you could get them stuck in someone’s hair.  It was the day seeing Arachnophobia, feet up on the seats in front, when each time a scary bit came on our legs shot forward involuntarily.  By the time we left that day those seats in front were a bit wobbly.  Before I sat down on Monday I went to check those same seats, and they are indeed still wobbly (though nowhere near as much as I remember).  I’m not ashamed to say that it made me smile; perhaps partly because I was glad to know that after all these years believing it had happened, I confirmed that it really did happen!

When I was at work the following day telling colleagues about this blast from the past, one of them responded with, "They should just pull it down!".  You know what?  There was a time I felt the same way.  I considered it an eyesore.  It was a scar on the face of an otherwise pretty seaside view, and I often thought as I drove or walked past that we should move on, let the multiscreen, faceless, overpriced cinemas ten miles away take our business.  At least we have choice there, right?

Well yes, we have choice in Cineworld, Showcase and all the other big corporate names.  We can spend all day there and not see the same film twice.  We could also choose to spend a small fortune on snack food so hiked up that it costs even more for a drink and a bag of sweets than it does to see the film in the first place.

This country sees small towns struggling with their high streets.  Shops close and the shutters come down, and as you wander down the street you begin to notice just how many shutters don't come back up again.  Redcar High Street suffers this problem, although the shutters are replaced with boards that make them look less like empty shells and more like am-dram backdrops.  I see the point in it; it's less depressing this way.  Now, though, Redcar is in the process of being 'transformed'.  Someone, somewhere, decided it was time to fight back, and fighting back we are.  They're building a big new swimming pool with a gym, office space, and so much more.  Tuned-In is already right there by the boating lake (which also had an overhaul).  The Hub is still being finished, but there's an art gallery open now.  The new Beacon stands with its HelterSkelter-esque appearance, surrounded by new sea walls, protective little huts with benches for eating fish and chips and getting out of the rain, fabulous steps leading down to the beach where so many people sit and just take in the stunning view out to sea (I've done it myself plenty of times).  Today I walked along the promenade and there are little fountains now too.  Fountains!  There were kids running in and out of them as they randomly shot their jets of water into the air.  The sound of those kids laughing and having fun, and the looks on their parents faces were fabulous.

It's been too many years since I've seen families experience such genuine joy in Redcar.  So why are people so quick to do it all down?  Just pulling down the Regent is an easy option.  The people who run it probably feel like they're constantly fighting a losing battle, and I'm not surprised.  They have a bucket in the foyer to collect money for buying new seats, and I'm sorry to say that despite my best intentions twice in the past week, I forgot to throw some money in, but I won't forget a third time!

People are quick to judge the big supermarkets for doing local shopkeepers out of business and forcing them to close.  The tide is turning, though, and people are starting to shop in their markets again, in their local fishmongers and greengrocers.  These are local people trying to earn a living and serve their community, but they can only serve them if that community is willing to make some changes.  Many of us, me included, have gotten into the habit of just buying everything in one huge supermarket.  Let's be honest, it's easier than trudging down the high street and actually communicating with shopkeepers.  Heaven forbid we should ever become a 'regular' anywhere except the pub.

Going to the Regent cinema is no different.  We're so used to driving 10 miles, struggling to park, paying excessive prices for tickets and snacks, and let's not forget the extra money for 3D glasses (you don't pay extra at the Regent, and you hand them back on your way out).  We're so used to commuting for our work, shopping and leisure activities that we've forgotten to enjoy what's on our doorstep.  I can easily walk to the Regent, and who wouldn't want to when the journey is so picturesque?

Since joining Stockton Town Choir back in January my eyes have been opened to what's possible in the local community.  It seems Stockton has a one-man crusader in Mike McGrother, the doggedly determined man who runs it.  The performances are for the community; they're for the promotion and improvement of the high street and the people who walk its paths.  I'm so proud to be one of the people who can help to give something back, even if it's just a smile to one person, and I've never lived in Stockton.  It doesn't stop me wanting to help make a difference, however small a difference it might be.  I know it's Mike who helped to open my eyes about Redcar.  I did used to complain about the state of the high street, the roads, the lack of leisure facilities.  Now something is happening, and it's good.  I don't know what help this blog post will be for our little local cinema with its one screen, reasonable ticket prices, affordable snacks and downright lovely staff, but I'm writing anyway.

To those who say, "just pull down the Regent", I say think again.  Let's support it and help it to become another reason for people to visit Redcar again, and another reason for us to enjoy what's already right here on our doorstep.

Redcar is changing for the better.  I see it and feel it every time I make the effort to really look and open myself up to what it can now (and will in the near future) offer.  Give it a chance.  Please.  Visit the Regent.  Throw a few quid in the 'chair fund' bucket (those few quid you saved on ticket prices, perhaps).  Enjoy the memories it brings back and let it make new ones with you.

K x

To find out film times, Regent Cinema is on facebook.  You know you want to...