PRODUCTION	DATE
Sunny side Up	April, 1969
All In Good Time	September, 1969
Barefoot In The Park	October, 1969
Aladdin	Jan/Feb, 1970
Dry Rot	May, 1970
Gaslight	September, 1970
The Spirit Of Christmas	December, 1970
Shock Tactics	March, 1971
Showtime Showtime	May, 1971
Come Laughing Home	October, 1971
Ladies In Retirement Ladies in Retirement	November, 1971
Hotel Paradiso	March, 1972
Dear Delinquent	May, 1972
Boeing - Boeing	October, 1972
Hello' 73	January, 1973
The Best Laid Scemes	March, 1973
Murder For The Asking	May, 1973
Rattle Of A Simple Man	October 1973
Aladdin	January, 1974
Don't Utter A Note	March, 1974
A Letter From The General	May, 1974
Relatively Speaking	October, 1974
Dick Whittington	January, 1975
Dandy Dick	March, 1975
Portrait of Murder	May, 1975
Brush With a Body	October, 1975
Puss in Boots	January, 1976
Let Sleeping Wives Lie	March, 1976
Dark Lucy	May, 1976
Breathe of Spring	October, 1976
Robinson Crusoe	January, 1977
My Three Angels	March, 1977
Spring Fantasia	April, 1977
Spring and Port Wine	November, 1977
Mother Goose	February, 1978
The Late Edwina Black	April, 1978
One for the Pot	May, 1978
Fools Paradise	October, 1978
The Spirit of Christmas	December, 1978
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves	Jan/Feb, 1979
The Day After the Fair	April, 1979
Not Now Darling	May, 1979
Fish Out of Water	Oct/Nov, 1979
Cinderella	Jan/Feb, 1980
Barefoot in the Park	October, 1980
Aladdin	Jan/Feb, 1981
Uproar in the House	Mar/Apr, 1981
Bonaventure	May, 1981
Two and Two Make Sex	November, 1981
Dick Whittington	February, 1982
Wanted - One body	April, 1982
Pink String and Sealing Wax	October, 1982
Robin Hood	January, 1983
Bitter Sanctuary	March, 1983
Dry Rot	May, 1983
Bedroom Farce	October, 1983
Wizard of Oz	January, 1984
Too Soon for Daisies	March, 1984
The Murder Room	May, 1984
Tom Jones	October, 1984
Autumn Manoeuvres	April, 1985
The Love Match	May, 1985
Charley's Aunt	October, 1985
Hansel and Gretel	January, 1986
Recipe for Murder	March, 1986
Table Manners	May, 1986
Move Over Mrs Markham	Oct/Nov, 1986
Jack and the Beanstalk	January, 1987
Murder on Monday	March, 1987
Birds on the Wing	May, 1987
The Evacuees	June, 1987
When We are Married	October, 1987
Robinson Crusoe	January, 1988
Panic Stations	April, 1988
In Great Grandmothers Day	June, 1988
Touch and Go	October, 1988
Sing a Song of Sixpence	January, 1989
I'll Get My Man	April, 1989
On the Ration	September, 1989
Trap for a Lonely Man	November, 1989
Babes in the Woods	January, 1990
A Gown for His Mistress	May, 1990
The House on the Cliff	Oct/Nov, 1990
Peter Pan	Jan/Feb, 1991
Our Day Out	July, 1991
Running Riot	October, 1991
Puss in Boots	January, 1992
Stepping Out	May, 1992
Tom and Huckleberry	October, 1992
Robin Hood	January, 1993
Rattle of a Simple Man	Mar/Apr, 1993
The Edge of Darkness	June, 1993
The Factory Children	July, 1993
Music Box	October, 1993
Ali Baba	Jan/Feb, 1994
My Giddy Aunt	May, 1994
Bugsy Malone	November, 1994
Dick Whittington	Jan/Feb, 1995
Busy Body	May, 1995
The Evacuees	July, 1995
Hobson's Choice	October, 1995
Hansel and Gretel	Jan/Feb, 1996
It Happened in Venice	May, 1996
The Magnificent Dream Machine	July, 1996
Murdered to Death	October, 1996
Aladdin	Jan/Feb, 1997
Showtime Special	May, 1997
Dry Rot	October, 1997
Robinson Crusoe	January, 1998
Steel Magnolias	April, 1998
A Murder is Announced	October, 1998
Our Day Out	November, 1998
Jack and the Beanstalk	January, 1999
A Showtime Special	May, 1999
Fish Out of Water	October, 1999
Peter Pan	January, 2000
Rumours	November, 2000
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves	Jan/Feb, 2001
Dead Guilty	April, 2001
Tom and Huckleberry	June, 2001
Secondary Cause of Death	November, 2001
Robin Hood	Jan/Feb, 2002
Respecting Your Piers	April, 2002
Bugsy Malone	September, 2002
Wanted - One Body	Oct/Nov, 2002
Dick Whittington	Jan/Feb, 2003
Stepping Out	Apr/May, 2003
Panic Stations	September, 2003
Aladdin	Jan/Feb, 2004
The Murder Room	May, 2004
In Great Grandmothers Day	July, 2004
Gaslight	October, 2004
Robinson Crusoe	Jan/Feb, 2005
The Odd Couple	May, 2005
Starstruck	July, 2005
My Three Angels	October, 2005
Jack and the Beanstalk	Jan/Feb, 2006
Starstruck	May, 2006
The Best of Times	October, 2006
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves	Jan/Feb, 2007
Dark Lucy	May, 2007
Our Day Out	July, 2007
Death By Fatal Murder	October, 2007
Peter Pan	Jan/Feb, 2008
The Cemetery Club	June, 2008
Tom and Huckleberry	July, 2008
Robin Hood	Jan/Feb, 2009

Celebrating 40 years!

Dreams can come true

As you all probably know by now Audley Theatre opened its doors to the public for the first time on Tuesday the 15th of April 1969. The opening ceremony was performed by the then pop star Jackie Trent along with her musician husband Tony Hatch (famed for the signature tune to the popular TV series Crossroads). This particular moment in time was a “dreams can come true” moment for all those involved with making the occasion possible, but we need to go back to 1935 to when the story actually began, some 34 years earlier.

In 1935 Mrs Marion Platt along with a few friends started a Youth Club in Audley to give the youngsters of the village something to do and something to look forward to. The Youth Club was a huge success and became an important part of Audley life for the youth and adults of that time. It was during this period that a few members from the Youth Club decided to form a drama group; they called themselves “The St James’ Repertory Players”. They staged their performances of play-lets, dramas, musicals and pantomimes in the Church Hall up until 1948 (although, during the war years there were a few breaks). My research tells me that with the onset of war some of the older members of “The Players” were called up to serve their country, some of which, sadly, never returned to “tread the boards” again, but unbeknown to them they left Audley with a legacy to be proud of. In 1948 “The Players” disbanded and but for a few local enthusiasts this story would have ended now.

In the autumn of 1954, six years after the “St James’ Repertory Players” ceased performing Mrs Marion Platt gathered together some of the original members and a few local drama enthusiasts and re-formed the society to provide funds for the “New Village Hall”. They were called “The Repertory Players” later to be renamed “The Hall Players”. They were based in the then Village Hall (now known as the Boughey Hall) and the building was attached to the Boughey Arms public house and leased by Allied Breweries to whom the rent was paid. Their first production called Bonaventure, was staged in 1955 and some of the cast from that performance are actually appearing on this stage tonight during our Celebration Anniversary – you know who they are! Maybe some of you in the audience here tonight were also in the audience back in 1955 to witness the “dawn of a new era”. The Hall Players produced dramas and light entertainment shows at the Village Hall until 1967, a time when certain dreams began to slip away from the realms of fantasy and became ever nearer to reality! Those dreams were of course - “to have a theatre of our own” - “a place we can call home”!

To bring this story up to the present day we need to travel back in time a few years – 99 years to be exact! That’s 24 years earlier than the first production by the “St James’ Players” in 1935. So back we go to a small side street in Audley named “Hall Street” the year is 1910 and a Messrs Oakes and Turner have just finished erecting a fine building there. The building was to be a cinema and was called “The Coronation Picture House” it was named to commemorate the coronation of King George V, some time later it was renamed “The Palace Cinema”. The cinema was operated and run by several different owners giving the local people an opportunity to be entertained by the best films of the time, from ‘silents’ to ‘talkies’. Perhaps some of you remember it well, the penny rush, Saturday matinees or even the double seats on the back row (wink, wink). But sadly with the birth of television came the demise of many small cinemas across the land and “The Palace Cinema” was no exception, it was forced to close its doors (as a cinema) for the last time in 1965. For a short period of time after this the building was used as a bingo hall, but this turned into a failed venture and was eventually put up for sale.

Now we must jump forward again to where we left the “Hall Players”, with their dreams. It’s March 1967 and the sale of the old cinema came to the attention of the Players and a few discussions later it was decided on to at least ‘take a look’. A couple of viewing missions were arranged and carried out (mainly by torchlight) to see what potential the building could offer the Players, but with months of neglect the sights and smells that greeted the group, to say the least were, “not very aspiring”. They entered a dark world of decay with dampness throughout and a nasal filling musty smell with every step they took on their magical mystery tour of destiny, old bingo tickets littered the floor the seats were covered in mildew and mould was growing up the walls – the place was a mess! - So what happened next? – They went and bought the place! The Players saw the potential and the realisation of a dream - “a theatre of their own”, so with just £30 in the bank and with the help of a local businessman, Mr Ned McEllin, and interest free loans from many interested people in the community the old cinema was purchased and signed over in May 1967. In June of that same year work was started to convert the old cinema into a theatre, the conversion took two years of hard graft with all the work being carried out voluntarily by theatre members. During the conversion period a membership was drawn up and formed and the new society was to become the “Audley Players Theatre Club”. A constitution was established and the society was granted a charity status. The fruits of all the hard work, time and effort that the members had given to this project were now ready to be reaped and in the spring of 1969 their once wondrous dream became a reality. On the 15th of July 1969 the “Audley Players Theatre Club” opened the doors of their new home for the first time, - ‘Audley Theatre’ was born! - Dreams can come true!