An outline history of its nature and development over the twentieth century
A 94-page magazine-size paperback,
with histories of some of the regions best known drama clubs,
the reminiscences of people closely associated with the development
of amateur drama, and archive photographs ranging from
'Boots at the Swan' dated Christmas 1900 through to 1999.
Compiled by NANDA President Roy Ainscough and Founder Member Dan Shaw.
Available to Non-Members for £4.00 plus £1.00 for post and packing(UK).
The federation of amateur theatre groups and individuals known as NANDA (The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Drama Association) has generated this history for the Millennium. Its own archive dates from 1947 when it was formed but because of our contacts we have sought to research the first half of the century to discover operatic, musical, drama and other relevant groups which, added to our archive, provide material for the text.
We have, of necessity, been dependent on the information provided in response to our requests and, given our limited resources, some of this is unvalidated. Many productions, events and anecdotes live only in the memory. Such is the transient nature of theatre art; some will have disappeared without trace but all conspire to the cumulative background which is amateur theatre. Many names too are merely memories names of members who have in their time contributed their energies and talents to the activities of a host of amateur theatre companies of all sizes and of all interests.
We have done as much as we were able to locate and register all types of groups and organisations. We hope therefore that any reader who finds no reference to his or her group will understand that, despite extending the original closing date, not all groups furnished detailed information.
We also trust that the hundred or so groups which have kindly contributed their stories will understand that we have had to truncate or distil these from the texts supplied. It has, for example, been necessary to limit the number of photographs: we have tended to prefer 'action pictures' and those which show several characters rather than the static 'curtain call' for better effect. We are grateful to the many groups which proffered such photographs and copies of programmes.
We have tried to avoid judgement of the relative merits of choice of play or purpose of group and chosen rather to emphasise and applaud the rich variety of productions and performances which audiences have experienced and enjoyed however small and limited in resources the provider.
Our sincere thanks go to the several individuals who have been pleased to respond to include their memories and experience of local amateur theatre.
The Association also acknowledges with appreciative thanks the financial contribution from the Millennium Awards For All in the East Midlands without which this History could not have been published.
ROY AINSCOUGH
President
DAN SHAW
Vice- President
As we have said the first recorded evidence we have of amateur theatre in the area is, perhaps predictably, in the more heavily-populated urban towns of Nottingham, Mansfield and Newark. In the first two there were amateur groups performing operetta and drama respectively at the turn of the century.
The Nottingham Mechanics Institute Operatic Society staged its first production 'Cloches de Corneville' in the Mechanics Institute Hall in 1894. The Society had been established in April of the previous year following a meeting of three music-loving members of the Institute 'under the chairmanship' of Herbert Lingham. The Society declared a considerable financial loss on its first year but cleared its debt and made a small contribution to a local charity from its second production in 1895.
In Mansfield a group known as the Mason-Deaville Dramatic Club was operating from 1900 until (perhaps significantly?) the Mansfield Operatic Society found voice in 1907. The Nottingham Shakespeare Society was established in 1904 as a breakaway from the British Empire Shakespeare Society. Initially it functioned as a literary society but subsequently from 1927 to 1955 performed the plays of the bard in church halls and the YWCA hall in the city. During the war the society performed open air plays for the 'Holidays at Home' programme in Woodthorpe Park, Castle Green, the Arboretum and Victoria Embankment. In its hey-day it had some 200 members. The Society continues to meet for play readings and lectures.
Soon after the end of the first world war there was the development nationally of the 'Little Theatre' movement in all major towns and cities. In Nottingham this movement included several ardent theatre-lovers whose names become interwoven with other local amateur societies: such people as Nancy Peck, Nellie Smith and Arthur Statham. In 1922 these and others banded together to form The Nottingham Playgoers Club to stage four productions per year in various locations from church halls to The Meadows Hall and the YMCA Hall as well as to promote lectures and discussions. Amongst their principal objects was to have a theatre in the city large enough to house a permanent professional repertory company as well as being available for use by local amateurs. The old Grand Theatre under the title of Nottingham Repertory Theatre was occasionally used for plays which included some amateurs but operated mainly as a commercial theatre and it took 26 years for the ambition to be realised with the opening of the present Nottingham Playhouse on Goldsmith Street. Those who continued to pursue the other great ambitions picked up the torch of experimental theatre which was in vogue in the late 20s and The Philodramatic Company was formed in 1926 to test the demand. 'We want to show our audience what modem drama is trying to do and we do not touch what are known as amusement plays', said John Laing the chief mover of the 'Philo' which functioned in a converted warehouse in a side street up a flight of narrow stairs. The Observer newspaper in 1928 reported that 'Nottingham is largely unaware of a new and vital dramatic movement in its midst for the reason that the organisers of it prefer perfection to publicity. Not until its productions (which are surprisingly of a most advanced kind) reach the required excellence will the citizens be invited to view them.' The Society left these Alfred Street premises in 1939 for disused factory premises acquired by the Bluecoat School when the latter had plans for a school hall. By a joint arrangement the Society leased a large share of the premises and shared with the school the use of the hall or theatre constructed on the first floor. The 1940-41 membership card proclaimed that 'an excellent air raid shelter on the premises is available for members'. Thespians were even more peripatetic then and the names of groups were to a large extent interchangeable. In 1946 the several (groups amalgamated to form the Nottingham Theatre Club which, after a period of 16 years performing in a renovated brewery malt store in St Anns, finally settled at the Lace Market Theatre in Halifax Place in 1972.
The Newark Dramatic Society was formed in 1916 at the suggestion of Mrs Lewis Ransome following the successful performance of 'The Intervention of Santa Claus'. The first play to be produced by the Society (under the direction of Mrs Ransome) was 'Coils' in 1916 and 1917 and plays were then produced annually up to 1923. Many of these were written by a local playwright Miss K M Gamer. As with the Nottingham Operatic Society donations were made to local charities.
Simultaneously, Robert Lee, the village carpenter had built what became known as The Robin Hood Theatre in the grounds of the rectory at Averham just outside Newark in 1913. Designed by the Rev Joseph Cyril Walker its rme stage is fr.1med by an ornate proscenium arch painted in gold leaf flanked by more beautiful plaster work. Cyril Walker had been involved with the Oxford University Drama Group and many of his close friends were professional actors. He was a man of many parts and organised a company of his own called The Country Bumpkins which survived a decade after his death in 1941. The programme for a performance of Hamlet at the theatre on the 5th of April 1921 shows that the part of the second gravedigger was played by one Donald Wolfitt then .1 pupil at Newark Grammar School. There is also a not-very-flattering photograph of the embryonic actor disguised as a moth-eaten donkey. Sir Donald like most other amateurs who subsequently achieved fame as professionals did not forget his roots and returned to perform along with his wife a two hour Shakespearian recital at the theatre several years later when the original 'dark' building was eventually modified in 1961 using money from a fund initiated by Valerie Baker and her husband. The new Robin Hood Theatre Company opened with a performance of 'The Eagle Has Two Heads'. The Company continues to present an annual programme of plays and the theatre attracts a number of touring artists and professional groups who present occasional evenings of varied entertainment.
Newark seems to have had a very active theatre presence in the 20's. In addition to the two groups already mentioned there were variety performances also being given at the Picturedrome in Barnby Gate to raise funds for X-ray week in February 1920 and Katherine Gamer (op cit.) continued to write new scripts for one act plays performed by, amongst others, The Strolling Players for example, in October 1925.