Thespians were born ...
In September 1927, two hundred and ten people, who were interested in the arts, were invited to a meeting in The White Swan.
By Ocotober the Constitution was passed and the Halifax Thespians was formed.
... and had various homes ...
The first play 'Dear Brutus' was prresented as a matinee at the Theatre Royal the following March 1928.
In 1931 the Halifax Thespians moved to the Alexandra Hall, above the old Halifax Building Society, the Commercial Street branch.
During the Second World War the plays were performed at Heath Grammar School, now the Teacher's Centre.
... finally settling down ...
The Halifax Thespians purchased an old chapel, now known as the Playhouse in 1945. In 1948 a licence was granted and the first production 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' was performed in September 1949.
... through the late 70's and early 90's ...
In 1979, after much discussion by the trustees a licensed bar in the basement was opened. Initially it was just a trestle table serving bottles of beer and spirits, before the old ladies dressing room was converted into the current bar in November 1980. The Auditorium was not forgotten, in 1984 members and friends of the theatre donated a fundraising event 'for thier own seat' to be re-uphostered. You can see many of the plaques on top of the seats today.
Finally in 1995 the Playhouse was extended with ramp access and a disabled toilet, this also allowed a new coffee lounge, toilets and property room underneath.
Key points in the Thespians history;
- 1927 - Halifax Thespians born
- 1928 - Thespians first play
- 1930 - The green room formed
- 1931 - First home, Alexandra Hall
- 1945 - Hanover Chapel purchased
- 1949 - Playhouse opened
- 1964 - Playhouse mortgage paid
- 1986 - Carlton Rooms purchased
- 1992 - 500th production
- 1995 - Access for the disabled
- 1999 - 50 Years at the Playhouse
In the document vault you will find more on the history of the Halifax Thespians. This was written by Phyllis Bentley, the Society President at the time.
... and the future?
For the next project, we would like to develop the entrance area at the front of the building to give access for a new Bar and coffee lounge area......
Document Vault
To read these files you will need Adobe Reader installed on your computer. Click on the link to take you to the Adobe website, to download the programme.
Documents
There are two versions of the documents. Click on the text for the normal document or click OCR, to enable the text to be read out by the computer.
The story of the Halifax Thespians 1927-1948 by Phyllis Bentley. (2Mb)
Contacts
If you have any old photographs or documents that you think the Thespians might not have in their archives, please e-mail peter@halifaxplayhouse.org.uk
If you need any further information about the thespians, please e-mail our president: jeanne@halifaxplayhouse.org.uk
© Halifax Playhouse 2009 | Web Site Created and Maintained by Martyn Stead.