KIDDERMINSTER PLAYHOUSE
1946 - 1968 A Souvenir

History

Contents

OSTLY REP 1959 - 1960

Crisis over after a profitable year - so the public stayed away again. It was the familiar pattern. An experimental month of repertory, a first step in the right direction, crashed to the tune of £1,000.

The society put on a bold face, although its own profit was down from £l,000 to £350, the theatre lost £1,392 and the debt was up £320. Even so, it had been possible to find £1,000 for maintenance, including insulation of the stage roof in an attempt to keep the theatre warm, and new sound equipment. Commercial television offered a gift of £250 and it was accepted with a straight face.

The Nonentities began the season well with The Bride and the Bachelor, with Judith Robinson making an attractive debut. Silver Wedding was another natural for Mary Southall and Tom Trewin, The Chalk Garden was a collectors' piece and Free As Air, the Julian Slade musical, caught the public fancy.

Kenneth Rose's musical adaptation of Vanity Fair was rightly heralded by the Press as an exceptional achievement and had newcomer Amy Leeming as a perfect Becky Sharp. Len Reeves scored again with The Miser and the season ended with Breath of Spring.

The Carpet Trades society spread its wings with the big modern musical, South Pacific and the KAOS presented Hit the Deck.

Professional opera, albeit on a small scale, made a welcome return with La Boheme and La Cenerentola, with the finest voice to be heard in the theatre in these years under review, Catherine Wilson, now a leading soprano at Sadler's Wells.

The repertory plays were The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll, A Touch of Fear, Friends and Neighbours, From Shopgirl to Duchess and George Dillon, a play Osborne and Creighton were working on when they were at the Playhouse.

The pantomime was Cinderella, the Western Theatre Ballet was here and G. H. Elliott and Randolph Sutton headed an old-time music hall bill.