They achieved a measure of success in the Midlands and went as far as a regional final in East Anglia. It was at that time that the name of the Nonentities was coined as a sly dig at the imposing titles affected by competitors.
The war put an end to the festivals and the society moved on to three-act productions for local consumption. Rehearsals for the first, a play called Yes and No, at the Convent School, were interrupted by requests for less noise, from nuns who were trying to sleep. The show made a profit of £33.lOs. for the Mayor's comforts fund.
It was followed by Spring Meeting, a ballad opera called Victoriana, Quiet Wedding, Georgiana, A Hundred Years Old, Robert's Wife, Gloriana Irevived for the farewell to the Playhouse in 1968), Distant Point and You Can't Take it With You, all at the Convent. At the curtain call of the final production, As You Like It, the announcement of the acquisition of the old Opera House was made.
The society had contributed more than £1,000 to wartime charities but now the takings would be needed for restoring the theatre. The next season was at the Town Hall and there, after a production of This Happy Breed in 1946, it was announced that the fund had reached £7,500.
As well as playing at the Convent, the society toured the local service hostels and put on variety shows at such out of the way spots as an Observer Corps headquarters. Travelling to strange placed with masked headlights in the blackout and taking along all the flats and props added a new dimension to life.
When the Playhouse opened in November 1946 nearly £10,000 had
been raised and spent on the building. The original guarantors, later the
theatre trustees, were Kenneth Rose, Harry Beresford, Ella Johnson and
Ruth Dailey.