History
Grantham Dramatic Society was formed in June 1945 with the goal of using ticket sales from performances to help charities that local communities considered worthy. The first production was in November 1945 at the Empire Theatre and was a stage version of The Case of the Frightened Lady. A further twelve productions were performed at the Empire Theatre until the venue's closure in late 1951.
The society performed five plays at St John's Parish Hall from 1952 to 1954, and another two at the Methodist Church Hall in Chapel Street in 1954/5.
From December 1956 to November 1971, 39 plays were performed in the George Theatre behind the George Hotel before its make-over. When the George Theatre closed, there were no other theatres in Grantham and GDS became homeless.
With no theatre to perform in, GDS were forced to put on plays in school halls. It was difficult to stage major productions in such circumstances and for a few years GDS survived by taking theatre out to people, that is, performing one act plays at local groups such as the Women's Institutes.
The first major production in the modern era was I'll Get My Man which was staged at St Hugh's School in October 1981.
A turning point was when the Society began to rent a couple of large rooms at The Stables in Bridge Street, which enabled the building and storing of sets, rehearsals and hosting of social events. The social events were important as they brought in potential new members and raised money to keep the Society going. These premises were known, appropriately enough, as The Green Room.
Another significant event was the opening of the Guildhall Arts Centre, which enabled GDS to put on plays again in a proper theatre.
Moving into the 21st century, GDS now rent their own premises in the Old Malthouse on Springfield Road. With rehearsal space, store room, workshop and kitchen area, the Old Malthouse has provided a solid home for the Society for several years. Unfortunately, the rising cost of rent, council tax and utilities began to put a lot of pressure on the group's finances. With falling audience numbers at the Guildhall, the future wasn't looking too bright.
2005 saw the start of a rejuvenation. Membership began to increase, with an influx of new members of all ages. The Society began to look at bigger, better productions, with larger casts. There was also a drive on marketing, as most people in Grantham weren't even aware the town had a theatre. In Spring 2005, Holiday Snap! attracted an audience twice the size of that in 2004. A profit was made, which went some way to paying the rent on the rehearsal and storage space. Later in 2005, Bedroom Farce achieved the same increase, bringing the theatre to three-quarters capacity.
2006 and 2007 saw 'Allo 'Allo!, Blackadder and Fawlty Towers sell out, bringing hundreds of new people into the theatre and raising the profile of the Guildhall in and around Grantham. Ticket prices rose from £5 in 2004 to £8 in 2007, and each show now made just enough money to cover the annual costs of rehearsals, storage and theatre hire.
By 2007, membership had doubled and the average age halved. The Society's 125th theatre production was to a sellout audience in May 2006.
Read more about this topic: Grantham Dramatic Society
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“When the coherence of the parts of a stone, or even that composition of parts which renders it extended; when these familiar objects, I say, are so inexplicable, and contain circumstances so repugnant and contradictory; with what assurance can we decide concerning the origin of worlds, or trace their history from eternity to eternity?”
—David Hume (1711–1776)
“We don’t know when our name came into being or how some distant ancestor acquired it. We don’t understand our name at all, we don’t know its history and yet we bear it with exalted fidelity, we merge with it, we like it, we are ridiculously proud of it as if we had thought it up ourselves in a moment of brilliant inspiration.”
—Milan Kundera (b. 1929)
“To care for the quarrels of the past, to identify oneself passionately with a cause that became, politically speaking, a losing cause with the birth of the modern world, is to experience a kind of straining against reality, a rebellious nonconformity that, again, is rare in America, where children are instructed in the virtues of the system they live under, as though history had achieved a happy ending in American civics.”
—Mary McCarthy (1912–1989)