The New Theatre
Two men who had a profound impact on the fortunes of Reps, were Adrian Stanley and George Barnes. In 1952, Reps celebrated its 21st birthday and plans to build a new theatre were taking shape. George Barnes suggested that a Theatre foundation membership scheme should be launched. The idea was that 500 people would each contribute 50 pounds to the building of the new theatre. By 1957, the Society had raised the 25,000 pounds and construction began.
The new Reps Theatre was opened in September 1960 with a gala production of Romanov and Juliet. This included a fanfare of trumpets from the BSAP band, incidental music from a section of the municipal orchestra, corsages for every lady in the audience, a formal opening ceremony by the Governor General of the Federation, Lord Dalhousie, and after the show a champagne party in the foyer for the entire audience.
In 1964, Adrian was appointed as the Theatre's first paid director, wasting no time in getting the Theatre out of the financial doldrums; Adrian Stanley produced shows up until his recent death, and has literally hundreds of shows to his name.
Noel McDonald, another producer of note, gave much of his time to REPS theatre. He inspired many young people to tread the boards and produced pantomimes, adult and children's shows. His wife Mary produced numerous costumes for the shows and, despite sanctions, always managed to come up trumps.
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Famous quotes containing the word theatre:
“I can get dressed earlier in the evening with every intention of going to a dance at midnight, but somehow after the theatre the thing to do seems to be either to go to bed or sit around somewhere. It doesn’t seem possible that somewhere people can be expecting you at an hour like that.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)