Newbury Theatre

Newbury theatre guide

Find out about theatre events coming up in and around Newbury and West Berkshire, reaching out to Oxford, Basingstoke and Reading. This site is updated very frequently - see What's new below. Posters of forthcoming productions are here.

In the spotlight

Trial by Laughter: Watermill Theatre Reviews (Thu 20 Sep to Sat 27 Oct).
A Murder is Announced: Sinodun Players (Wed 17 Oct to Sat 20 Oct).
Brassed Off: The Kenton Theatre (Wed 17 Oct to Sat 20 Oct).
A Hundred Different Words For Love: Arlington Arts Centre (Thu 18 Oct).
Anybody For Murder?: Mortimer Dramatic Society (Fri 19 Oct to Sat 20 Oct).
WSMC Presents… That 70s Concert: Wantage Stage Musical Company (Fri 19 Oct to Sat 27 Oct).
King Lear: Theatre at the cinema (Tue 23 Oct).
Top Hat: Abingdon Operatic Society (Tue 23 Oct to Sat 27 Oct).
Funny Girl: Theatre at the cinema (Wed 24 Oct).
Little Shop of Horrors: The Sainsbury Singers (Wed 24 Oct to Sat 27 Oct).
Crazy For You: AmEgos (Thu 25 Oct to Sat 27 Oct).
Anybody For Murder?: Mortimer Dramatic Society (Fri 26 Oct to Sat 27 Oct).
Hollywood The Musical: Newbury Musical Theatre Society (Fri 26 Oct to Sun 28 Oct).
Funny Girl: Theatre at the cinema (Sun 28 Oct).

See What's on for a list of everything.

News and special events

Aldermaston Nativity Play - Angela Frances Photography

This is the 62nd year of the Aldermaston Nativity Play. Eight of these 14th century Mystery Plays from York are performed each year to tell the story of the first Christmas. Around 80 members of the community of Aldermaston and the surrounding area will come together, to perform for four nights, this well-known story taking us all back to simpler historic times through language, music, costume and place. It's set in the beautiful, atmospheric 12th Century church of St Mary the Virgin in Aldermaston.
Performances are from 6th to 9th December, 20:00 on Thursday and Friday and 19:00 on Saturday and Sunday. Tickets are free: book online.
You can see reviews of previous years' productions here.

New Era Players are holding a Theatre Open Day on Saturday 20th October, 10:00 – 18:00. A day in the life of New Era Theatre! See their show photography and admire their costumes; take a backstage theatre history tour; find out about set design; and watch or join in with the events on the stage. No admission charge.

What's new

You can get the latest updates via RSS or Twitter (@NewburyTheatre). If you don't know what RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is, this may not be for you (find out more here), but if you're using an RSS reader already, this is a good way to keep up to date with the changes to this site.

Date	Item
18 Oct	Review of Newbury Nomads' Priscilla Queen of the Desert ("had the audience on their feet, clapping, whistling and roaring their appreciation... this was something very special in Newbury musical theatre... Brilliant!" - NWN).
14 Oct	Faringdon Dramatic Society are holding auditions for their January/February panto Wishing on a Star on Wednesday 17th October at 19:00 in the United Reform Church Hall.
14 Oct	Reviews of The Mill at Sonning's A Night in Provence ("all good fun, very well acted and directed with flair" - NWN; "a frothy, amusing tale to send you out of the theatre feeling good" - The Stage; "boasts some genuine laugh-out-loud moments of comic genius and timing" - Maidenhead Advertiser; "6 talented actors clearly having a fantastic time... a fun evening out" - Wokingham Today).
12 Oct	New Era Players' next production is The Heiress between 28th November and 8th December.
12 Oct	Faringdon Dramatic Society's next production is The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery from 8th to 10th November.
4 Oct	Kingston Bagpuize Drama Group's next production is their first ever panto Sleeping Beauty from 22nd to 24th November.
2 Oct	Reviews of the Watermill's Trial by Laughter ("engaging and educational" ★★★ - Guardian; "a David-v-Goliath celebration of dissent" ★★★★ - Telegraph; "another winner... highly enjoyable" BTG; "an amusing, enlightening evening" ★★★ - Times; "a strong production of an interesting and educational play" - Newbury Theatre).
30 Sep	Review of Silchester Players' Blithe Spirit ("a very enjoyable production... polished and pacey" - NWN).
30 Sep	TADS' panto is Sleeping Beauty on 8th and 15th December in Tilehurst.
20 Sep	Review of New Era's Second Person Narrative ("this challenging and much-enjoyable play was moving and impressive" - NWN).

Coming soon

Sinodun Players - A Murder is Announced Sinodun Players are celebrating their 70th anniversary and 40 years at the Corn Exchange with a production of Agatha Christie’s A Murder is Announced in Wallingford from 17th to 20th October. It's classic Christie, a puzzle of concealed identities, mixed motives - and lies and more lies. A second murder provides supersleuth Miss Marple and the police with an interesting and dangerous case.

WSMC Presents… That 70s Concert WSMC presents That 70s Concert at three locations near Wantage between 19th and 27th October. The 70s was the decade that taste forgot. The decade of punk, of disco, of big flares and big hair. The decade of Glam and Prog rock. The concert dives into this glorious decade to bring you some of the biggest songs given the WSMC twist.

Mortimer Dramatic Society - Anybody For Murder? Mortimer Dramatic Society's next production is Anybody For Murder? between 19th and 27th October. Max is planning to murder his wife Janet, collect her life insurance and enjoy a new life with his girlfriend when Mary and George arrive on their Greek island with news: Mary and Janet are beneficiaries of a huge fortune. Plans and plots hatch, and soon everyone is bent on murder.

AmEgos - Crazy For You AmEgos Theatre's next production is the Gershwin musical Crazy For You in Wantage from 25th to 27th October. It charts the troubled love story of Bobby, son of a wealthy New York banking family and frustrated Broadway hoofer, and Polly, daughter of the proprietor of a failing theatre in Deadrock, Nevada... and a Hungarian impresario!

Faringdon Dramatic Society - The Farndale Avenue Murder Mystery Faringdon Dramatic Society's next production is The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery from 8th to 10th November. The hapless cast of 5 are faced with the task of playing 15 wildly different characters between them but remembering who they are and where they should be at any given time may be a challenge too far for the cast.

Compton Players - The Promise and Murdering at the Vicarage Compton Players' next production is The Promise and Murdering at the Vicarage, two plays by H Connolly from 14th to 17th November. The Promise: a few hours after Stacey Nash’s funeral, her estranged father sits menacingly and uninvited on the sofa in her front room. Murdering at the Vicarage: an amdram group battle against the odds to put on an Agatha Christie-type drama.

KBDG - Sleeping Beauty Kingston Bagpuize Drama Group's next production is their first ever panto and it's a very funny version of Sleeping Beauty. The wicked fairy is mightily miffed when she dosen’t get an invite to the royal christening. Can brave Fairy Peaceful save Princess Aurora from the death spell and keep her safe for her dream prince? And how will the Queen Mum cope with a very long sleep-over? 22nd to 24th November.

New Era Players - The Heiress New Era Players' next production is The Heiress between 28th November and 8th December. This was the first full length production by New Era Players in our Wash Common theatre, 40 years ago. It is set in 19th century New York and revolves around the wealthy Sloper family who live in the much sought-after New York address of Washington Square, New York.

TADS - Sleeping Beauty TADS' panto is Sleeping Beauty on 8th and 15th December in Tilehurst. At the naming ceremony by the King and Queen of their newborn daughter, Princess Rose, the Good Fairies bestow their gifts but bad Fairy Nightshade arrives and casts her spell of death by pricking her finger on a spinnng wheel. The Chief Fairy changes this to falling asleep for 100 years only to be woken by a kiss from a Prince.

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This site was last updated on 18-Oct-2018. Our web hosts are ION Systems.