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. Follow us on Twitter . Email us at

Posters of forthcoming productions are below

In the spotlight

Sleeping Beauty: Sinodun Players (Fri 14 Jan to Sat 29 Jan).
Matilda the Musical Jr: Corn Exchange (Thu 20 Jan to Sat 22 Jan).
The Dresser: Oxford Playhouse (Tue 25 Jan to Sat 29 Jan).
Cinderella: Blewbury Players (Wed 26 Jan to Sat 29 Jan).
Leopoldstadt: Theatre at the cinema (Thu 27 Jan).
Spike: Watermill Theatre (Thu 27 Jan to Sat 5 Mar).
Leopoldstadt: Theatre at the cinema (Sun 30 Jan).

See What's on for a list of everything.

Play reading and auditions

Boundary Players are now starting to think about their next production, which will be Play On. There was a Play Reading on 13th January in the William Penney Theatre, Tadley and auditions will take place at the William Penney Theatre on 20th January at 19:30. The play run is 4th to 7th May. Rehearsals will start on 25th January and thereafter on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
Play On is a part of the classic 'play within a play' genre and tells the story of an amateur theatre group who, desperate for funds, agree to put on a royalty free play written by a local author. However, the author keeps changing the script, the actors keep falling out, and the lights and sound can only be relied upon to fail. Act I is a rehearsal of the dreadful show, Act II is the near disastrous dress rehearsal, and the final act is the actual performance, in which everything that can go wrong does.

Newbury Theatre and Penny Post

Newbury Theatre has joined up with Penny Post to give updated theatre information, and it will also appear here. Penny Post is a great source of local information - if you don't know it already, I can thoroughly recommend it.

Online theatre

The National Theatre are making their NT Live recordings available online. You can subscribe for £9.98 a month or rent individual plays for £7.99.

You can search for reviews of previous productions - there are more than 900 pages of them in the Archive!

Latest news

Date	Item
21 Dec	If we don't get locked down, the Morris Men and Mummers will be performing this Christmas, on Boxing Day and New Year's Day. Details here.
19 Dec	A Day Out in Shakespeare’s Theatre is the title of an online event taking place on 14th January. Hosted by the digital learning platform A Bit Lit and introduced by Simon Russell Beale and the author Emma Smith, it conjures up a trip to the theatre in the Bard's day, looking at the everyday decisions and production techniques that kept troupes busy. The project is aimed at audiences from 14 years upward.
19 Dec	Basingstoke Amateur Operatic Society (BAOS) are looking for a bass with a strong bottom F, bags of energy and a love of Gilbert and Sullivan to join BAOS as the Sergeant of Police in The Pirates Of Penzance at the Anvil in March 2022.
14 Dec	The excellent local group AmEgos are looking for an actor for their next show at Wantage in April. The show is Me and My Girl and the part is Bill Snibson. They need someone who can sing, dance, nail a cockney accent and be happy performing physical comedy. If that's you, get in touch with Lesley, the Director, at .
5 Dec	Reviews of the Watermill's The Jungle Book ("magical... brimming with energy... a thoroughly enjoyable production" - NWN; "warm and beguiling... winningly sweet-natured" - ★★★ The Times; "a life-affirming quest for identity and a wonderfully inclusive seasonal show for all ages" - ★★★★ WhatsOnStage; "superb" - ★★★★ MusicalTheatreReview; "a very topical and clever adaption... an enchanting production for young families" - ★★★★ PocketSize Theatre).
5 Dec	Review of Newbury Corn Exchange's Cinderella ("a fresh new vibrant interpretation in this fun filled fast paced show... oodles of audience participation, local references and groan-making puns... a joyous panto hit that shouldn’t be missed" - NWN).
30 Nov	An unusual request from David Harris of Newbury Operatic Society (now Newbury Musical Theatre Society). "I’ve just unearthed the NOS programme for the Nov 1999 production of Camelot. Before it goes for recycling, is it of interest to anyone? Our 2 Irish Wolfhounds (obviously long dead) made an appearance and received a very fine credit." Blimey, last century - that's a year before newburytheatre.co.uk started. If you're interested, contact David at
28 Nov	Reviews of Compton Players' Evil Will Come ("it was, as is usual with Compton Players, a smooth, well-paced production with a sting in the tail" - NWN; "compelling one act thriller... full of twists and turns... directed with pace and sensitivity... delivering an extraordinary one act play in a most exceptional manner" - Janet Anderton).
28 Nov	Review of Boundary Players' A Party to Murder ("What really impressed about this stylish thriller though, was the neat ensemble acting, in pairs, singles or as a group. All six actors were faultless... very good" - NWN).
28 Nov	Woodley Light Operatic Society are performing Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe at the Oakwood Centre from 8th to 11th December.

Now and coming soon

New Era - Under Milk Wood New Era Players in Wash Common are performing Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas between 17th and 26th March. Originally written for the radio as ‘an impression for voices’, our large cast is enjoying finding ways to stage it in our own unique way. We welcome you to come and enjoy this orchestration of voices, sights and sounds that conjure up the dreams and waking hours of an imagined Welsh seaside village within the cycle of one day.

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This site was last updated on 20-Jan-2022. Our web hosts are ION Systems.