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 . Email us at

Posters of forthcoming productions, audition notices and requests for help are below

Newbury Theatre: the future

I created the Newbury Theatre website 25 years ago, in April 2000. At that time, there were very few amateur groups that had their own web site, and I provided a platform that they could use. Now they all have their own web sites, and this seems a good point to change Newbury Theatre.

Up to now, some groups have been sending me information about their forthcoming productions, and I have perodically searched other group sites for this information. I'll no longer do this searching, but if you continue to send me your information, I'll include it. I'll also continue to include professional theatre information, but only for the Newbury Corn Exchane, the Watermill theatre, RABBLE Theatre and the Mill at Sonning. So nothing else for Reading, Basingstoke or Oxford.

On this basis, I'll retain newburytheatre.co.uk for at least two years. It contains a huge number of review pages - over 1000 - mostly from the Newbury Weekly News and I'm very grateful to the NWN and Trish Lee for giving me permission to publish them.

You can see what the site looked like in 2001 at web.archive.org/web/20010302021159/http://www.comptonplayers.freeserve.co.uk/. It hasn't changed much! I'll continue to provide a weekly theatre page on Penny Post.

If you have any comments or questions about this, please email me, Paul Shave at .

In the spotlight

My Fair Lady: The Mill at Sonning (Thu 20 Nov to Sat 17 Jan).
The Little Mermaid: Watermill Theatre (Wed 26 Nov to Sun 4 Jan).
Night Must Fall: New Era Players (Thu 27 Nov to Sat 6 Dec).
The Fifth Step: Theatre at the cinema (Thu 27 Nov to Mon 15 Dec).
Robin Hood and Maid Marian: Corn Exchange (Fri 28 Nov to Sat 3 Jan).
Aldermaston York Nativity Play: Village of Aldermaston (Thu 4 Dec to Sun 7 Dec).

See What's on for a list of everything.

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 1000 pages of them in the Archive!

Latest news

Date	Item
2 Dec	Faringdon Dramatic Society's panto is Beauty and the Beast from 30th January to 7th February.
30 Nov	New seasons at the Corn Exchange, Watermill and the Mill at Sonning.
22 Nov	Reviews of The Compton Players' Ladies in Retirement "fine acting... it was gripping throughout" Newbury Theatre; "warm, polished, thoroughly engaging... strong performances" Newbury Weekly News; "the set was absolutely brilliant... an absorbing play from start to finish... an excellent production" NODA.
7 Nov	Boundary Players' next production from 26th to 29th November is Play On!.

Now and coming soon

The Watermill - The Little Mermaid The Watermill's Christmas production is The Little Mermaid from 26th November to 4th January. This magical new Watermill production weaves together salty sea air, folk and sea shanty inspired songs, conjuring an ethereal world below the waves for this festive season.

New Era Players - Night Must Fall New Era Players' next production between 27th November and 6th December in Wash Common is Night Must Fall. Set in the imperious and embittered Mrs Bramson’s isolated house in the dark woods, this brooding drama explores the arrival of Dan into the lives of the occupants. Is he the father of Dora the maid’s unborn child? Is he responsible for a recent murder? Mrs Bramson is taken in by his charm, but her niece, Olivia, is sceptical yet fascinated. The tension rises as we wonder who the next victim could be.

Faringdon Dramatic Society - Beauty and the Beast Faringdon Dramatic Society's panto is Beauty and the Beast from 30th January to 7th February. Be our guest in Little Snoring, where Belle is not living her best life. No friends, no good books and chased relentlessly by the repugnant Hugh. Belle is looking for adventure and boy, does she find it! Drawing inspiration from the iconic animated film; enchanted castles, living furniture and a brooding Beast all beckon in this one of a kind adventure. With dad jokes, poo jokes and a romance for the ages there is something for everyone in this tale as old as time retold.

Auditions and requests for help

New Era - backstage help wanted New Era Players (Newbury) want backstage helpers.

If you want your group's poster to be on the front page, then email it to the

This site was last updated on 02-Dec-2025. Our web hosts are ION Systems.