Wombwell Thespians ADS

The Wombwell Thespians was formed in 1926 to bring theatre to the people of Wombwell and to provide entertainment to local audiences. Today the Society is still doing just that. Their first full-length play was Jerome K. Jerome’s four-act farce, “Robina in Search of a Husband”  which was presented  in the old Parish Hall. Like the Windmill Theatre, the Thespians “never closed” and in conjunction with Wombwell Operatic Society, continued to put on plays throughout World War IIas in the following press report, Saturday 21 October 1939 in the Penistone, Stocksbridge and Hoyland Express: WombweII and District Amateur Operatic Society and Wombwell Thespians have decided to suspend normal production during the war period and to pool their resources for the joint organisation of (entertainment in the district).

 

This wasn’t without a few problems.  Plays were often cast and rehearsals started when some of the men were called up for the forces.  This would put the play back to the casting stage. However, performance dates were fixed to coincide with a full moon so that audiences were able to see their way home in the blackout.

Besides the old Parish Hall, the Society has staged plays at several other venues in Wombwell including the Baths Hall, the Empire Theatre and Wombwell High School.

In 1969 a former chapel on Park Street was bought for the Society by a local businessman, Mr. P.J. Burke, for the princely sum of £800.  Between 1969 and 1973 members of the group and their friends, with the help of many other local people, converted the building into a theatre.   The old pews were used to build the stage and the proscenium arch and seats were purchased from the Civic Hall in Barnsley, when it was renovated. The seats later were replaced by ones from the Globe Theatre in Barnsley when it closed in 1990.

The Playhouse Theatre opened in 1973 and the first play was “Spring and Port Wine.”  The Thespians look on the theatre as “home” and consider themselves lucky to have their own premises.