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Saturday 28th March is National Theatre Day, a time to celebrate the importance and special nature of live performances. Having their origins in the 10th century and contemporary church services, they became more popular with time and allowed for the teaching of religious stories in the common language, unlike the Church services that were enacted in Latin.
With a deep and rich history of development in Britain, from the impact of the Reformation to the famous playwrights such as William Shakespeare, the culture of performing to live audiences is an immeasurable source of joy for the people of the UK.
Particularly in connection with Bishop’s Stortford, South Mill Arts (formerly known as The Rhodes Centre), has been home to such spectacles since the early 1960’s. The museum’s archives have records of plays from this time onwards, show casing the wide diversity of performances and thus opportunities provided to people of all ages to perform live.
The programme (Image 1) for “Hans, The Witch and the Goblin” demonstrates the work of the Rhodes Centre Junior Theatre Club, underlining the way theatre has provided opportunities for people of varying age groups to perform, develop confidence and entertain. This was performed in 1973, with evidence showing that this group operated for decades, underlined by the club’s performance of “Murder, Monsters and Dreams” in 1996 (Image 2).
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Newspaper articles within the archives demonstrate the generally positive reception of the spectacles witnessed. One such article (Image 3) about “Little Boy Who” talks of how there were 3 different casts performing the 3 acts of the play, facilitating as many young actors as possible to perform and gain experience. Moreover, the article notes how it was an “admirable effort” by the cast, with praise for the costumes that were used and the sound effects played.
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The venue also provides opportunities for original productions, as well as performances of much celebrated musicals. These include Hairspray, High School Musical and Jane Eyre, all of which are being performed at South Mill Arts this year. Thus, for all those involved in and who enjoy theatre performances, today marks the perfect opportunity to celebrate the great actors, musicians, stage directors, make-up departments and costume creators who have provided the basis for the amazing entertainment and enjoyment we’ve experienced across the years.
