| Administrative History | Originally established in 1934 (although 1960s bulletins state 1933), in 1937 a new Society replaced the previous society, and any members of the old "Newcastle Players" could apply within one month to be treated as foundation members. It became a Registered Charity (reference 501135).
The first performance took place in 1935, explaining why the Players celebrated two anniversaries, for the founding and for the first performance.
In 1937 the Rehearsal Room was at Poolfield Avenue. By the 1950s meetings were held at the Newcastle Arts Centre, and in the 1990s at Bradwell Lodge. The earliest performances were in the Marsh Street Rooms, Newcastle. From the 1940s other venues included St Andrew's Hall, Porthill, Chesterton Congregational Church Hall, Priory Road Hall (St Giles' Parish Hall), and the Municipal Hall Theatre from 1949. From 1958 performances took place at the newly-built Mitchell Memorial Theatre in Hanley, and in later years also at Stoke Repertory Theatre and Victoria Hall in Kidsgrove. There were originally two performances each year, in April/May and November, then a performance in July was added from the 1960s, often one-act plays or a variety performance. Occasional play reading evenings also took place. A complete list of plays to 2005 is at the back of the 70th anniversary programme.
The last production took place in late 2013 and, after a year of planning, including the sale of the Hartshill Institute building (the Theatre Workshop), the Society was disbanded in 2015. A newsletter continued to be produced for the former members, the Friends of the Newcastle Players. |