Holybourne Theatre

Scene Two: Moving Up

On the 2nd June 1960, the land was donated to the trustees of Holybourne Dramatic Club. One of those trustees was Lady Charlotte Bonham-Carter the great aunt of actress Helena Bonham-Carter. By the end of the 1960s, the ageing Nissen hut was starting to crumble and fall into disrepair. A replacement building was desperately needed; so, on 20th September 1961, at an extraordinary committee meeting, the Club decided to start raising the funds for a brand new building to take them into the next millennium.

The fundraising efforts at Holybourne Dramatic Club paid off and a prefabricated agricultural building costing £8,000, was constructed.

The new theatre seated 144 people and housed a large stage, dressing room, kitchen and toilets. The members must have felt they were performing in paradise after that old crumbling Nissen hut! On Thursday 6th May 1971, Sir Michael Redgrave opened the new theatre and the invited audience was entertained by
Holybourne Dramatic Club’s production of “Cat on the Fiddle” by John Dole. The
performance was followed by a buffet supper to celebrate another milestone in the
history of the Club.

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