A Backstage tour

of

Sheppey Little Theatre

8th Sheppey Cubs were invited to see behinds the scenes of a theatre by members of the Sheppey Little Theatre.

They had a tour of the Theatre, were told the history of theatre (see bottom of the page)  and finally they got to try their hand at lighting and singing on the stage

Many thanks to Andy and Derek for providing a fun and informative evening for the Cubs and Leaders

			The outside of the Sheppey Little Theatre
			The stage area as seen from the control booth. The lighting control panel can be seen in front of the stage, it is normally in the control booth but is used in front of the stage when lighting sequences are being setup for a show
			One Six trying their hand at stage lighting under the supervision of theatre staff
			One poor cub behinds bars They were being shown some of the effects you could use when this picture was taken. This lighting effect was using a vertical grid to simulate bars and a red filter
			This is the stage sound control panel, just off stage left
			All the safety and prohibition signs back stage. and YES I did have permission to take these photos as there was not a performance in progress
			Cubs and Leaders at the end of the visit onstage for a camp fire song about a cowboy

A brief history of the Sheppey little theatre

The Theatre was opened in October 1975 by the Right Honorable Hugh Jenkins MP, Minister of the arts.

The theatre is run by Sheppey Entertainments Association and Community Arts Council. This was the banner under which two organisations Sheppey Phoenix Choir and Sheppey Little theatre Group joined together to have their own theatre to perform in. 

The building is a former church hall, the church to which it belonged was at the end of Meyrick Road (now two houses). It has had many uses during its life including a cafe during World War 2. 

It was converted to a theatre using local government grants, donations of materials by local traders and a lot of fundraising. The labour was theatre volunteers, local tradesmen and inmates of Stanford Hill Prison. 

Later on the two founder groups were joined by the Meyrick Minstrels, and later still the Isle of Sheppey Singers. This last addition bought together under the same roof, the Sheppey Singers and Phoenix Choir who both performed in 1966 as a result split within the CO-OP choir. 

The house next door was purchased in 1991 to solve storage and space problems created with the theatres continued use.

To this day the theatre is run and staffed by volunteers who willingly give up their time to keep it running.

Of the four member groups, only the theatre group no longer exists, the other groups perform on a regular basis.

The theatre is available to hire by both amateur and professional groups, and currently is home to Starquest, a stage school based in Medway towns.

Send mail to info@8thsheppeyscouts.org.uk with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright © 2004 8th Sheppey Scout Group.
Registered Charity No. 803553
Last modified: 20/01/06