History of Shinfield Players

By Henry Hawes

In 1956 a group of Shinfield residents felt there was a need for live theatre in Shinfield and the surrounding area. On the 12 January 1956, a small group of potential thespians met at St Mary's church hall in Shinfield, and so the Shinfield Players were born. Such was the enthusiasm of this small group that on the 6 and 7 April 1956 they presented a 3 act farce, "Tons of money", in St Mary's church hall with a cast of ten. From that auspicious start they went on to present some 42 plays in the surrounding area, playing in church halls, schools and even in the NAAFI of the RAF camp here at Shinfield Park. During this period they were desperate to find a permanent building in which to perform. In 1972 the local newsagent, Derek Wood, heard that the temporary buildings on this site were being auctioned. 

Whilst looking for a garden shed for himself he found that the NAAFI had been auctioned and he realised it would have made an excellent theatre, but unfortunately it had been purchased by a group of gypsies who were going to remove the metal and burn the rest. An immediate meeting of the Shinfield players was called and the princely sum of £100 was put forward to try and purchase this building from the gypsies. 

After much negotiation it was bought for £72. Then commenced 3 months of frustration waiting for the local authority to arrange a site for the new theatre, unfortunately there was a time limit on how long the building could remain on the site and this period had long expired. After some delicate negotiations with the Ministry of Defence, they were granted permission to erect the building on the piece of land we currently occupy and which was the main gate to the RAF Station. Then followed a frantic 2 years during which many volunteers cleared the site, dismantled this building and erected it on its current site; converting it into a theatre and so started the realisation of a dream. 

On Friday the 9 March 1973, a grand opening was held with some 250 people attending, all of whom had helped this project in one way or another. All of these people had been inspired by the Chairman, Ken Stanley. 

On the 12 April 1973, this theatre opened its doors to the public with its first presentation in this new home, with the play "Tobius and the Angel". Originally the Shinfield Players were formed as a dramatic group, but after presenting a few plays in this new venue it was decided to present musicals as well, and in 1974 they presented their first musical "Merrie England", so setting a format of 4 plays, 2 musicals and a Pantomime each season. This format is still followed today. 

In those early days finances did not run into installing theatre heating and during the first few productions, heating in the venue was non-existent. This says much for the hardiness of those early audiences that they used to arrive at the theatre armed with blankets, overcoats and anoraks in abundance, together with flasks containing hot drinks. 

It has always been the policy of the Shinfield Players to encourage young people to get involved in the 'Arts' and over many years the theatre had had a thriving youth group, led by dedicated youth leaders who also present their own productions in the theatre. 

Since the theatre opened its doors it has survived many traumas with such things as the stage roof blowing off in a gale (twice!), the whole electrical system being condemned and the roof over the stage collapsing requiring major steel supports to be installed, to name but a few, but with the hard work and dedication of the members we have surmounted all of these traumas and we are still here over 60 years later with a theatre which has improved out of all recognition although the time will come when this building will be "past its sell by date", so serious consideration is being given to a new theatre being built sometime in the foreseeable future so that this Community Theatre can continue its good work.