Harlow Theatre Company – A History

The Distant Past…

Most stories start at the beginning but to fully understand the history of HTC, we have to go a little further back in time…

In order to give you the full picture we have to go back to the formation of another theatre group and a man called Bob Jones who in 1954 founded the Prentice Players. Bob was headmaster of Potter Street Junior School and a great man of the arts in Harlow New Town. He and his wife Kathy ran the Prentice Players working in schools, community centres and the Technical College, putting on a wide variety of plays from the classics to the experimental. During the fifties and sixties there were many very talented actors and directors in the town, people such as Donald Burton who went on to the RSC and Don Henderson who had his own television series as ‘Bullman’.

But it was the late Bob Jones who was really the driving force. When the Harlow Playhouse opened in 1972, Bob directed the first amateur production on the main stage, Tom Stoppard's ‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead’ and the Prentice Players continued to operate in the main auditorium and the Studio Theatre for some time but, after five years or so of operating in the Playhouse, the Prentice Players were beginning to struggle both for new acting talent and particularly for directors and so it was decided to place an advert in the local press inviting anyone interested in forming a new theatre company to come to a meeting at the Playhouse.

The Beginning…

On a cold February evening in 1978 around 80 people turned up in the Committee Room. In fact they were spilling out onto the concourse. After some discussion, a Committee was elected, with Bernard Moule as Chairman, Jackie Storey as Secretary, John Childs as Treasurer with Margaret Lambert and Doris Palmer as Committee Members. At that time, Bob Jones made a momentous and magnanimous decision to disband the Prentice Players and throw their lot in with the new company.

A lot of debate ensued about what the new company should be called. Bernard Moule recalls one individual suggested "This is the Scene" because she wanted T.I.T.S. emblazoned across T shirts. But Bernard was adamant that the new company should be called Harlow Theatre Company because “I didn't want anything parochial and I felt it should embrace the whole town.”

“It was a busy time. We set about writing a constitution, sorting out membership details, running a competition for a logo, organizing newsletters (no e mail in those days) and staging our first production.

As well as being Chairman, it was decided that I would direct the first play for the company. Not only that, I decided I would star in it as well. It was an ego thing. My choice was a very forgettable play called After the Rain by John Bowen.  I chose it because it worked well in the round in the Studio Theatre, had a large cast, was cheap to stage and had a good part for me in it.”

HTC began an ambitious programme of a production a month; full length plays alternating with one night stands. The one night stands were a compilation of dance, poetry, drama and song on particular themes and, with the plays, a high artistic standard was the main criterion, and still is to this day. Because of the success of HTC in the Studio Theatre, in 1982 we were invited to appear on the main Playhouse stage (from which amateur groups had been precluded since 1976) and we went from strength to strength.

The Next Stage…

HTC continued to flourish putting on many plays, musicals and revues as well as Premiering new plays written by it’s own members (for a full list of HTC’s shows take a look at our ‘Previous Productions’ section).  HTC has always prided itself on being more than just ‘another amdram company’ and in 1988 HTC set about producing a stage version of Monty Pythons Life of Brian, which had never before been performed on the stage!

Jane Bowen was the director and main instigator, and she’s shared some of her recollections from that time.

“With a large pool of talented, energetic, willing actors to call on, my vision was to produce a play that didn't just rip off the film, or the Monty Python genre but to produce a piece of theatrical drama in it’s own right.  I had to seek permission from a company called May Day productions, who, in turn, had to ask Terry, Michael, Eric, Graham, John and the other Terry. They agreed and with 10% of the box office takings donated to The Terrance Higgens Trust we were set to go!”

Performed in the round, in the studio theatre, the set was designed to resemble a Roman amphitheatre, with a simple block in the centre of the stage which was variously used as a hilltop, sewer entrance, market place and an alien ship.  There were 65 characters in the play and by doubling, tripling and quadrupling, these parts were covered by 24 actors. The shows sold out and HTC could easily have done another week.

HTC performed plays by Shakespeare, Alan Bennett, Oscar Wilde, Daphne Du Maurier, John Godber and Joe Orton (amongst others), as well as the musicals Grease, The Threepenny Opera, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas as well as the then annual ‘Cockney Ding Dong’ bringing back the joy of the old style Music Hall to audiences.

But not long after in May 1995 HTC, said ‘goodbyeee’ to the Playhouse when it closed it’s doors for a while with our final production there of Lionel Bart’s Blitz directed by Alan Jones on the main stage. A rousing, emotional, and fitting farewell to HTC’s home for nearly 20 years. However, HTC was soon up and running again later that year here in our current home of Victoria Hall in Old Harlow, following the fantastic efforts of many company members who rallied around helping create a new venue for the company.

Onwards and Upwards…

Actually, ‘Up and Under’ was the first show HTC produced at Victoria Hall, and moving to a new home did not slow us down, despite not even having a stage to perform on (this came later once we acquired funding from local publishers Longman’s) and in the first few years HTC performed a Panto, a stage version of ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe’, Dennis Potter’s ‘Blue Remembered Hills’ and local writer, Simon Mawdsley’s ‘Audacity’ (which is now a published play following two successful runs in London and has had other productions of the play in Malta and even Los Angeles!) amongst many other shows.

HTC has been at Victoria Hall ever since.  The attitudes and talent of the people involved has meant we’ve been able to produce popular classics and comedies, along with more challenging pieces of theatre along the way, essential for both casts and audiences. Some of the shows have been absolutely brilliant, some not quite so successful, but all carried out with love, fun and commitment.

With many actors, directors and wonderful technical gurus, the hours of time invested in HTC over the years would run into hundreds of thousands, and all for two reasons, the love of theatre and wanting to entertain.

We have always tried to set high standards and because of this we could lay claim to some of the most talented people in amateur theatre, and we are talking nationally!

Many of our past performers over the years have gone on to work professionally. Those include Michael French, who has worked both in TV and in the West End. Jo Bacon, Linda Clark and Nicola Walker, who all have numerous film and TV credits to their names and Brian Herring (who has worked extensively in Children’s TV and is well renowned within the business for his expertise with puppets) all started with HTC, as well as Chris Dunkin, who has worked backstage on many of our shows, is now a much sought after professional technician working in the West End. This is to name but a few.

The Future…

HTC is now over 30 years old and recently celebrated with an evening of nostalgia, with songs and extracts from previous productions, and we are still performing at Victoria Hall.

We perform at least four productions a year and are always looking for new members to act, direct, stage build, costume make and many other aspects in theatre.

Are you our next member?  If HTC is what you are looking for, then go to our ‘Green Room’ area, get in touch and be part of HTC’s future…