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Highbury Theatre Centre is an amateur theatre situated in the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It is one of the oldest, established amateur theatres in the city and a founding member of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain. == Origins == Conceived in 1924 by Bertie English, the theatre originally started life as a simple play reading group, under the name, The Erdington ILP Play-reading Circle. As the members passion developed from just reading plays together, they began to start producing and acting in various productions. On 5 March 1925, they performed their first stage production of ''Little Sins and Pretty Sinners'' at the Folkhouse, Erdington. In 1928, a 17-year-old John English, took over from his father as the Director of the company. Rehearsals would often be held at his home which was named, ''Highbury''. Subsequently, in that same year, the group chose to rename themselves after their rehearsal space and became; The Highbury Players. Due to no theatre of their own, the company were still having to produce plays in local church halls until 1935. In hope more than expectation they set up a building fund and began to search for premises. But it was in 1937, that they purchased the freehold site on Sheffield Road using an existing WWI mission chapel (once used as a hospital for WWI veterans) as the basis for their new theatre, at a cost of just over £200.〔http://highburytheatre.co.uk/ahlt/history.html〕 Using this basic structure they built, almost entirely on their own, their own theatre. Members learnt new skills on site first hand, to build brick walls, plastering, joinery, electrics, metalwork and much more, pulling together to create a theatre of their own. They worked both night and day during the early years of the Second World War to complete it. When the war broke out in 1939 most of the work was undertaken by the female members. It was through dedication and without financial aid or patronage; that the theatre was constructed, along with its traditions which helped to lay the foundations of it eventually became. The original theatre seats were donated to the theatre when the then newly refurbished Prince of Wales theatre in the City Centre was bombed during an air raid, some of the seats still proudly bore the bomb splinters. When building work was completed, the new building was christened; Highbury Little Theatre. Highbury Little Theatre officially opened on 22 May 1942 with George Bernard Shaw's ''Arms and the Man'' and has since then continually produced a season of plays for the last 7 decades. The theatre and its programme are constantly being revised and adjusted for a 21st Century theatregoing audience. It was in 1946 that John English who, along with other theatre directors around the country, had the vision to form the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain of which Highbury was a founder member, alongside The Crescent Theatre and The Questors Theatre with 6 other theatre companies. The early years of the twentieth century saw the beginning of the "little theatre" movement, whereby small, independent theatres ran on an unpaid basis providing theatre to their local areas. In January 1949, Highbury hosted its first Guild National Conference with an increased number of 14 member theatres. From the 9 original members, the LTG now have over 100 member theatres. English consequently went on to co-found The Midlands Arts Centre and the Arena Theatre Company along with his wife Mollie Randle. The Theatre was fortunate enough to have amongst its Patrons the founder of The Birmingham Rep; Sir Barry Jackson, the actor Sir Cedric Hardwicke and MP Sir John Mellor, 2nd Baronet alongside fifteen other influential people in both the local and theatrical communities. During the 1980s major alterations and extensions took place. This was possible due to the acquisition of an old shop next door, which was incorporated into the theatre allowing the theatre to expand and add more facilities to a much better equipped theatre. In 2008, the decision was made that the theatre change its name for the second time in its history, this time changing it to; Highbury Theatre Centre. This was primarily due to the fact that the theatre had been expanding over the years offering more than just theatre and offering more facilities to the community, essentially making it a community theatre. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Highbury Theatre Centre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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