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Watermill Theatre

Watermill Theatre from the front
Address	Bagnor, Berkshire England
Coordinates	51°25′17″N 1°21′09″W / 51.421329°N 1.352540°W / 51.421329; -1.352540Coordinates: 51°25′17″N 1°21′09″W / 51.421329°N 1.352540°W / 51.421329; -1.352540
Capacity	220 seats
Opened	1967
Website
watermill.org.uk

The Watermill Theatre is a professional repertory theatre with charitable status. Established in 1967, it is a converted watermill beside the River Lambourn, in the village of Bagnor, Newbury, Berkshire.

History

The ancient mill of Bagnor was converted into a theatre in the early 1960s. It retains many of its original architectural features such as the waterwheel, wooden beams and corn chutes, which protrude through the lighting arrays. Although housed in a 200-year-old building, the theatre uses state of the art technology.

The first short professional season opened in 1967. Jill Fraser was a co-owner of the theatre from 1981 until her death in 2006. Her vision has led the Watermill to build an excellent reputation worldwide.^{[citation needed]} Some of the most famous actors who began their careers at the Watermill include Bill Nighy, Sean Bean and David Suchet.^{[citation needed]} Notable premieres under Jill's administration were works by Vivian Ellis, award-winners George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and The Great Big Radio Show! by Philip Glassborow.^{[citation needed]}

The theatre was put up for sale by the Sargant family 2008. A development board was established, chaired by Ralph Bernard, and was successful in raising funds to purchase the building and grounds. The theatre is now run by a board of trustees. Hedda Beeby was appointed as Artistic and Executive Director and held the post from 2007 to 2015. In 2015, the current Artistic and Executive Director, Paul Hart, was appointed to take over from Hedda Beeby

Programmes and reception

Despite its distinctly local feel, The Watermill's productions are reviewed very favourably by national newspapers as well as local. Many productions have transferred to the West End. The Watermill tours each year to village halls and small arts centres with these shows also playing at the theatre for two weeks. Some productions tour to large-scale theatres around the UK.

The Watermill Theatre Foyer Entrance

The Watermill is a leading force in cultivating the theatre-makers of tomorrow. Its creativity and in-house skills are widely recognized and it gives guidance to those starting out and provides a creative springboard for work on a larger scale. The Watermill Theatre developed the highly successful actor-musician genre working with Tony Award winners John Doyle and Sarah Travis. Notable Watermill productions of this genre include Pinafore Swing, A Star Danced, Ten Cents a Dance, Sweeney Todd, which transferred to Broadway, and Mack and Mabel, which have gone on from The Watermill to tour the UK and transfer to the West End. The Watermill has also produced several actor-musician shows directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood, also known for his role as a judge on Strictly Come Dancing, with musical arrangements by Sarah Travis, these include Hot Mikado, a condensed actor-musician version of the already existing Hot Mikado which in turn is a jazzed=up version of the Gilbert and Sullivan comedy opera The Mikado). Other successful productions include Martin Guerre, Spend Spend Spend and Copacabana. More recent actor-musician productions include Thoroughly Modern Millie and Radio Times directed by Caroline Leslie and Calamity Jane, directed by Nikolai Foster.

The all-male Shakespeare company Propeller started life at The Watermill under the direction of Edward Hall with the support of artistic director Jill Fraser.^[1] Edward Hall first worked at The Watermill in 1995, when he directed Othello. Henry V in 1997 was the first time he worked with an all-male company. Until 2010 all Propeller productions were produced, toured at home and abroad and were transferred to London by The Watermill.

Alongside its work on stage, the theatre also has a thriving Outreach programme with more than 13,000 people taking part each year. Some 155 children and young people visit the theatre each week to participate in youth theatre, from toddlers and their parents in the Waterminis group to 25-year-old members of The Watermill Young Company. The Outreach Department deliver workshops to secondary schools and colleges. It stages special large-scale productions with primary school children. There are drama groups for older people and one day events for adults. The Outreach dept also delivers a programme of training for businesses.

Production archive

2018

• Teddy


• 
  A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
  


• Burke and Hare


• 
  Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth
  


• Sweet Charity


• 
  Trial By Laughter by Ian Hislop
  

2017

• Murder for Two


• Faust x2


• 
  Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
  


• House & Garden


• Nesting


• Ann Veronica


• 
  Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
  


• 
  Terry Pratchett's Maskerade
  


• 
  Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.
  


• The Borrowers

2016

• Tell Me on a Sunday


• Romeo and Juliet


• The Railway Children


• One Million Tiny Plays About Britain


• 
  Untold Stories (Alan Bennett)


• Watership Down


• Crazy for You


• The Wipers Times


• Frankenstein


• Ubu Roi


• Sleeping Beauty

2015

• The Secret Adversary


• The Wolves of Willoughby Chase


• Tuxedo Junction


• Far from the Madding Crowd


• The Deep Blue Sea


• A Little History of the World


• Oliver!


• The Ladykillers


• Macbeth


• Gormenghast


• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

2014

• The Devil and The Deep Blue Sea


• All My Sons


• Life Lessons


• Sense and Sensibility


• A Bunch of Amateurs


• Hardboiled


• Calamity Jane


• Journey's End


• Hamlet


• But First This - A musical homage to Radio 4


• Twelfth Night


• Peter Pan

2013

• Sleuth


• David Copperfield


• The Miser


• The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde


• Laurel and Hardy


• The Witches of Eastwick


• Romeo and Juliet


• Sherlock's Last Case


• The Six Wives of Henry VIII


• Turn Back The Clock


• You Can't Take It with You


• Pinocchio

2012

• Lettice and Lovage


• Writer's Block


• Henry V


• The Winter's Tale


• Love On The Tracks


• Of Mice And Men


• Ben Hur


• Thoroughly Modern Millie


• The Tempest


• Othello


• The Government Inspector


• Arabian Nights

2011

• Relatively Speaking


• The Girl Who Never Forgot


• Bloodshot


• 
  Richard III and Comedy of Errors
  


• Moonlight and Magnolias


• The Green of The Spring


• The Marriage of Figaro


• Radio Times


• The Clodly Light Opera and Drama Society


• Some Like It Hotter


• The Wind In The Willows

2010

• Heroes


• 
  Brontë by Polly Teale (co-production with Shared Experience)


• Gullivers Travels


• Daisy Pulls It Off


• Copacabana


• Spend Spend Spend


• Single Spies


• Bullets and Beetroot Lips


• Treasure Island

2009

• 
  The Merchant of Venice / A Midsummer Night's Dream
  


• Around the World in Eighty Days


• Bubbles


• Blithe Spirit


• The King and Queen of Sugar Street


• Spend Spend Spend


• Hot Mikado


• Educating Rita


• Lay Your Sleeping Head


• James and the Giant Peach

2008

• Merrily We Roll Along


• Micky Salberg's Crystal Ballroom Dance Band


• London Assurance


• The Legend of Sleepy Hollow


• Black Comedy


• Knight and Day - Boxford Masques


• Sunset Boulevard


• Our Country's Good


• The Siren's Call


• Matilda and Duffy's Stupendous Space Adventure

2007

• Plunder


• For Services Rendered


• The Story of a Great Lady


• The Rise and Fall of Little Voice


• Donkey Hoo Ha!


• 
  Twelfth Night / The Taming of the Shrew
  


• River of Dreams


• Martin Guerre


• Rope


• Mira Mira


• Far From the Madding Crowd

2006

• Tartuffe


• I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls


• Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea


• Hobson's Choice


• You Make Me Happy When Skies Are Grey


• The Crowning of the Year - Boxford Masques


• Hot Mikado


• The Garden of Llangoed


• The Taming of the Shrew


• Mary Kelly's Bed


• The Snow Queen

2005

• The Winter's Tale


• The Comedian


• The Odyssey


• Mack and Mabel


• Thieves' Carnival


• Copenhagen


• The Gilded Lilies


• Jungle Book

2004

• Sweeney Todd


• Mr and Mrs Schultz


• The Gentleman From Olmedo


• The Venetian Twins


• Hope Springs


• Pinafore Swings


• Neville's Island


• Multiplex


• Arabian Nights

References

External links

• Watermill Theatre Website


• Propeller Company Website