What Came Before:

Prior to the Second World War, Herne Bay had a successful theatrical group, known as the "Mask Players", presenting plays and pantos. Their operations were suspended during the war and although an effort was made to re-start the group after 1945, it came to nothing. There was thus something of a vacuum in the town as far as thespian activities were concerned. However, theatrical amateurs being what they are, it was not long before this vacuum was filled.

The Early Years:

One of the groups which emerged was known as "The William Askew Players" and it was this group which at a meeting on 27 May 1948 was reformed as "Theatrecraft". Under the chairmanship of Mr R A Addyes-Scott and the patronage of the company's first president, Miss Frances Green, this small band of players launched themselves on an unsuspecting public with a presentation of "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" later in 1948. Originally the intention was to present only plays and three plays per year were produced.

However, as Theatrecraft developed it took on (at the specific request of the old Herne Bay Urban District Council in 1957) the task of reviving the town's annual Christmas pantomime which had been provided by the "Mask Players" up until 1939. This led to a pattern of two plays and one pantomime per year being produced.

A further widening of Theatrecraft's scope of activity occurred in 1964 when modern musicals were included in the repertoire. A regular pattern of two plays, a musical and a pantomime each year evolved making Theatrecraft the most prolific of the town's amateur theatre organisations.

PAST PRODUCTIONS