Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain

Last updated

Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain
Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain
Founded18 May 1946
Location
Key people
Sir Kenneth Branagh (Patron)
Jo Matthews (Chair)
Brian Stoner (Treasurer)
AffiliationsCentral Council for Amateur Theatre, Voluntary Arts Network
Website LittleTheatreGuild.org

The Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain (LTG) is an Umbrella organisation promoting and supporting independent amateur theatre companies which have control over their own premises and produce drama of a high quality for the benefit of their communities. It has been credited with being pivotal in securing recognition for the theatrical contribution of little theatres in the United Kingdom. [1]

Contents

History

The Little Theatre Guild, was founded in 1946 to represent the views of Amateur theatres across the UK. [2] Its original membership was nine [3] with groups such as The Crescent Theatre, Highbury Little Theatre and The Questors taking a leading part in its foundation. [1] By 1988 this had increased to 30 and by 2010 to 103 theatre companies, some of which are outside the UK. The major restriction for membership is that it is open only to those amateur theatres that own or lease the theatre premises upon which productions are mounted.

Similar to the National Drama Festivals Association, the LTG organises festivals of amateur drama across the United Kingdom. [4]

Aims of the Guild

The aims of the Guild are:

The Guild holds two National Conferences each year and is organised on a regional basis for the arrangement of additional conferences, seminars and training events.

Members

England location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Red pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Darkgreen pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
Gold pog.svg
The Location of the member theatres of the Little Theatre Guild (excluding overseas members)
Red pog.svg Northern Region
Darkgreen pog.svg Central Region
Gold pog.svg Southern Region

The Guild is made up of 123 independent theatres (as of February 2023). These members are administered in four regions— Northern, Central, Southern and Overseas. The founding members of the guild included:

Some of these theatres have undergone name changes since they were formed and some have been dissolved.

Other notable[ citation needed ] members include:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds Playhouse</span> Theatre in Leeds, England

Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 to revert to the title "Leeds Playhouse". It has two auditoria and a studio space, hosts a wide range of productions, and engages in outreach work in the local community.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amateur theatre</span> Theatre performed by amateur actors and singers

Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as for aesthetic values. Productions may take place in venues ranging from the open air, community centres, or schools to independent or major professional theatres.

Live Nation UK is the United Kingdom subsidiary of Live Nation Entertainment. They are best known for promoting concerts, operating venues and running festivals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erith Playhouse</span>

The Erith Playhouse is a theatre in Erith, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bradford Playhouse</span> Theatre and former cinema in Bradford, England

The Bradford Playhouse is a 266-seat proscenium arch theatre with circle and stall seating based in Little Germany, in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Formerly known as The Priestley, the theatre also has a studio space that has flexible lighting, sound and seating arrangements.

David Edgar is a British playwright and writer who has had more than sixty of his plays published and performed on stage, radio and television around the world, making him one of the most prolific dramatists of the post-1960s generation in Great Britain. He was resident playwright at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in 1974–5 and has been a board member there since 1985. Awarded a Fellow in Creative Writing at Leeds Polytechnic, he was made a Bicentennial Arts Fellow (US) (1978–79).

Traffic Radio was a digital radio station based in England.

The 2000–01 FA Cup was the 120th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, the FA Cup. The competition was won by Liverpool, who came from 1–0 behind against Arsenal to eventually win 2–1 in the final. The final was played outside England for the first time, at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, because Wembley Stadium was being knocked down to be replaced with a new stadium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GuildHE</span> Educational organisation

GuildHE represents 57 higher education institutions in the UK, including universities, university colleges, further education colleges and specialist institutions. Member institutions include some major providers in professional subject areas including art, design and media; music and the performing arts; agriculture and food; education; law; business and management; construction; and health and sports. GuildHE is a formal representative body, alongside Universities UK and the Association of Colleges and is one of two bodies for higher education in the UK.

The Rugby League Conference (RLC), also known as the Co-operative Rugby League Conference as a result of sponsorship from The Co-operative Group, was a series of regionally based divisions of amateur rugby league teams spread throughout England, Scotland and Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All-England Theatre Festival</span>

The All-England Theatre Festival ("AETF") organises the only countrywide eliminating contest for one-act plays in performance throughout England. It provides an opportunity for Amateurs to compete against like-minded groups and to benefit from the adjudication they receive to improve the quality of their performance. The AETF also maintains contact with other leading bodies involved in Amateur Dramatics throughout the United Kingdom by means of its membership of the Central Council for Amateur Theatre, The Drama Festivals Consortium and the British Finals Standing Committee. The festival is also involved with the Geoffrey Whitworth Trophy Competition, in conjunction with the other 'Hosts' of the British Festival, to judge original unpublished scripts that are first produced within the relevant festivals.

Bournemouth Little Theatre Club (BLTC) was founded in 1919 as The Bournemouth Dramatic and Orchestral Club and is the oldest amateur drama club in the Bournemouth / Poole / Christchurch area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilkley Playhouse</span>

Ilkley Playhouse is a live theatre in Ilkley, Bradford, England. It is owned and run by Ilkley Players Ltd a not-for-profit charitable organisation. Ilkley Playhouse is run by an Executive Committee and is staffed almost entirely by volunteers drawn from its membership.

The 1988–89 Full Members' Cup was the third edition of the tournament created to compensate for the ban on English clubs from European football following the Heysel Stadium disaster. It was won by Nottingham Forest, who beat Everton 4–3 in the final at Wembley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Highbury Theatre</span> Theatre in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England

Highbury Theatre is a non-professional 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.

John English, OBE, MA, was a theatre director, actor, writer and entrepreneur in Birmingham, England, and the founder of the Highbury Theatre, the Midlands Arts Centre, as well as being one of the founding members of the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain.

References

  1. 1 2 John Gunn, Acting for You, page 119 (john gunn), 2006, ISBN   0-9775899-3-5, ISBN   978-0-9775899-3-7
  2. Official site
  3. Phyllis Hartnoll, Performing Arts, page 310, Omega Books, 1988
  4. Barry Turner The writer's handbook guide to writing for stage and screen, page 14, Writer's Handbook Guides Series (Pan Macmillan), 2003, ISBN   1-4050-0098-8, ISBN   978-1-4050-0098-7