Newbury Theatre

Newbury theatre guide

Find out about theatre events coming up in and around Newbury and West Berkshire, reaching out to Oxford, Basingstoke and Reading. Follow us on . Email us at

Posters of forthcoming productions, audition notices and requests for help are below

Newbury Theatre: the future

I created the Newbury Theatre website 25 years ago, in April 2000. At that time, there were very few amateur groups that had their own web site, and I provided a platform that they could use. Now they all have their own web sites, and this seems a good point to change Newbury Theatre.

Up to now, some groups have been sending me information about their forthcoming productions, and I have perodically searched other group sites for this information. I'll no longer do this searching, but if you continue to send me your information, I'll include it. I'll also continue to include professional theatre information, but only for the Newbury Corn Exchane, the Watermill theatre, RABBLE Theatre and the Mill at Sonning. So nothing else for Reading, Basingstoke or Oxford.

On this basis, I'll retain newburytheatre.co.uk for at least two years. It contains a huge number of review pages - over 1000 - mostly from the Newbury Weekly News and I'm very grateful to the NWN and Trish Lee for giving me permission to publish them.

You can see what the site looked like in 2001 at web.archive.org/web/20010302021159/http://www.comptonplayers.freeserve.co.uk/. It hasn't changed much! I'll continue to provide a weekly theatre page on Penny Post.

If you have any comments or questions about this, please email me, Paul Shave at .

In the spotlight

Death Comes to Pemberley: The Mill at Sonning (Thu 1 May to Wed 18 Jun).
Three Hens in a Boat: Watermill Theatre Reviews (Thu 22 May to Sat 7 Jun).
Dr Strangelove: Theatre at the cinema (Fri 23 May to Mon 23 Jun).
The Baddies: Corn Exchange (Tue 27 May to Thu 29 May).
Summer Lightning: Studio Theatre Club (Wed 4 Jun to Sat 7 Jun).
A Streetcar Named Desire: Theatre at the cinema (Thu 5 Jun to Wed 25 Jun).
Opera Favourites: Kennet Opera (Sat 7 Jun to Sun 15 Jun).

See What's on for a list of everything.

Newbury Theatre and Penny Post

Newbury Theatre has joined up with Penny Post to give updated theatre information, and it will also appear here. Penny Post is a great source of local information - if you don't know it already, I can thoroughly recommend it.

Online theatre

The National Theatre are making their NT Live recordings available online. You can subscribe for £9.98 a month or rent individual plays for £7.99.

You can search for reviews of previous productions - there are more than 1000 pages of them in the Archive!

Latest news

Date	Item
28 May	Reviews of the Watermill's Three Hens in a Boat "very strong performances from all... lots of humour in it and it’s well worth a visit" - Newbury Theatre; "a real gem of a show – a joyful, hilarious yet poignant journey for everyone... warm, sincere, contemporary and very funny" ★★★★★ - thespyinthestalls; "this really is a very funny play" - WokinghamToday.
26 May	Review of Compton Players' Aphrodite "It’s fantastic to have groups like Compton Players producing work that is not only entertaining, but which also presents challenging contemporary narratives in community spaces. Long may they continue." - NWN; "an enjoyable performance" - ODN
25 May	An open air production of The Tempest is at Shaw House on 6th July.
25 May	Kennet Opera are singing Opera Favourites between 7th and 15th June in Shaw, Stockcross and Brimpton.
17 May	Rabble Theatre's Preview of William the Conqueror, which was initially scheduled for Reading Gaol, will now take place inside Reading’s St Laurence’s Church, founded 1121, owing to costs associated with safely bringing a public audience into Reading Gaol.

Now and coming soon

Corn Exchange - The Baddies Freckle Productions are bringing The Baddies to life at Newbury Corn Exchange from 27th to 29th May. It's a wickedly hilarious adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s smash-hit story. Meet the very worst Baddies in the world! Don’t you dare to come too close to a witch, a troll and an ancient ghost! The Baddies love being bad. They roar, spook and cast wicked spells to try and scare a girl out of her wits… who will succeed? Or perhaps the girl is braver than they think… A laugh-out-loud riot for all the family.

New Era Players - Only Connect Between 12th and 21st June New Era Players present Only Connect: a Trio of Short Plays, a triple bill of amusing, entertaining and touching pieces. It’s a great opportunity to see some new and seasoned talent, as we introduce both actors and directors to our stage. And It Makes Me Wonder by Jenni Collins and Mandy Clark is based on a real-life encounter near Reading in the early 80s. Johnny is in the middle of his exams and torn between his dreams of rock stardom or settling for 'proper' job, until a chance meeting with an old lady at the bus stop makes him rethink his ambitions. Bed Among the Lentils is a wry and witty monologue from Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series. A vicar's wife struggles with both her role and the demands of the parishioners but discovers a surprising new connection with Ramesh at the corner shop. Another of the Talking Heads completes the evening, with A Lady of Letters. Irene spends much of her time writing letters: to the council, the crematorium, sausage manufacturers and even the Queen. Irene likes to bring her petty complaints to the attention of the relevant authorities, but now she oversteps the mark and finds herself in a spot of bother.

Auditions and requests for help

New Era - backstage help wanted New Era Players (Newbury) want backstage helpers.

If you want your group's poster to be on the front page, then email it to the

This site was last updated on 29-May-2025. Our web hosts are ION Systems.