Two new grants mean ‘bigger & better’ shows

THAME Players Theatre Company, whose 70th anniversary falls this year, has just been awarded grants worth £10,000 from two funding organisations, The Theatres Trust and The Foyle Foundation, towards its Building A Better Theatre refurbishment campaign.

The Theatres Trust has announced its fifth round of small capital grants to theatres across the nation, in which Thame Players was one of five theatres fortunate enough to receive a grant of £5,000. This grant goes towards the installation of a moveable wall system to improve the size and flexibility of the stage and enables Thame Players to complete their stage refurbishment. It also helps to complete a larger capital project which will improve the quality of the theatre and increase the seating capacity from its present 119 to 132.

Mhora Samuel, Director of The Theatres Trust, said: “I’m delighted that we are able to help five more theatres with small grants from the Theatres Protection Fund. The support we receive from the Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation and Judy Craymer MBE towards our Small Grants Scheme is making a real difference to these theatres.”

The old stage wall is removed to make way for the new stage extension at The Players Theatre, Thame

The Trust’s Small Grants Scheme helps theatres in need and at risk to address urgent building repairs, improve their operational viability, introduce environmental improvements, and enhance physical accessibility.

The Foyle Foundation has also just awarded a grant of £5,000 to Thame Players to help them complete their Building A Better Theatre Project. The Foundation was formed in 2001 to implement the terms of the will of the late Christina Foyle. She was the daughter of William Foyle who, with his brother, founded the family owned bookshop Foyles in Charing Cross Road, London, which she continued to manage after her father’s death. The Foyle Foundation’s Small Grants Scheme is designed to support smaller charities in the UK, especially those working at grass roots and local community level, in any field, across a wide range of activities.

Thame Players Theatre Company, a non-professional theatre group and a registered charity founded in 1944, has owned The Players Theatre since 1977. It is the only dedicated theatre and cinema serving the town of Thame and surrounding area, presenting a variety of productions by Thame Players and other visiting companies and also screening films throughout the year. Pat Shepherd, Chairman of Thame Players, comments, “I am delighted that we have been successful in winning these two important grants from The Theatres Trust and The Foyle Foundation, which will make a massive contribution to our fundraising programme and help us complete the building work that is now underway. The major work involved in enlarging the stage and moving it further back, together with other improvements, will mean that more people can be accommodated to see more shows, there will be a better view from anywhere in the theatre, and more ambitious productions can be put on, so audiences can enjoy a greater variety of theatrical and cinema entertainment.”

Thame Players are also grateful for grants and donations received from South Oxfordshire District Council, Thame Town Council, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Oxfordshire Community Foundation, The Doris Field Trust, The Pye Charitable Settlement, The Mayor of Thame’s Charitable Fund, The Rotary of Thame, businesses and private donors.

The next Thame Players’ production, when the theatre re-opens next month following completion of the building work, will be Quartet by Ronald Harwood from September 9 – 13, 2014 More information: LINK

SOURCE: Contributed