Making Your Own: Amateur Theatre 1950-2000

This chapter explores the significance of the amateur theatre-makers of the mid- to late twentieth century by reading this history through the lens of their theatre buildings. It begins by exploring how amateur theatre companies began to make their own theatres during the twentieth century, often by renovating and converting disused buildings. It then turns to a case study of the Settlement Players, an amateur theatre company in Letchworth Garden City, to illustrate how theatre buildings are used and then reflect on the ways they contribute to amateur craft. It also considers how a period of research as an apprentice set builder – became a form of historiography. Taken together, this chapter illustrates how amateur theatre-makers and their buildings can often become biographically bound to each other through shared histories, identities and ongoing relationships. Throughout, it makes a case for the study of amateur theatre as part of a hidden history of British theatre, exploring how amateur theatre companies can be understood as custodians of these theatre histories, and how theatre buildings can be understood as archives themselves.