Previous Productions
Blimey!
The Royal Manor Theatre
Company has come a long way since its birth, more than 60 years ago as the
Portland Dramatic Society! Sprung from the
ideas of a dozen or so people wanting to bring live theatre back to Portland
after the war, it's beginnings were small and modest.
Starting in 1947 the group joined various concerts, contributing sketches and
thus gained experience. In April 1949, the first full-length play,
"Mystery at Greenfingers" by J.B. Priestley was performed in the
Masonic Hall, Victoria Square. This was the beginning of an active period for
Portland Dramatic Society. Between 1949 and 1957 eighteen one-act and thirteen
full-length plays were presented around the island. The Borstal Officers Club,
Easton Methodist Hall, the old Palace Cinema in Easton Square, Brackenbury
Schoolroom and the Jubilee Hall all played host to Portland's own theatre
group. The plays presented included "The Bishops Candlesticks",
"The Shop at Sly Corner", "The Hollow", "The Chiltern
Hundreds" and "Blithe Spirit".
Here’s just a sample of
what we’ve produced over the years…
|
1978 |
Wedding
of the Year |
1995 |
Who
Says Murder? |
|
1979 |
Murder
in Company |
Feeling
the Pinch |
|
|
The
Other Fellow’s Oats |
1996 |
Stepping
Out |
|
|
Mist
over the Mistletoe |
Wait
Until Dark |
||
|
1980 |
The
Day After the Fair |
A
Letter from the General |
|
|
Big
Bad Mouse |
Turning
Blind Eyes |
||
|
The
Full Treatment |
1997 |
They
Came from Mars |
|
|
1981 |
Dark
Lucy |
Same
Time Next Year |
|
|
A
Tomb with a View |
1998 |
Communicating
Doors |
|
|
Three
One-Act Plays |
Barefoot
in the Park |
||
|
The
Deep Blue Sea |
Deathtrap |
||
|
Aladdin |
1999 |
Talking
Heads |
|
|
1982 |
Blithe
Spirit |
Haywire |
|
|
I’ll
Get My Man |
Cinderella |
||
|
The
Middle Watch |
2000 |
Lord
Arthur Savile’s Crime |
|
|
Joking
Apart |
Jack
and the Beanstalk |
||
|
1983 |
Wizard
of Oz |
2001 |
Love
Hurts |
|
Murder
Deferred |
Killing
Time |
||
|
Busy
Body |
Tarara
Boom De Ay (Playmakers) |
||
|
Ring
Round the Moon |
Rattle
of a Simple Man |
||
|
On
Monday Next |
Outside
Edge |
||
|
1984 |
Gaslight |
2002 |
Dark
Lucy |
|
The
Late Mrs Early |
Kindly
Keep It Covered |
||
|
Arms
and the Man |
Dick
Whittington |
||
|
Murder
Mistaken |
2003 |
Deadly
Nightcap |
|
|
1985 |
My
Giddy Aunt |
Our
Day Out (Playmakers) |
|
|
The
House on the Cliff |
The
Gingerbread Lady |
||
|
The
Owl and the Pussycat |
Party
Piece |
||
|
Pool’s
Paradise |
Portland's
Peter Piper |
||
|
1986 |
Kind
Cousin |
2004 |
Separate
Tables |
|
Just
the Ticket |
Bazaar
& Rummage |
||
|
House
Guest |
The
Servant |
||
|
Daughter
of the Left Hand |
Aladdin |
||
|
1987 |
When
we are Married |
2005 |
Pollyanna |
|
A
Funny Kind of Day |
Fantastic
Mr Fox (Playmakers) |
||
|
A
Murder is Announced |
Trip
of a Lifetime |
||
|
1988 |
Educating
Rita |
The
Shop at Sly Corner |
|
|
Aurelia |
Good
Night Mrs Puffin |
||
|
See
How They Run |
2006 |
Alice
in Wonderland & Parcel (Playmakers) |
|
|
The
Farndale Avenue Murder Mystery |
A
Doll's House |
||
|
1989 |
Waiting
in the Wings |
Pygmalion |
|
|
1989 |
Suddenly
at Home |
Arsenic
and Old Lace |
|
|
The
Late Christopher Bean |
Snow
White |
||
|
1990 |
Spine-Chiller |
2007 |
Popcorn |
|
Bonaventure |
A
Dog’s Life & The Pomegranate Seeds (Playmakers) |
||
|
Look
No Hans |
The
Ghost Train |
||
|
1991 |
Night
Must Fall |
The
Birthday Party |
|
|
Plaza
Suite |
Cinderella |
||
|
Pardon
Me Prime Minister |
2008 |
The
Lover / After Midnight Before Dawn / Arthur |
|
|
Ladies
in Retirement |
Teechers
(Playmakers) |
||
|
1992 |
The
Day After the Fair |
The
Winslow Boy |
|
|
The
Year After the Fair |
A
Night on the Tiles |
||
|
Fish
Out of Water |
2009 |
Sleeping
Beauty |
|
|
1993 |
Charley’s
Aunt |
The
Odd Couple |
|
|
Murder
on the Nile |
An
Inspector Calls |
||
|
The
Unvarnished Truth |
A Christmas Carol |
||
|
Nightmare |
2010 |
Educating Rita |
|
|
1994 |
My
Friend Miss Flint |
Blithe
Spirit |
|
|
Relatively
Speaking |
Centre
Stage (Playmakers) |
||
|
Post
Horn Gallop |
Of course, the company’s
production history dates back much further than this!
Why not take a look at our
‘History’ page to find out exactly what sort of plays we produced all those
years ago?