About Daneside TheatreFor many years, Congleton Players leased the upper storey of a warehouse in the centre of Congleton for a pepper-corn rent. In the 1970s they were given notice that the new Congleton inner relief road would mean that their home would soon be demolished. With this in mind, they set about fund-raising in order to provide for their future needs.
The Players realised that they would not be able to build a Theatre of sufficient size by their own resources. Other dramatic and operatic societies in the town had been performing in other halls in the town, but none of these were ideal.
Congleton Amateur Operatic Society used the Town Hall, which had a capacity of 500, but which they could only have from Saturday to Saturday. This created great difficulty in getting in and out of the hall in a very short time to allow them to have a 6 night and 1 matinee run. Massive amounts of work were required to erect sets and lighting rigs, which had difficult fixings for the rig. The stalls seats were plastic, and the balcony had bad sightlines.
Trinity Operatic Society used Trinity Methodist Church Hall. This was a badly equipped building with very limited changing room space and even worse seats in a flat floored church hall. The height above the stage and lack of wing space limited the group to simple sets. The halls capacity was approximately 200.
Congleton Pantomime performed in Astbury Village Hall, with a capacity of approximately 150. The stage area was only 15 feet wide by 10 feet deep by 7 feet high, with neither wing space nor dressing-room space. Dressing rooms were arranged by bringing domestic caravans onto the site (in January!).
With these difficulties in mind, Congleton Players invited the other societies and Congleton Choral Society to join them and they formed the Daneside Theatre Trust Ltd with the intention of building a venue suitable for all the societies.
After investigating several sites and different existing buildings, the Trust was offered the site of the old open-air swimming pool at the side of the River Dane by the Borough Council at a cost of £5,000. This was gladly accepted and with a bank loan to cover the remaining construction cost, building began in 1980. The main construction work was done by a local construction company, but the majority of the internal work was carried out by members of the societies. They undertook all the electrical and plumbing work, and all the interior decoration. The Theatre finally opened on the 10th October 1984 with a grand opening production of items from all the societies, plus other local groups.
Management Committee and Organisation
Daneside Theatre Trust is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity. The company’s Articles and Memorandum allow us to provide a theatre building and associated services for the purposes of leisure and education, and to carry on business to these ends.
The trust is run by a management committee comprising 9 directors, plus 5 co-opted members.
Although the company was formed by members of the Congleton Operatic and Dramatic Societies as described above, the Trust is a completely separate entity, with no formal links to the societies. Some members of the management committee hold posts in the societies, but many do not. All societies are charged rent for the use of the Theatre building.
The trust employs two part time cleaners, but all other functions are performed by volunteers. Day to day management of the building is carried out by the house manager, with help from the treasurer and chairman of the trust. Other members of the trust act as resident stage manager, technical director and bar manager. There is also a small committee who organise fund-raising events.
Twelve years On
Twelve years and several months on, we have a financially viable theatre with a substantial, regular clientele. In recent years two youth theatres have been formed, each performing at least one major show a year, and several one night shows.
Of course there have been some mistakes, but there have also been many sucesses. We are now looking forward to the year 2000 and beyond, with high expectations!
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