Have you ever visited The Victoria Hall Theatre in Old Harlow?  If you haven’t yet you really should.

We never really knew about the theatre and what went on there until we moved to Old Harlow recently.  As we were walking past a few weeks ago we noticed the poster for Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, which was performed by Harlow Theatre Company.  We decided to give it a try but were a bit dubious because we had never been to an amateur play before, infact, we had only ever been to see musicals in the West End.

On arriving at the theatre on the Thursday evening a couple of weeks ago we were surprised to find that all four days were sold out and was so glad that we had pre-booked our tickets.

We really didn’t know what to expect when we walked in but was pleasantly surprised.  The bar area had a real buzz and reminded us of the bars in the West End theatres.  We made our way through to the theatre which is small and very intimate seating just over 100 people and sat in the second row.  Wherever you sit in the theatre you can be sure of a good view.  What we particularly liked was that we were near enough to see all the expressions on the actor’s faces and really got into the story.

The play was acted out brilliantly by the cast and we completely forgot that it was an amateur production as it seemed so professional.  The set was very grand too.

Infact, we enjoyed the experience so much that we booked tickets to see The 60’s Musical comedy A Slice of Saturday Night performed by Ehos (an amateur drama group who rehearse in Cheshunt).  This was also held at The Victoria Theatre.

For about half an hour before the play started the band were playing and the actor who played the disco’s bouncer was acting out his character  whilst chatting to the  theatre audience.  Once the play started I had a big grin on my face which stayed in place throughout the evening. The play was really funny and the singing was really good.  During the break the cast were still acting out their parts whilst mingling with the audience in the bar. To read about the play and see the photos go to the Ehos website : http://www.ehos.co.uk/

What a great night out both nights and excellent value for money as the tickets were only £7.50 each!

We can’t wait now for the next production at The Victoria Hall.  Harlow Theatre Company is putting on Hay Fever which is a classic light comedy by the quintessential witty Englishman, Noel Coward.  The dates are Thurs 24^th to Sat 26^th April. 

We are also looking forward to visiting The Moot House Players who are currently rehearsing for ‘Private Fears in Public Places’ by Alan Ayckbourn

For 13^th – 15^th March.  Take a look at their website for a description of the play

And to book tickets.  http://www.moothouseplayers.com/index.htm

We are hoping to see some of you at future productions and hope that you enjoy them as much as we enjoyed our first two.  If you haven’t been to any we recommend you give it a go - It's a GREAT night out!