What did you think?

Your Opinions Solicited

We'd like your opinions of our latest programme. Let us know what you think of the productions we put on, good or bad. What did you think of the over all spread of productions? Was there enough to interest you? Do you have any plays, bands, musicals, shows, etc, you would like to see put on at the Theatre? Let us know. Please e-mail any thoughts to:
iain@theatreonthesteps.co.uk
This is your chance to influence the programme!

Iain Reddihough

Your Responses

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We attended the evening show of the panto on Saturday it was a great night. For us this was the 4th year we have attended the panto ,they get better each year.( loved the rocket launch) A lot of hard work must go into that production but you must all feel very proud of the result and rightly so.
Keep up the good work , we're looking forward to next year.

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Hello,
We took the kids to Humpty Dumpty on Saturday. What a brilliant atmosphere and highly entertaining. Thank you very much.
T Preece

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Hi, only just found this website but I went to a show there last month with my partner. It was something called "The Beagle Has Landed''. It was the first time I'd been to the theatre but I was really impressed. A lovely friendly and warm place. The auditorium is small but seating and stage views are superb. Exactly what a small theatre should be. The show we saw was absolutely madcap. I don't know who the people were but they had me in stitches. Such an odd show not what I expected at all. That was probably a good thing because if you'd explained it to me, unseen, I may not have gone. I live quite few miles from Bridgnorth but I will definitely come back for another show. Keep up the good work and 'break a leg' :-)

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Just thought I would  email  you, to let you know how much I enjoyed The Big Blues Tribe Concert on Saturday Night.

This was my first ever visit to the Theatre On The Steps. I thought the band were brilliant!!! , providing a good blend of material, coupled by  excellent musicianship and great rapport with the audience. A thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining evening out. Hope you will be able to book them again. If the The Big Blues Tribe concert is anything to go by, I will most certainly be  attending future events at the Theatre on the Steps.

Best Regards,

Ken Brookes

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Dear Iain,

What a fantastic evening! The theatre was delightful with a lovely warm, friendly, intimate atmosphere and lent itself splendidly to the style of the Davey Arthur Band. The music was amazing and I wish the performance had lasted much longer! Davey is so good at interacting with his audience and making them feel a real part of the perfomance. He is truly a gifted musician and when he plays the banjo he is just mind blowing! Davey Arthur, his band and manager were all very sociable and approachable and made the whole evening memorable, enjoyable and great fun.

Please, please, please get them back again!

Regards
Antonia

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What a great idea inviting the legendary Julie Felix to your atmospheric theatre on the steps. Her stunning performance of the Dylan composition 'Man In The Long Black Coat' was simply amazing. One member of the audience was heard to say "Fabulous performance by a great lady. Moved to tears at times" what more can be said? Perhaps, when can we expect to see Julie back 'on the steps' again?

Trevor Tapscott

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"We saw the panto; it was excellent definately come again next year, many thanks"
Keith B

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"Hi,

We attended Robinson Crusoe at the weekend and thought it excellent!
Many thanks,"

Jim R.
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Hello Iain

Having thoroughly enjoyed the pantomine on Saturday, my daughter, has expressed an interest in joining your youth theatre group.

Thank you
Evelyn B

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Dear Editor,

After our recent Buff’s Lodge Children’s Pantomime outing we feel compelled to thank all the cast, production staff and organizers of the “Theater on the Steps” for yet another excellent afternoon’s entertainment.
The Robinson’s Crusoe pantomime was a delight from start to finish and enjoyed by all kids and grown ups alike. Here’s to next year!

Yours sincerely,

Alan Sykes ROH,
Lodge Secretary.

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Hi iain, i really enjoyed snake davis last saturday night,and it would be great if he could be persuaded back to the theatre,there was a good atomsphere and seemed to be enjoyed by everyone, I live in Tenbury Wells and keep an eye on the website,but i also travel to Huntingdon Hall in Worcester and that is also an intimate little venue and seem to have a wide variety of shows,perhaps you could have a browse of that website and you may gain some ideas you could perhaps transfer to Bridgnorth. Derek J

More information on the history of the Theatre on the Steps and other areas of Bridgnorth can be found in pamphlets by local historian Clive Gwilt.

In about 1960 the Congregational Church situated on Stoneway Steps and known for generations as the Stoneway Chapel came onto the market as a result of the merger of its members and those of the Methodist Church which is on Cartway. They became known as the United Reformed Church.

After two years a company of enthusiastic amateur actors and interested townspeople, under the leadership of Mr Peter Taylor, began negotiating with the church authorities for the purchase of the building. By the end of 1962 the deal was arranged and work began both on the raising of the capital needed with stage productions and coffee mornings, jumble sales, etc., going on in parallel with the work needed to convert the building into the small but intimate theatre it has become. This last effort involved stripping the interior of pews, pulpit and organ, these items finding new homes in other churches both near and far. Apart from taking all these items up the stairs, the conversion also required that a lot of material had to come down as well. The earliest requirements of course were for sand, cement, bricks, plaster and plasterboard, and even a thirty foot rolled steel joist had to be carried slowly down and manoeuvred carefully through the front doors and then lifted into position in the foyer until it supported the floor of the 'Green Room' above.

A complete iron fire escape was manhandled down and into position for use as an emergency exit below the theatre. The internal staircase was also rebuilt using some of the redundant timber from unwanted pews. The early switchboard and stage lighting equipment was purchased from the Midland Institute, which was part of the old centre of Birmingham, which became redundant as bulldozers moved in. The theatre curtains also came from the same source.

The first set of seats came from the Odeon Cinema at Coseley, situated on the Wolverhampton-Birmingham 'New Road'. Volunteers arrived early on a Sunday morning to start stripping the complete circle of about 200 seats, the only lights being the emergency lights set high overhead. With split nails and sore knees and bumped heads from unscrewing hundreds of woodscrews, the seats were loaded and transported back to Bridgnorth where they were unloaded, taken down the steps, and stacked in the theatre ready for installation.

All these tasks were performed mainly by the members, but other work parties joined in at times. A voluntary team of prisoners were Shrewsbury Gaol did yeoman service doing a lot of the foyer conversion, staircase rebuild and the toilet block, before the scheme unfortunately had to be stopped by the Governor when one of the inmates absconded one sunny Sunday afternoon, being pursued by the police through the riverside fields, finally being caught somewhere on the Stourbridge Road, having swum across the River Severn to avoid capture.

The Congregational Church

On 24th August 1662, 1,909 Commonwealth Church of England ministers were ejected from their churches and their homes. Andrew Tristram was the rector of St. Leonard's, Bridgnorth until he was ejected. He then began preaching privately in the town, and ministered spiritual matters to those, like himself, who had become Non-Conformists. They formed a congregation of independents and Presbyterian and met weekly. There was already a separate Baptists Society at this time. In 163 Andrew Tristram was asked to desist from preaching in Bridgnorth during St. Luke's Fair.

In 1672 Tristram was given a licence to be a teacher at a house in the High Street where he practised as a doctor, but he was not allowed to preach. Two years later, Charles Owen was ordained to the ministry at Bridgnorth and became pastor of a church which probably met in a private house. At every meeting there was the chance of arrest since it was an offence to attend a Non-Conformist meeting when more than five people were present. The penalty was imprisonment or even transportation. The danger was very real and some 68000 arrests were made and between 5000 and 8000 free churchmen died in prison in England, some of whom had been there for more than twenty years.

In 1689 a licence was issued for Andrew Tristram's house to be used for meetings; it was renewed in 1694 and again in 1695. In 1709 a licence was issued for the building of a Presbyterian Chapel. When freedom of worship was granted the members built a chapel on Stoneway Steps. Andrew Tristram never did see this chapel for he died in 1706, three years before it was built.

This deed is dated 2nd August 1709, and described the purchase as:
'All that messuage cottage or tennements, with all the gardens there unto adjoining and belonging, on the North side of Stoneway the which John Wilson hath lately purchased from Mr.Thomas Woolastone, and Annie, his wife together with the new building there upon erected'

In 1722 the chapel was licensed as a Presbyterian Chapel and later during the 18th century became a Congregational Church. The old chapel was small and square and inside two large pillars rose to support the roof. The pulpit had a large canopy of 'sounding board' to aid the preachers voice. There was also a gallery to house the 120 members of the congregation, the maximum congregation in 1711. A few years later the side of the chapel collapsed and narrowly missed two passers by on Stoneway Steps. Many people were prejudiced against free churchmen which prevented any chance of a better site. The members of Stoneway Chapel had always received a certain amount of ill treatment at the hands of the local people. One minister, so discouraged, left in despair feeling there was no hope of progress. In 1769 there were 71 members and by 1784 this number had decreased to a mere 29.

In 1809 Samuel Barber became minister and attracted more congregation and the chapel was no longer adequate, so a new chapel was planned. In 1829 the old chapel was demolished and a larger one built at a cost of £1000. This new chapel was opened for service on 25th October 1829, when the Reverend George Redford preached the service. Until 1841 Samuel Barber (the minister, and teacher by this time), lived in the manse next to the chapel. However during 1841 the manse was taken down and replaced with school rooms the following year. Samuel Barber remained for 36 years in which time the congregation increased four fold, and he became an outstanding school master.

In 1837 the church was registered for solemnisation of matrimony. On February 8th 1894 the Reverend Ernest Elliot came to Stoneway Church and even stayed eleven years and was described as a fine preacher with Stoneway being his first church.

The difference between Congregational and Methodist churches is quite small, and as early as 1859 United Prayer Meetings were held each evening at the three chapels in turn, Congregational, Methodist and Primitive Methodists.

In 1962 the chapel closed and resulted in the union of the three chapels in Bridgnorth - the Methodists, Primitive Methodists and Congregational who then merged as the United Reformed Church and began worshipping in Cartway.