Our annual pantomime for 2024 went down well - Puss in Boots!

Production photography was done by Tim Hinchcliffe - here's some of his fantastic photos, visit his page to see the rest!

In July 2023 we presented Legally Blonde the Musical, which proved very popular with the audience.

NODA again came to review our show - read about it here.

Here are some of our production photos - taken by Danny Ireton Photography.

Elle finds the perfect dress for what she expects to be Warner's proposal.

To get into Harvard you need to have an impressive personal essay!

Winning Warner back isn't going to be as easy as Elle thinks, with Vivienne in the picture.

But it all ends well for Elle and her friends.

Our 2023 spring play at the Playhouse Whitstable was The Vicar of Dibley. You can read our NODA review here.

The show was presented to a sellout audience every night and went down very well.

In January 2023 we presented our pantomime Aladdin! written and directed by Cheryl Marksford. The audience loved to boo and cheer!

Aladdin lives with his brother Wishee-Washee in Peking.

Their mother, the Widow Twankey, runs a laundry there.

When evil "Uncle" Abanazer turns up, asking for Aladdin's help, all sorts of fun and games ensue.

Aladdin is in love with the beautiful Princess Jasmine.

 Made in Dagenham

This was our summer musical in 2022, a great return to the stage after the previous two years.

Noda came to see us and gave us a great review!

They even awarded the show an Accolade of Excellence!

Here's some photos from the show, which is based on a real story about the women in the Ford factory in Dagenham in the 60s.

The girls are working hard at the Ford factory, sewing seats for the new Ford Cortina, until they discover that their work is being downgraded - they're considered to be unskilled workers. And women get paid less than the men anyway!

 The grievance turns into a strike, and it's everybody out, in the exciting fnale of Act 1!

 Their protest spreads, and attracts the attention of Barbara Castle, a Government minister. It was fun having a Ford Cortina on stage!

  In the end, their protest takes them as far as the TUC, where their motion that women should be paid equally to men is accepted as a policy.

 But of course it's not just about the women and the strike.

There's two families - Rita O'Grady who works at the factory with her husband to support their two children.

Mr Hopkins runs the factory, while his wife is frustrated by running the house instead of using her history degree. When she learns of the women's protest, she helps them any way she can.

The men work in the factory building the cars, including Eddy O'Grady, Rita's husband. When the strike threatens his job as well, the marriage is put under strain.

And of course no show is complete without a bad guy - in this case the American executive flown in to bust the strike, Mr Tooley, who appears in the spectacular musical number that opens Act 2.

Post-Covid productions

In spring 2022 Theatrecraft presented Allo Allo at the Whitstable Playhouse to a sellout audience. The show was entered into the Kent Drama Association Full Length Play Festival, and received:

• Winner best actor in Cameo Role - Chris Perkins
• Runners Up Best Actor in a Cameo Role - Nick Easton and Mark Edwards
• Runners up Best Actress in a Cameo Role - Ann White and Chloe Hedger
•  Runner Up Best Wardrobe Achievement.

Again, the show was very well received by the audiences for each performance.

Our NODA review can be found here.

In January 2022 the pantomime was Cinderella. This was the first show since lockdown, and everyone was very glad to be back on stage or backstage working to entertain local audiences.

Our NODA review can be found here.