Jack and the Beanstalk

Our 2025 panto was a great hit!

Featuring Jack, Jill and Daisy the Cow, this panto by Cheryl Marksford played out to enthusiastic audiences in January 2025.

Photos courtesy of Chris Freed Photography.

Jack loves Jill, but can he deal with the threat from the Giant?

Jill's got plenty of support from the villagers!

And Jack has support from... Daisy the Cow???????!!!!

Jack's Mum and Jill's Dad have their own issues...

... while the Giant has support from these two Gargoyles!

Jack finds plenty of people to help him in his quest.

Even Voltan the Bird Man?

But the Giant isn't quite who they thought he was...

And of course everything turns out great in the end!

Theatrecraft is an award winning amateur dramatic society based in Herne Bay Kent. We have been entertaining audiences since 1948 and have made quite a name for ourselves. We put on three major productions a year - a play, a high energy musical and a traditional pantomime.

There really is something for everybody!

So why don’t you come and join us? We are looking for backstage, lighting, sound and wardrobe as well as actors, dancers and vocalists.

We are a vibrant and friendly group of members who also put on regular social events, as we so enjoy our time with each other both on and off stage. For further information, or to find out when we are next meeting, please drop us a line at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Our Spring play is Blackadder II - the Elizabethan Years.

Presented at the Playhouse Whitstable from 17th - 19th April, this promises to be a fun show!

Tickets are available via the Playhouse Whitstable website. 

Following this will be the musical Sister Act!

King's Hall, 17th to 19th July 2025.

Supported by www.wherecanwego.com

Treasure Island

Treasure Island, The Kings Hall, Herne Bay

Thursday 10th to Sunday 13th January 2019

 Following last year's record breaking pantomime, Theatrecraft is bringing the spectacular Treasure Island to the Kings Hall.  Written by Hales, Hogan and Wright, and courtesy of Spotlight Productions.

This rollicking adventure yarn will be filled with all of the traditional pantomime elements for the family to enjoy: baddies to be booed at and heroes to be cheered, men in dresses and girls in pants, a host of gags, excellent songs to sing along to and colourful chrous routines.

So join Long John Silver, Jim me lad and his mum, Harriet Hawkins, as they set off on a voyage to search for the missing treasure and find more than a few surprises along the way!

Maybe that desert island isn't deserted after all?  Will Jim find true love?  Can Long John Silver really be trusted?

So if you're ready for an adventure then heave to me hearties and come and join us as we hoist the Jolly Roger over the Kings Hall for this swashbuckling tale.

To book your tickets CLICK HERE 

Performance Times:

THU, 10TH JANUARY 2019          7.00 PM

FRI, 11TH JANUARY 2019            7.00 PM

SAT, 12TH JANUARY 2019           2.30 PM

SAT, 12TH JANUARY 2019           7.00 PM

SUN, 13TH JANUARY 2019           2.30 PM

Ticket Prices:

£10.00

£ 8.00 (CHILDREN AND CONCESSIONS)

THURSDAY, 10TH JANUARY ALL TICKET PRICES £7.00

These two ICONIC 80’s comedies were performed together in one hilarious evening at...

The Playhouse Theatre, Whitstable

Herne Bay's THEATRECRAFT presented...

B O U N C E R S written by JOHN GODBER

It is a Friday night in the 80’s. It’s time to put all your glad rags on, spray yourself with Mandate or Anais Anais and hit the disco! In this outrageous parody of the time that was the “80’s”, four bouncers take us out for a night on the town. We meet Giggly Girls, Boozy Lads, Hooray Henrys, Pogo-ing Punks, Smooth-Talking DJ’s and Tipsy Chicks! Set against the back drop of night life glamour and with a pulsating sound track to dream of…. Kajagoogoo, Duran Duran, Madness, Wham, Tiffany, Dead Or Alive, Cameo, Kim Wilde and Chaka Khan! Then on comes ‘Careless Whisper’, your last chance of a slow dance, before you whisk her off her feet for a quick…. KEBAB!!!

S H A K E R S written by JOHN GODBER and JANE THORNTON

Every town had a “Shakers” trendy cocktail bar where the rude, the crude, the yuppies, the local lads and the new faces all tittering at the thought of a long comfortable screw! We are offered a wickedly funny glimpse of this world through the stories of four long suffering waitresses and the reality that lurks behind the plastic palms and Pina Coladas. Again, the scene is set against the world’s greatest playlist…. Chauffeur, True, Relax, What Is Love? Stand and Deliver, Cars, Take On Me, Word Up, Mad World, Tainted love, Club Tropicana and Poison Arrow. They all echo from the juke box and take us dancing off into the night, and if you are lucky, with a new acquaintance, both off home for a quick……. game or two on the new Atari! WE HAVE SUGGESTED AN (ADVISORY ONLY) AGE OF 15+ ON BOUNCERS AND SHAKERS – BECAUSE THEY ARE A BIT RUDE!

Welcome to Theatrecraft Herne Bay

Theatrecraft Herne Bay is an award winning amateur dramatic society based in Herne Bay, Kent.

We have been entertaining local audiences since 1948 and put on three major productions each year: a play, a musical and Herne Bay's annual pantomime.

This year we're pleased to welcome *** Music Bay *** as sponsors - a great shop for musical instruments, books and advice!

Latest News                                          

Our next show will be Blackadder, presented at the Playhouse Theatre Whitstable. 

Book your tickets via the Playhouse Whitstable website.

Prior to the 1939-45 War Herne Bay had a successful theatrical group, known as The Mask Players, presenting plays and pantomimes. Their operations were suspended during the war and although an effort to re-start the group after 1945 it did not come to anything.

Theatrical amateurs being what they are it was not long before this vacuum was filled. One of the groups that emerged was known as The William Askew Players and it was this group who at a meeting on the 27th May 1948 was reformed as Theatrecraft.

Under the Chairmanship of Mr. R.A. Addyes-Scott and the patronage of the company’s first president, Miss Frances Green, this small group of players launched themselves on an unsuspecting public with a presentation of, The Barretts of Wimpole Street later in 1948.

In the beginning it was the practice of the society to borrow £30.00 from one of the members in order to finance a production, reimbursement being made from the takings. George Barelli who was treasurer in 1953 for the production, The Happiest Days of Your Life, inherited a bank balance of £4.17.6. For this show no money was borrowed, the royalties being paid as soon as enough money had been taken at the box office. Sufficient money was made on this show so that there was no need to ever borrow again.

Originally the intention was to present only plays but as Theatrecraft developed it took on the task of reviving the town’s annual Christmas pantomime at the request of Herne Bay Urban District Council in 1957.This led to a pattern of two plays and a pantomime every year; the latter providing the finance to support the plays.

A further widening of Theatrecraft’s scope of activity occurred in 1964 when modern musicals were included in their repertoire. A regular pattern of two plays, a musical and a pantomime each year evolved making Theatrecraft the most prolific of the town’s amateur theatre organizations.

In recent years this has been reduced to one play, a musical and a pantomime each year as the demands on members’ time had made it increasingly difficult to cast two plays a year.