1913 • 1920:
After war palace shows played with programme changing twice weekly. Included: ‘The Arcadian’; ‘The Belle of New York’; ‘The Quaker Girl’.
The programme was a mixture of comedy, drama, musicals, revues, panto, opera and shakespeare plays. Included films as well with live acts in intervals.
Acts like Mr Horace Leighton and Miss Pansy Lindford in a trapeze and dancing act
Mr William Kingsley on Hand Bells;
They even had performing elephant on one occasion , the under stage reinforced with pit props!!!
Tickets were 1/- for stalls; 1/6d for dress circle and up to 10/6d for boxes which held five people.
1920 s and 1930's
Palace used as a cine-variety for films and shows until 1929. In February 1929 it was advertised as the Palace Super Cinema
In April 1930 the talkies came to the Palace, and seat prices went up!! In 1939 it closed briefly at start of war, but re-opened 1940.
Late 1940's became a theatre again and this time lasted until 1952 when new manager - Mr S. G. Williams, a local councilor, took it on.
He lasted two years, not enough good variety acts, lacks of funds and new BBC opened broadcasting from Sutton Coldfield. They even tried nude and fans acts but even these failed to attract audiences, so it closed doors in May 1954.
On the 21 st February 1955 opened as a roller skating rink,then in 1959 it changed to a dance hall, popular in the Teddy Boys era!! Lights went missing on some evenings of unseemly behavior. Then it changes again in the 1960's to a bingo hall when that was all the rage.
By 1967 it was described by the Redditch Development Corporation as ‘shabby, dirty and dilapidated’.
In 1970 the decision made to re-fit and improve Palace to bring theatre back to the town, and its future was assured.
On 11th September 1971 the MP Peter Walker, secretary of State of state for the environment, opened palace and the first show was 'Between the Bars' with Donald Swann.
The theatre remained as this until the re-build in 1974 when it became a multi-purpose venue with new frontage built on Grove Street and dressing rooms moved to remaining section of Shrimptons Surgical Needle factory which had been partly demolished. The administration offices were now where old dressings rooms had been.
In 1975 “Buy a seat” campaign was launched to put fixed seating back into stalls, until then only stackable chairs were used. The original seating still in dress circle/upper circle long gone.
In 1982 private theatre group called Mercian Theatre and Arts Federation tried to run the palace but failed, not surprising with name like that!
In 1985 it was taken taken over by Redditch Borough Council and the rest is history.
Audiences grew from 21,000 in 1997 to 43,000 by 2004 assuringing its future In 2004 a £4m refurbishment was agreed and the 1974 Front of House was replaced with a modern Glass Foyer, first floor bar area and a practice studio upstairs. It re-opened with a Christmas pantomime - Peter Pan.
Since then it has gone from strength to strength making it a regular venue for a variety of shows on the small theatre circuit.
It celebrated its centenary in 2013 with a special exhibition, commemorative book and a variety show compered by Don Maclean.
It has gone on through careful management to win several awards include for it “Green Credentials” through environmental friendly lighting, solar energy and waste saving installations.
Colin Wheeler