Page 16 - Palace Memories Gerald Jervis

Redditch Heritage Palace Theatre Memories

and everybody was most impressed. But this splendid prize which has landed in the
lap of Redditch will only be a real success if it is supported – both by users and
audience. The Redditch Arts Council will do all it can to ensure that this happens but
only with your active support.

From the Midland Theatre Company`s “Othello” (spring 1948) onward, the Palace
became a live theatre for nearly four years. A weekly repertory company were taken
on to fill in the two weeks between each M. T. C. visit. A prominent member was Jack
Woolgar, who has recently been doing well on B.B.C. drama. Their work varied, I
remember quite a good “Dangerous Corner”, and, later, a reasonable “Rebecca”. But
it was an uphill job, with every third week “out”.

New Management (Again) Jack Leuty

A few weeks after the theatre became fully “live”, Mr and Mrs Jack Leuty took a lease
on it. Mr Leuty had been running the tiny Cosy cinema at Studley. This was his
opportunity to exercise a considerable flair for showmanship, and the next few years
were at least lively, and constantly hit the news.

After the resident repertory company had gone, Mr. And Mrs. Leuty filled in the weeks
between The Midland Theatre Company with sundry touring attractions. There was
still at that time something of a “No 3” touring system for variety in being. Mr. Leuty
would not have nudes, but the bills we had were sometimes well above average (Jenny
Howard, for example, the darling of the North and Midlands) and sometimes, alas, well
below it (no names, although I could think of at least one).

There were, sometimes, too, first class acts like the Western Brothers, who – all
honour to them – were, I believe, trying to benefit their humbler by attracting
audiences into No 3 houses.

Touring plays came as well. The Arts Council`s Western Theatre Company did
“Playboy of the Western World”. Jean Forbes-Robinson appeared in the “Long Mirror”,
a play written for her by J. B. Priestley. This was a proud achievement for Mr. And Mrs.
Leuty, although the play`s metaphysical theme puzzled local audiences.

Six Shakespeare plays in a row, one a night, were given by “Shakespeare- Internation-
al”, a company headed by Geoffrey Kendal and Laura Liddel, with their daughter,
Jennifer Bragg. They had been touring India extensively – were in fact personal
acquaintances of Mr. Nehru – and will figure again in this narrative. Redditch had a
fortnight`s feast of Shakespeare, for the Midland Theatre Company followed, the next
week with “The Merchant of Venice” (Roger Delgado as Shylock, Ninka Dolego as
Portin, and Bill Fraser as the Prince of Morocco, which he played with such tragic
intensity that he nearly threw the whole play off the rails).

Amateurs occasionally occupied the stage: the Redditch Players in “Ladies in Retire-
ment” and “Miranda” an operatic society led by Mavis Bennett in “Showboat” and “The
Lisbon Story”, and of course, the untiring Elsie Siddele Downing with her colossal
dancing shows.

Page: 16 © Redditch Heritage 2019