Our History
In 1947, the Reverend John Needham who was the vicar of The Church of St. John the Evangelist, Hills Road, Cambridge, was keen to promote a community spirit in the parish, and to that end encouraged a variety of clubs and interests. For Christmas of that year it was decided to hold a Christmas entertainment, and as part of that entertainment, to put on a one act play. The only two people in the congregation with any experience were Beryl and Barbara Trotman. They belonged to the Cambridge Theatre Group based at the ADC and persuaded Joyce Quinney to produce the play "Five Birds in a Cage" which was performed at Christmas 1947. As the play was a great success Joyce then produced "Everlasting Flowers" the following Christmas. This was also well received, so well in fact that the Reverend Needham encouraged the formation of an amateur drama club which became known as the St. Johns Players
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Since we started in 1947 well over 300 actors and actresses have performed in our productions, some in only one production but others have appeared in more than fifty! In addition apart from the people you see on stage here are many more behind the scenes, everybody contributes to the success of the performance but it would all be wasted effort without an audience - our most important participants! We wonder if the Reverend Needham, Beryl and Barbara Trotman, Joyce Quinney or the others knew what they started with "Five Birds in a Cage" in 1947? Probably not, but they would be pleased. We salute them, and look forward to our centenary in 2047.
In 1949 two full length plays were planned. However, the first play, "Painted Sparrows", was stopped by the police because the hall was not licensed. The performances were quickly rescheduled after the necessary licenses had been obtained. The Players fell foul of the authorities again when it was discovered that an entertainment tax was due on each ticket sold. Stamps had to be quickly purchased from the post office. Despite these setbacks the Players continued performing two plays a year until 1954 when this was increased to three. This continues to the present day.
In 1992 disaster struck! The Players lost the use of St John's Church Hall, our home for 45 years, when it was sold. Several alternatives were considered but the opportunity to move to Townley Memorial Hall in Fulbourn arose and was gladly accepted. Many of our supporters followed us to our new home and we have gained a local following as well. In 2003 we learned that the Townley Memorial Hall was to be redeveloped and improved, and we wondered for a while whether we would, once again, have to move. In the event we need not have worried. We even managed to avoid missing a production while the building work was taking place. And Then There Were None in February 2006 was our last major production in the old hall, and we were back in October 2006 for Lucky Sods, our first major production in the new hall. In June 2006 we performed two one act plays (which we called Banana Split) in a stripped down form just one week after the hall reopened - almost a St John's Players Unplugged!