By now the Progressive Players were staging six full length plays annually and this output was increased to seven in 1948. In 1949 they started on the long trail towards the purchase of the theatre. One of the steps taken was to introduce a season ticket scheme. Over the years this has grown in popularity and today almost 80% of our audience are season ticket holders. The Youth Section was thriving and, with the help of senior members, presented their own productions on a regular basis.

The '60s

By 1964, although the efforts of the membership had provided new front and surround curtains and new sound equipment, as well as covering the day to day cost of running the theatre, there was insufficient money to pay for the repairs after 21 years of continuous use and the hoped-for extensions, so a Development Fund was launched in an appeal for £10,000. It was in this connection that the Inspector of Taxes asked what had happened to the rents from the flats which had been purchased! It was also decided to stage eight productions annually.

Just as Gateshead Corporation (as it was then known) and Northern Arts had been persuaded to give a grant of £750 each, annually, the blow fell. In 1965 the members were informed that a new major road through Gateshead would mean the demolition of the Little Theatre. The promised grants and the hopes of an extension ended before they had started and the Players were left facing an uncertain future. The Corporation suggested that they could rent or buy an annexe to the proposed new Civic Theatre and, while they were grateful, it seemed a poor exchange for their own theatre and 45 years of independence.

Meanwhile, the Players worked even harder, staging ten plays annually from July 1967, playing to near capacity audiences for every production. They also broadcast two one-act plays from Radio Durham; a Tyneside comedy and a charming fairy tale written by one of their own members. There was also a competition to change the theatre’s emblem and, after a very large entry, the new PP sign came into being in January 1968. In that year also, a detailed analysis of audience figures was compiled showing what first brought people to the Little Theatre and where they came from. This was used as a model by Northern Arts and distributed by them throughout the area.

In 1969 a 25-minute film was made – in “glorious technicolour” with “lipsynch” – which featured “The Shifting Heart” by Richard Beynon. It showed what happens before a play reaches the stage; the casting, rehearsals, costuming, set building, box office and first performance. This was shown to various organisations all over the North East.

The '70s

The Golden Jubilee in 1970 was celebrated by completing the purchase of the Little Theatre. In 1972 the Players were admitted to the Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain, an organisation confined to those societies who own and run their own theatres and whose aim is “to maintain and further the highest standards in the art of theatre”.

In the summer of 1974, a London film-maker invited the Players to take part in “The Brass Band” and this was shot amongst the sand dunes of Holy Island and Alnmouth. A dozen or so members were involved in the week’s filming and later enjoyed a private showing of the film in the theatre. Subsequently, at the 16th World Festival of Independent and Amateur Films in Huy, Belgium, “The Brass Band” won one of the three gold medals in the Independent section, plus a prize for the best original music.

Happily, in 1974, the Progressive Players were informed that the section of road which would have destroyed the theatre was not going through. Now, it was a case of making up for lost time. The inside of the building had been kept in good order, including the installation of new seating, new lino, a new gas central heating boiler and extra toilets. The lighting system, which had become lethal in thirty years of use, was renewed, but the exterior of the building was in a bad state.

Early in 1974, application was made to the newly formed Tyne and Wear County Council, telling them something of the history of the theatre and appealing for financial help for exterior refurbishing. After sending about thirty members of the leisure committee to inspect the theatre and hear the case, their generous response enabled the Little Theatre to be repaired, re-pointed and re-painted in 1975.

In 1978, the Players were delighted to receive help from Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council under the Urban Air Programme. This enabled them to renew some very shabby stage flats, out-of- date sound equipment and, in the interests of safety, install emergency lighting.

Over all these years, the Progressive Players and the Little Theatre, which are run as two companies, have become more and more intertwined. Both artistically and administratively the members of the Progressive Players have worked on an entirely voluntary basis to keep live theatre alive in Gateshead. An acute lack of space has always been one of the many problems, though it has been proved that it is possible to squeeze many quarts into pint pots! At the beginning of the Diamond Jubilee Year in 1980, the theatre was facing a really major problem. The roof had reached the end of its life.

The '70s saw the sad loss of the last of our founders. The Dodds sisters who contributed so much in so many ways. Sylvia Dodds died in April 1969, then Hope in May 1972, and finally, Ruth Dodds, the mainstay, the rock on which the Progressive Players were built, in April 1976, aged 86.

Roof replaced in 1980.

No.4 Saltwell View purchased in 1989.

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