Hats Theatre

Hats Theatre is the performance venue and trading identity of the Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society (HATS), an amateur theatrical society based in Holsworthy, a small market town in Devon, England. The society describes itself as a registered charity, run by an Executive Committee under a constitution approved by the Charity Commission, and it operates its own 250-seat theatre. Its programme centres on plays and pantomimes produced for the local community, and the theatre is also made available for hire to other theatre groups and performers who wish to stage their own shows. The organisation behind the theatre was created in 1971 through the merger of two existing local groups, the Holsworthy Dramatic Society and the Holsworthy Theatre Club. According to the society's own account, the merged group purchased a derelict cinema and converted it into the theatre that is in use today. The society's published history traces amateur theatre in Holsworthy much further back, to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when local dramatic societies performed farces, comedies and Gilbert and Sullivan operettas in venues such as Holsworthy Town Hall, the National Schools and the Market Hall. HATS is a volunteer-led organisation. Its members give their time both on stage and off, covering acting, front of house, set design and construction, costume, advertising and the many other roles required to mount a production. The society is sustained by a base of members, sponsors, audiences and supporters. Its sponsorship scheme invites supporters to donate a one-off sum in return for a plaque on one of the theatre's seats, a twice-yearly newsletter, priority booking on pantomime seats and invitations to social events. The box office opens only on certain days ahead of an upcoming performance. As a venue, Hats Theatre functions as a community asset as well as a producing house: it is offered for hire to other organisations, and the society maintains a membership open to new participants both on stage and behind the scenes. Its output is local and seasonal, with future productions advertised on its website alongside past performances. The theatre is located on Bodmin Street in Holsworthy, and the society is registered as a charity in England and Wales under charity number 1110237.

The history of organised amateur theatre in Holsworthy, Devon, reaches back well before the organisation that now runs Hats Theatre. The society's own published timeline notes that the exact origins are uncertain and that accounts conflict, but the earliest mention it records is from the Western Morning News of Tuesday 13 January 1891, reporting a "laughable farce entitled The £500 Prize" performed at Holsworthy Town Hall on 9 January at the close of business for the League of Liberal Unionists. Further performances followed that February at the town hall, comprising a comedy, A Desperate Game, a farce, A Learned Woman, and a drama, For Her Child's Sake. Early twentieth-century records continue the story. The Cornish and Devon Post of Saturday 24 February 1906 records that the Holsworthy Amateur Dramatic Society produced a programme of "vocal and instrumental music and two farces – Dr. Diaculum by Byam Wyke and Mixed Pickles by J.C. Beck", performed at the National Schools, with proceeds of over £6 given towards the debt on the church bells and carillon. In 1913 the Western Times reported that the "Newly-formed Holsworthy Amateur Dramatic Society" gave its first performance in the National School in January, staging the Gilbert and Sullivan classic The Pirates of Penzance. The society's history observes that the Holsworthy Amateur Dramatic Society appears to have had several comebacks. In the 1920s the Holsworthy Dramatic Society was created again, this time by Mr Jacob Ritblat, a dentist who moved from Bristol to the Holsworthy area. He gathered a group of people to read and perform plays. Performances were formal occasions, with women in evening gowns and gentlemen in dinner jackets, and especially in the early days the plays were staged in Holsworthy's Market Hall. In 1926 the Dramatic Society performed The Maker of Dreams by Oliphant Down. The modern organisation dates from 1971, when the Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society was created following a merger between the two existing theatrical groups in Holsworthy: the Holsworthy Dramatic Society and the Holsworthy Theatre Club. According to the society's account, the merged group purchased a derelict cinema and converted it into the theatre in use today. That venue, with a capacity of 250 seats, is the physical home of Hats Theatre and is located on Bodmin Street in Holsworthy. HATS operates as a registered charity, run by an Executive Committee under a constitution approved by the Charity Commission, with charity number 1110237. Its members are volunteers who sustain the theatre both on and off stage, and the society is supported by members, sponsors, audiences and supporters. Its programme consists of plays and pantomimes produced for the local community, and the theatre is also available for hire to other theatre groups and performers wishing to stage their own shows. The society maintains a sponsorship scheme under which supporters make a one-off donation in return for a plaque on one of the theatre's seats, a twice-yearly newsletter, priority booking on pantomime seats and invitations to social events. Its box office opens only on certain days before an upcoming performance.

• 1971

  Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society (HATS) is created through the merger of the Holsworthy Dramatic Society and the Holsworthy Theatre Club.

• 1971

  The merged group purchases a derelict cinema and converts it into the theatre used today.

• 1926

  The Dramatic Society performs The Maker of Dreams by Oliphant Down.

• 1920

  Holsworthy Dramatic Society is re-created by Mr Jacob Ritblat, a dentist who moved from Bristol; performances are staged in Holsworthy's Market Hall.

• 1913

  The newly formed Holsworthy Amateur Dramatic Society gives its first performance, The Pirates of Penzance, at the National School.

• 1906

  Holsworthy Amateur Dramatic Society performs music and two farces at the National Schools, raising over £6 for the church bells and carillon.

• 1891

  Earliest recorded amateur theatrical performance in Holsworthy: a farce, The £500 Prize, at Holsworthy Town Hall on 9 January.

A volunteer-run, charity-registered amateur theatre and community venue in rural Devon, producing plays and pantomimes and hiring out its 250-seat auditorium.

• Plays

  Amateur drama productions staged for the local community.

• Pantomimes

  Seasonal pantomime productions, with priority booking offered to sponsors.

• Theatre hire

  The 250-seat theatre is available for hire to other theatre groups and performers.

• Sponsor a Seat

  Sponsorship scheme giving a plaque on a seat, a twice-yearly newsletter, priority panto booking and social event invitations.

1. 1Welcome to Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society - Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society - HATSholsworthytheatre.co.uk
2. 2History - Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society - HATSholsworthytheatre.co.uk
3. 3About Us - Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society - HATSholsworthytheatre.co.uk
4. 4About Us - Holsworthy Amateur Theatrical Society - HATSholsworthytheatre.co.uk
5. 5Hats Theatre - Wikidatawikidata.org