Our History

Since 1981

History of Highnam Players

On Thursday 29th January 1981 the curtain went up on ‘Aladdin’ in the Parish Room. This, our very first production, was described by the Citizen newspaper as our “ambitious panto” !

Over the years we’ve mounted many pantos, plays and revues, along with a programme of social events including theatre visits, quizzes, walks and treasure hunts. From 1987 to 1999 we regularly performed at the King’s Theatre in Kingsbarton Street, Gloucester with classic productions such as ‘Blithe Spirit’, ‘Abigail’s Party’ and ‘The Killing of Sister George’. We also entered the Gloucestershire Drama Association’s One Act Play Festival and our productions regularly won awards.

In 2000 we celebrated the 20th century with a revue called “Oh What a Lovely Century” and our first radio play, ‘Sudden Death at Highnam Court’, was performed in 2019. We even continued our activities during the 2020-2022 pandemic, with two ‘Zoomed’ play-readings and the production of a multi-part song from Les Miserables, each member recording their individual part at home, for subsequent splicing.

We’ve put on some “blockbusters”, for example ‘Allo ‘Allo !, Vicar of Dibley and Calendar Girls, but also short plays and musical compilations performed cabaret-style.

We are a friendly, successful and dynamic society and look forward to an exciting future.