Watermill Theatre
Watermill Theatre from the front
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| Address |
Bagnor, Berkshire England |
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| Coordinates | 51°25′17″N 1°21′09″W / 51.421329°N 1.352540°W |
| Capacity | 220 seats |
| Opened | 1967 |
| Website | |
| watermill.org.uk | |
The Watermill Theatre is a professional repertory theatre with charitable status. Established in 1967, it is a converted watermill beside the River Lambourn, in the village of Bagnor, Newbury, Berkshire.
The ancient mill of Bagnor was converted into a theatre in the early 1960s. It retains many of its original architectural features such as the waterwheel, wooden beams and corn chutes, which protrude through the lighting arrays. Although housed in a 200-year-old building, the theatre uses state of the art technology.
The first short professional season opened in 1967. Jill Fraser was a co-owner of the theatre from 1981 until her death in 2006. Her vision has led the Watermill to build an excellent reputation worldwide. Some of the most famous actors who began their careers at the Watermill include Bill Nighy, Sean Bean and David Suchet. Notable premieres under Jill's administration were works by Vivian Ellis, award-winners George Stiles, Anthony Drewe and The Great Big Radio Show! by Philip Glassborow.
The theatre was put up for sale by the Sargant family 2008. A development board was established, chaired by Ralph Bernard, and was successful in raising funds to purchase the building and grounds. The theatre is now run by a board of trustees. Hedda Beeby was appointed as Artistic and Executive Director and held the post from 2007 to 2015. In 2015, the current Artistic and Executive Director, Paul Hart, was appointed to take over from Hedda Beeby
Despite its distinctly local feel, The Watermill's productions are reviewed very favourably by national newspapers as well as local. Many productions have transferred to the West End. The Watermill tours each year to village halls and small arts centres with these shows also playing at the theatre for two weeks. Some productions tour to large-scale theatres around the UK.
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