How it all began...

The New Empire Players were formed in August 2000 by theatre manager Julie Robertson. When first planning the Collesium/Empire project, one of her objectives was to house her own theatre company to put on plays and musicals. One reason for doing this was to make use of local talent and to provide a way for people who may not have performed before to become involved in theatre and gain or improve on new skills within the field.


The first production was "The Boy Friend" in October 2000. Rob Turner played Tony opposite Faye Plumley as Polly. Quite a small scale production, we built our own set, and the music was provided by backing tracks arranged by Rob.
Open auditions were held, and the cast was made up with a selection of people from other dramatic societies in the town, local performers in their own right and people who were treading the boards for the first time.

The cast worked well together and many of them have stayed with us for subsequent shows. The Boy Friend marked the beginning of the life of the New Empire Players and although it was put together on a budget it was enjoyed by audience and cast alike, and provided a good grounding on which to build as well as giving confidence to the performers.

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