AT last! Ilkley Playhouse is finally able to put into action all the plans that have been so carefully made over the last year and re-open. From May 17, the doors will be open to allow actors and directors to start rehearsing to allow audiences once more to enjoy high quality drama. There is an exciting programme of events over the Summer months with which to whet appetites prior to the full re-opening of both theatres in the Autumn

The Playhouse has been enormously grateful for grants received from both the Arts Council of Great Britain and Bradford Council which have enabled the theatre to keep going over this past very difficult year. In addition to the financial support received here and from many very kind local donors, help has been received in a variety of ways which has shown huge generosity of both time and skill.

Over the course of the past year, when it has been possible according to the lock-down regulations, playhouse members and friends have been really busy completing jobs that have been on the ‘to-do’ list for some time. To this effect, the playhouse’s bar has been given a complete make over and spruce up, so too the Greenroom where audiences will be accustomed to drinking coffee. Acting members will be delighted to find that the dressing rooms have been ‘bottomed’, every inch of them cleaned of nervous sweat and fragments of grease paint and the bulbs around the mirrors polished to an even brighter glow!

New signage has been installed around the entrance to the Wildman Theatre and stage door to avoid what had become customary confusions for audiences on arrival to studio productions.

More members have given the wonderful costume store a fantastic overhaul and revamp with the many vintage costumes being sorted out and better organised – it’s almost impossible not to be able to find exactly what you’re looking for now! And so, from costumes at the top of the building to the prop store in the cellar: this was not a challenge for the faint-hearted. Everything, from tables and chairs to cookers and kitchen sinks – all needed to dress the fantastic sets with furniture which is authentic to the era, is now stored much more carefully, cleaned and ordered, again, thanks to volunteers.

Maintaining contact with members and supporters has also been prioritised. Delightful ‘elves’ have undertaken delivery services, taking out newsletters and Christmas cards. A lockdown baking service, with delicious cakes and bakes made by more volunteers has also been much appreciated. So too the amazing Lockdown ‘click and collect’ Library which has operated on alternate Saturdays – a brilliant provider of much needed revenue as well as another chance to make contact with both members and townspeople. Anecdotally, it has been heart warming to hear of the difference that the library has made to people – whether it was the couple who were happy to be able to make a difference with their life time book collection before relocating to the South, or the teacher-turned-volunteer care-worker who bought a selection of railway books to thrill a resident in the home she helped in.

The playhouse is incredibly grateful to the volunteers who have made such a tremendous effort to make sure that the welcome back will be at its warmest. Many hands have pulled together to maintain Ilkley Playhouse as a valuable asset to the town and now the Players can’t wait to entertain you again, doing what they do best – putting on a play!