Christchurch Hall Christchurch Road Northampton NN1 5LL
The Playhouse Theatre Northampton Annual Report 2024 – 2025
2024 – 2025 was an exciting but challenging year full of change and new beginnings!
In 2024 we received the devastating news that our home of over 60 years, The Playhouse Theatre, Clare Street, Northampton, was to close over safety concerns and the landlords wish to sell the freehold and retire.
At an Extraordinary General meeting held on 20[th] August 2024, a vote was taken on two motions asking the members to consider was it ‘The Playhouse’ premises or ‘The Playhouse’ as a group that mattered:
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to close The Playhouse Northampton and disperse the funds in accordance with the constitution
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to carry on with productions in temporary accommodation whilst looking for new premises, performance spaces and storage
Overwhelmingly, the members present and those who could not attend who were offered the chance to record their vote via e.mail, voted for option 2 to continue.
So began our adventure with a new Committee and new Trustees.
We were able to hire a local community hall as we had committed to a production in November 2024, using the Playhouse premises for set building and the hire of another community space for rehearsals we proceeded with our production of The Haunting by Charles Dickens at Duston Community Centre.
This had the additional cost of van hire along with rental charges for the hall.
In the meantime, a list of about 20 possible more permanent local venues were visited, unfortunately these did not yield anything suitable and then, quite unexpectedly, we were offered Christ Church Hall which had everything we needed all be it in a poor state! The hall was last used for a panto over 20 years before; it didn’t meet current safety standards, remnants of that production still remained, and the stage was being used for storage by the various groups that share the building.
We negotiated with the Parish Church Council on occupancy, rent and storage space and in turn they sort approval with the Diocese of Peterborough for us to use Christ Church Hall as our base, which was granted. In one giant leap of faith we had our new premises and home.
The cost of work to make the stage area safe, paint it black, purchase and install fireproof blackout curtains, replacement of the front tabs and pelmet (Volvina Blinds) as the current curtains did not have safety markers. Additional and upgrade to the emergency lighting, additional fire extinguishers and new lighting bars with lights and a sound system including new speakers all have taken a toll on our reserves. Labour cost and upfront rental payments, not to mention the cost of mounting our production of The Haunted at Duston Community Centre have also eaten into our funds as can be seen in our annual return.
Registered Charity 1174920 email playhousenorthampton@gmail.com
Our November production of The Haunting was a tremendous success, and we moved into Christ Church Hall our new shared home on the final night at Duston and over subsequent weeks.
We have now established ourselves at Christ Church Hall and have mounted two further productions which have helped us to establish our name as ‘theatre in the community’.
The impact of the cost of refurbishing the hall for our needs is currently £14893. However, our future is assured, our 2025-26 Season is proving very popular, enabling us to continue with the refurbishment and the upgrade of the facilities.
Ben Knight Chair and Trustee on behalf of The Playhouse Theatre Northampton
AGM October 2025
As at 07/09/2025
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PLAYHOUSE THEATRE – SEASON SEPTEMBER 2024 – AUGUST 2025
Item 2023-24 2024-25 Notes relate to current year
Income
Members
Total Membership 3,957.00 2,160.00
Ticket Sales 11,516.40 9,164.00
Theatre Hire 2,323.00
Bar Income 8,691.73 1,878.94
Fundraising 80.00
Interest Received 478.44 258.36
Donations 60.50 2,298.28
Programme Sales
Total Income 27,027.07 15,839.58
Expenditure
Rent 6,800.00 7,651.67
Play Licences 2,196.00 2,931.00
Electricity 1,700.90 234.69
Water 179.75 -30.00
Business Rates 143.46 -35.37
Bar Expenditure 2,922.69 869.01
Bar Licence 180.00 42.00
Insurance 1,833.17 2,072.70
Professional Fees 360.00 -20.00
Telephone & Wifi 767.63 128.56
Director's Expenses 256.14 72.97
PRS/PPL 140.21 34.02
Printing, etc 1,100.38 402.03
Sound / Lighting 37.97
Cleaning / Repairs 397.55
Fire Services 1,256.14 58.80
Scripts 681.85 865.75
Refurbishment 588.75 14,893.78
Publicity 459.65 388.04
Postage 42.40 38.75
Misc. 289.58 807.15
Set Costs 90.52
Square/Ticketsource Charges 159.24 106.56
Depreciation of assets 561.15 1,234.70
Total expenditure 23,145.13 33,553.96
INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE 3,881.94 -17,714.38
ACCOUNT
Lloyds Current Account 3,162.73 1,268.50
Lloyds Deposit Account 39,149.82 20,070.40
Cash in hand 411.00 372.00
Bar Stock 569.21 72.00
Net Asset value 683.12 7,244.00
Prepaid Membership (Platinum) -2,350.00
Prepaid Play Licenses 2,370.00 2,151.00
Prepaid Scripts 212.00 372.61
Prepaid Rent 566.67 500.00
Prepaid Insurance 570.41 n/a
Prepaid Phone 103.56 n/a
Prepaid Web Domain 18.00 n/a
Prepaid Website 94.50 n/a
Accrued Accountant -380.00 n/a
Accrued PRS - Music License -14.57 n/a
Accrued Water & Electrics -63.34 n/a
TOTAL 45,103.11 32,050.51
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