Looking Back: 25 Years of the Bridge House Theatre

This year we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Bridge House Theatre at Warwick School. Gervald Frykman, Warwick School’s Archivist, tells us a little about its inception and the building that stood on the original site

“Large-scale drama productions began at Warwick School in 1908. A variety of venues was used, including some in the town. The largest performance space in the school was Big School, now re-named The Pyne Room. When it was opened in 1970, the Guy Nelson Hall gave a much-needed boost to music and drama at the school – but it had to host assemblies, exams, parents’ evenings and so on. The school clearly needed a dedicated theatre, and, thanks to the vision of the Chair of Governors, Professor E. W. Ives, and the Headmaster, Dr P. J. Cheshire, the Bridge House Theatre was opened in 2000. The Foundation Stone had been laid in 1999 by Sir Ben Kingsley

The newly opened Bridge House Theatre at Warwick School in 2000

The new Manager of the Performing Arts Centre, Wallace McDowell, immediately set about using the facility for events such as orchestral concerts as well as working closely with the Head of Drama, John Daws. The play chosen to inaugurate the new theatre, after its official opening in May 2000 by Dame Judi Dench, was Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Wallace began the process of attracting professional theatre companies to the Bridge House, the legacy of which continues to this day.

Charlie Hamblett and Ellise Chappell as Romeo and Juliet in the 2009 production on the Bridge House Theatre stage

The original Bridge House was an Edwardian villa, purchased by the Governors in 1957. At various times it housed “school servants”, the art department, the maintenance workshop and even the school’s amateur radio station. By the time it was demolished to make way for the new theatre, it was fairly dilapidated.

Bridge House in 1999

For 25 years the Bridge House Theatre has been at the forefront of dramatic productions, not only in-house, but also in welcoming professional companies. Here’s to the next 25 years!”

Gervald Frykman, Warwick School Archivist

Bridge House Theatre is a proud part of Warwick Schools Foundation and hosts sensational schools productions alongside community projects and professional theatre, comedy and music.

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