History
The Ilkley Players was formed in 1928 as an amateur theatre group and presented their first production, The Man from Toronto, on 25 January 1929 at St Margaret’s Hall, Ilkley.
After a few years in various hired venues, in 1938, they rented an upstairs furniture store in Weston Road from the Ilkley Liberal Club, and set to work to turn it into a theatre.
However the approach of war meant that the theatre was closed in the spring of 1939 and the building placed at the disposal of the WVS. However, it was never actually used for war work and the following year, the Players moved back in. Throughout the war they regularly toured Yorkshire performing for the troops and munitions workers, sometimes playing to audiences of over 1,000.
During the war years the theatre also played host to the second company of the Adelphi Players under the direction of Lewis Casson (husband of Sybil Thorndike).
After the war ended, the Players rebuilt their membership and began to expand their productions and other activities, including the introduction of drama classes, a film society and an arts festival.
In 1960 they bought the building they had lodged in so long, from the Liberals and became owners of the theatre for the first time. Under the leadership of Artistic Director David Wildman, the Players set about a series of extensions to the premises, culminating in 1998 with Project 2000, which included major structural changes to the building, full disabled access and a new studio theatre space in addition to the refurbishment of the old theatre upstairs.
The present theatre owes an immense debt to the people who gave so much time, hard work and vision to creating a great community asset. Now, rebranded as Ilkley Playhouse, the company still strives to follow the ideals of the original members – to present quality amateur theatre, to provide a centre for the arts in Ilkley and to have fun!