Memories sparked by centenary of Newark Palace Theatre

Memories sparked by the centenary of Newark’s Palace Theatre are being pieced together to form part of an exhibition later this year.

The first of a series of memory mornings has already taken place at the theatre, which is celebrating 100 years since it was opened by town businesswoman Emily Blagg in 1920.

The mornings aim to encourage people to share their memories of the theatre, to help create a more complete picture of its history.

The exhibition will be staged at the venue in September, combining material from its own archives with input from the public.

The theatre’s operations manager, Andrea Smedley, along with volunteers Julie Nicholson and Rosina Gough, have been working their way through the archives to try to piece together its past.

“The theatre has been central to people’s lives and we know that people will have memories they will want to share,” Andrea said.

She said they needed particular help with information from the Thirties to the Seventies.

Photographs belonging to former Palace Theatre employee Judy Sim are among those already received.

As well as hosting memory mornings, the theatre has organised events throughout the year to celebrate the 100-year milestone.

There will be a centenary gala in the summer, afternoon teas followed by theatre tours in August, a heritage open day in September, and a haunted tour of the theatre in October.

The theatre has also launched the Our Past, Your Future fund, to help young people into the arts.

If you have any memories of the Palace Theatre and would like to share them, the theatre has another memory morning on March 28.

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