Intro

The Green Theatre Company (or GTC) was formed in 1986. Open primarily to 14 - 25 year olds and run on a purely voluntary basis, it aims to bring quality drama to New Malden. We are the only theatre company in our area with our own venue, albeit an old converted cricket pavilion. We have always struggled with building maintenance and fundraising. The building is old and in dire need of major repairs such as insulation, rewiring, new roofing and new windows. We do what we can but extra help is always welcome! We aim to put on 5 or more shows a year and we meet several times a week for rehearsals at our venue. We hold open auditions throughout the year and are always looking for new actors, directors and technicians.  

Why are we called the GREEN Theatre Company?

Contrary to popular belief the Green was not named after the shade the building used to be painted, but after the area in which it is situated - Barton Green!  

What shows we put on 

The GTC don't have a certain style of show. We put on anything from comedies to dark pieces, large cast shows and one acts. The last artistic year included the drama The Anniversary, J.B. Priestly’s An Inspector Calls, the hilarious American comedy The Foreigner, and a series of five modern ‘Double Acts’ - one-act plays with two actors in each. These pieces ranged from the dark and strange to the hilarious. 

GTC Community Activities 

We have been part of the Kingston Arts Festival, Kingston Fringe Festival, Malden Fortnight, Spelthorne Drama Festival, Elmbridge Drama Festival and the All-England Theatre Festival. In 1998 we initiated a New Playwrights' Competition to encourage and recognise young people in scriptwriting. We became affiliated with NODA in 2001 and have lots of links with other local groups including visiting companies such as The CornerHouse, Enzyme Theatre Company, Youth Action Theatre, Upstage Theatre Company, Compagnie Hors les Murs, Conditional Sentences, Pandemonium Circus and Rara Avis. The band Totally Committed started out on the Green stage before touring local pubs and venues and mutating into Life & Soul. The GTC will appear at the Leatherhead Festival for the first time in May 2011.

The Ghost

Barton Green Theatre has, like all good theatres, its own ghost. Theo Charlton (to use his full name) was chairman and founder of the Malden Youth Theatre and died in October 1981. Although only a couple of people claim to actually have seen Theo's ghost, many have heard odd noises, sensed a prescence and often had a strong feeling that they were being watched. 

GTC Birthdays

The Green actually has a variety of "birthdays":

• March 1986 - Malden Youth Theatre acquired the lease to Barton Green Pavilion
• End of April 1986 - official opening party
• May-June (not sure exactly when) - it was decided to rename MYT as the Green Theatre Company
• 24 July 1986 - Jonathan Constant wrote an article in the Comet Extra (free paper) headlined 'New Theatre Short of Players'
• August 1986 - Nick Wilson ran two Monday workshops for the many new members who responded (including Jon!). From these, he auditioned and cast Camino Real
• September 18 to 20 1986 - performances of Camino Real - the first play under the name ‘GTC’