Chesterfield Theatre Friends
From Crisp Boxes to Cyberspace
Welcome to our temporary website!
In 1997, two years before the Pomegranate was due to celebrate 60 years as a Civic Theatre, a meeting was held in the bar to seek volunteers to form a fundraising group. Those volunteers became Chesterfield Theatre Friends, a name suggested by Colin McCall, who led us in the creation of our original website.
In the years since CTF have raised almost £60,000 and provided numerous additional facilities for users of the theatre. In recent years our focus has been on accessibility, funding projects such as the audio-description equipment and, most recently, the installation of an adapted-toilet off the foyer. With the closure of the theatre for redevelopment our fund-raising activities have slowed to the occasional “In Conversation” event at The Winding Wheel and our weekly archiving sessions have been put on hold so we have taken the decision to change our website. The digital archive, painstakingly created from ramshackle accumulation of information about the theatre by members of the Archive Group is still a work in progress, and we hope to get it back online sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we hope this glimpse into the history of the theatre will be of interest and if you have any specific questions, please contact us by emailing ctfarchive@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook for updates.
A Virtual Tour of the Pomegranate Theatre 2022
After the theatre closed for renovation in July 2022, but before the preparation work commenced, filmmaker Colin Harrison made this record of the building for us (and posterity)
The commentary was written and recorded by Stuart Basson who started worked at the theatre, first as Stage Manager, later as Technical Manager, and lastly as Operations Manager, between 1980 and 2022.
Our thanks to them both, and to the other staff-members who facilitated the project.
A selection of flyers from past productions