
Debbie Thompson is the director of two seaside theatres in Norfolk. Here she describes how she’s managed to keep them both afloat and how her theatrical family have come together to help her through this year.
In a sense, Debbie Thompson feels like she’s gone back to square one at Sheringham Little Theatre. When she started running the show 18 years ago, she recalls: ‘It was very much me and my family. My children used to come and be ushers, and my husband would help direct.’
Nowadays, Simon Thompson is head of drama at Paston College, daughter Katie has just graduated with a first in performing arts and Sam is hoping to go to drama school. And they have all come together as a family this year in a show of showbiz solidarity. The theatre hasn’t been immune to redundancies this year, and so Debbie has found herself going back to basics: ‘I serve in the café and clean the toilets.’
Later this month, a dysfunctional love story, Blink, comes to the stage, starring just two people. ‘It’s a really brilliant two-hander and brilliant for social distancing,’ says Debbie. ‘It’s perfect for the time.’ And it’s a family affair, with Sam as one of the actors, Kate as stage manager and Simon as director.
‘We are working together as a family. It’s nice we are all back here again.’ Although she adds: ‘It’s not all ‘von Trapp’. I do annoy them! But we are a theatrical family.’
It was all going so well for the theatre and its thriving community café called the Hub at the start of the year. ‘Sheringham Little Theatre was in a good place,’ says Debbie.
‘In March we were just about to open our Easter production of Guys and Dolls with 40 people in it.’ Plus it was going to be the 60th anniversary of Summer Rep at the theatre. ‘2020 was going to be a really exciting, successful year for Sheringham, as well as a celebratory year.’ And then lockdown happened and the summer season was effectively cancelled. Across the nation, the battle to keep British theatre alive was about to begin.
Debbie recalls: ‘I genuinely went into shock, suddenly I was sitting at home and having to stop,’ (something she’s not very good at, by her own account). ‘I was driving my family mad.’ But she adds: ‘Suddenly I started to enjoy it, I discovered gardening and went on long dog walks.’ But then there was another shift: ‘The bubble burst and reality hit. It became very clear this wasn’t a temporary thing.’
She needed to spring into action, which has been a double edged sword. ‘On the one hand its’ been depressing and heart-breaking,’ says Debbie. ‘On the other hand it’s been quite liberating.’
In May the theatre received a grant from the Emergency Response Fund, and then the café reopened in July. ‘The café went from 60 covers to 27,’ says Debbie. It’s not been easy, but she adds: ‘We felt it was important to let people come back in. And it was lovely to be able to work with our volunteers.’ And there was a special outdoor performance at Mannington Hall in August.
The theatre started showing films again – a piece of good news given that the likes of Cinema City in Norwich is closing for the foreseeable. ‘The reason we are OK is that we show films just before they go to DVD,’ explains Debbie.
With older audiences not returning as regularly as before, Debbie turned her attention to attracting a newer, younger audience. ‘I spent a lot of time in lockdown thinking about how to get young people engaged with the Little Theatre, to help us move forward.’
Last month, a new project called Rewriting Rural Racism was announced, created with Arts Council England help and following growing awareness of the Black Lives Matter movement. ‘I’m hoping that will be a really positive thing and it’s that kind of thing I find really exciting,’ says Debbie.
This coming Monday, Debbie will be waiting to hear about Recovery Plan grant funding. She says: ‘Sheringham is ticking along and we are trying our best, but we are desperate to hear about recovery funding which will bide us a bit more time.’
She is also director of St George’s Theatre in Great Yarmouth which is still heavily funded, although Debbie says: ‘It was beginning to take off and we were having regular audiences. I was very sad when we had to stop.’ However, it has also since reopened and has managed to put on live events, including an outdoor summer salsa show.
And the latest news is that live panto is happening in both theatres, with an online singalong screening that will also be enjoyed by thousands of schoolchildren.
Thanks to teaming up with Norfolk Music Hub, this is considered to be a pioneering project to beat the pandemic, staging live panto for socially-distanced audiences and a virtual show beamed into classrooms. It will be hugely important to both venues as they battle against lost audiences during lockdown.
And the show being performed could not be more topical: the fairy tale of Rapunzel, a girl kept captive in her own ‘lockdown’ tower, while her long hair grows and grows.
Debbie says: ‘We have done lots of work with the Music Hub, and when I heard they were looking for a panto I said ‘look no further’.
‘We have been looking for ways to stage a shortened, socially-distanced panto with a small cast at both venues to reduce the cost risk – and this link-up with the Hub adds an extra dimension to ensure youngsters do not miss out on their annual dose of pantomime.’
She adds: ‘It’s my favourite time of year. It’s the time children first discover theatre. I’m really pleased there’s going to be a happy ending to 2020 and that we will go out knowing we did a panto. And then we will see what 2021 brings.’
Tickets to Rapunzel – The Lockdown Panto are available via www.sheringhamlittletheatre.com or www.stgeorgestheatre.com. Schools wanting to find out more about the online streaming should visit the Norfolk Music Hub website
Great work Debbie and family x
Hope to see you soon
Maria H 😀