When town clerk Frank Littlewood posited the idea for a new civic theatre at the council meeting in July 1944 he was concerned that waiting too long would leave Cheltenham lagging behind other similar towns. He suggested that the notion of a civic theatre should commence as soon as practicable, even if this meant running a repertory season in a temporary facility until the proposed new entertainment centre behind the Town Hall was actually built.

The decision by Civil Defence to cease using the swimming bath as an ARP centre in October led to the Town Improvement Committee to declare that bringing the bath back into operation would not be financially prudent – for example, prior to the War there had been no filtration unit which was a necessity going forward. This left the large space, still boarded over and now referred to as the Montpellier Hall, available for other uses. The timing could not have been more perfect.

The borough surveyor came up with a basic plan to convert the Hall to a simple theatre with a stage backing on to the Bath Road frontage but this was changed considerably following a lengthy site meeting in November by Frank Littlewood and two members of the Entertainments Subcommittee who also recognise its potential as a home for the many amateur dramatic societies in the town. The idea of removing the balconies was scrapped as these could be pressed into service as dressing rooms for the performers and the stage is moved to the opposite side of the building. The new plans were presented to the council in December and the motion to create a new temporary theatre were given the green light.

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TO READ ABOUT THEATRE FROM 1945-NOW CLICK HERE