This article was published in 2024.

Su Gilroy will be bringing an exciting summer season of plays to Lyme Regis.

Below are some words from Su

Hello. My name is Su Gilroy, and I’m bringing a 3-week season of 3 plays to the Marine Theatre this August. The plays have not yet been announced (as they’ve not yet been decided!) so watch this space. From what I’ve found out so far, there was a rep season here back in the 60s, but there’s been nothing since. If anyone has any more information about that, or remembers it at all, I’d be really interested to hear about it – click here to contact Su.

Why do I want to bring rep to Lyme Regis? Well, for one thing, Lyme Regis is such a beautiful place, and who doesn’t want to spend their summer in a gorgeous town on the amazing Jurassic coast? Although, actually, I love rep and would do it anywhere! In fact, I have done rep in Torquay, Swindon, Wolverhampton, Redditch, Crewe, Billingham and Sidmouth (some of which could not be called beautiful!). It’s hard work, as we’ll be doing a different play each week, but it’s great to bring a number of
traditional rep plays to a community in a short period of time – I love standing in the foyer as people leave, and listening to them talking about the play they’ve just seen, sometimes comparing it to the play they saw last week, or wondering what parts members of the acting company will be playing next week. Pablo Picasso said ‘The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls” and I think theatre is a great way of doing that.

I also wrote my dissertation on rep – specifically the sort of commercial rep that would have been in Lyme Regis in the 60s. I was looking at reasons for its decline and hopes for its future, and spent a lot of time researching the history of rep. You’d think that would mean that I could tell you exactly what ‘rep’ is but, alas, I can’t, as it’s meant different things to different people at different times. It’s been able to
survive because it has always adapted. However, I did find that there were several things that all reps had – popular plays, reasonable prices, a company of actors for the season, and the desire to be part of the community. Those are all the things I want to bring to the Marine Theatre this summer.

I interviewed a lot of people for my dissertation, and I asked them why they thought rep was important, and I quoted their responses: “…they felt it fulfils many good functions: it entertains, it gets audiences interested in theatre, it brings people together in a community, it provides an apprenticeship for actors by allowing them to perform in a large variety of plays and to learn from an audience, it maintains and
augments the repertoire of plays.” I do hope that you’ll agree with them, and come and support the rep this summer. I look forward to seeing you!