IN January 2009, we asked Chronicle readers to share their memories of the old Reading Repertory Company – and a number of photographs sent to the paper showed many people indeed did remember it.
The pictures came from Raymond West, whose wife’s late aunt, Norah Pollard, was a member in the 1930s and 40s, and kept a huge collection of photos, reviews and cuttings about the Rep.
The former Kendrick schoolgirl worked on the Great Western Railway and for the Red Cross during the Second World War.
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After her retirement, she was a prominent member of the Emmer Green Townswomen’s Guild.
She is said to have loved acting and stuck with the Rep through to its demise. She died in 1990.
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David Cliffe wrote in January 2009: “I was surprised to come across programmes from the Reading Repertory Company performing at 70 Theatre, in London Street.
“Research has shown that before and after the war, they performed in the Palmer Hall in West Street, but it must have been unavailable in war time.
“The theatre was at 70 London Street, by kind permission of A Oliver Bridges, the dentist who owned it.”
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