Hay Market
History of the Haymarket Theatre
Work on the Haymarket theatre started in 1864 on August the 13th, when they started building work for the Corn Exchange, previous to this work there had only been 3 shops. The new were set to cost the town 4,000, which seems nothing to us in today's society with building costs normally costing thousands, mostly millions but in 1864 it seemed like very expensive.
The work was finished by March in 1865 and it opened for business, it was then brought by the Basingstoke Corporation in 1874 and from then it was used for a number of purposes from meetings both on a private and public basis. Further developments were done in 1884 when the Lesser Market was built next to the Haymarket. In 1910 the building was leased out and made into a roller skating rink, only 3 years later a man called George Casey took the lease over and opened a variety and cinema house, he renovated the building by putting a sloping floor, theatre seating, fitted stage with lighting and scenery and a projector room. He then renamed the building The Grand Exchange Cinema.
Sadly in 1925 there was a fire and only the outside walls and the roof tops remained, work was started and the building was re-stored, re-modelled and the re-opened however it was only used for a cinema showing old black and white films. Then in the early 1940s the council took over the building, re-decorating and repair it, they also added a small foyer and bar area. They also re-equipped to stage and added more seats to the auditorium; the new building was opened in 1941.
During the years between 1941 and 1946 the second world war took over, during these times the Stockley Theatre Ltd group opened as the firs repertory company involved in variety, a number of well known faces performed there such as Norman Wisdom, Frankie Howard and Tommy Handley. In 1946 due to Stockley Theatres being over taken by William Hammer Theatre Ltd including The Grand Theatre in their circuit of variety theatres. However in 1950 William Hammers tenancy finished and the council decided to take the building and set up a non profiting company, then in 1051 it finally became the Haymarket Theatre.
After this the theatre staff were mainly volunteers and the performers were mainly local amateur groups or small scale touring companies. It was then in 1969 that the Theatre club was firs formed. A man names Guy Slater then made and established a professional touring company known as the Horseshoe Company, after this in 1974 many famous faces graced the stage of the Haymarket Theatre including Timothy West, Derek Jacobi and Helen Ryan.
In 1977 a group called the The Haymakers formed and set about trying to raise as much money as possible for the theatre and to keep the theatre well staffed. Since the group have formed they have managed to refurbish a number of areas in the theatre such as the, Coffee shop, they have also brought the theatre a grand piano. In 1982 the theatre was given a bit of a re-vamp with a new front-of-house area, coffee shop and booking office as well as joining the Basingstoke Theatre Trust which combined the Haymarket Theatre and the Horseshoe Theatre company together in 1986.
Then in 1992 the theatre was closed for a major re-vamp costing them just over 3 million, the theatre had gone through massive reconstruction by the time it was opened again in 1993, with The Horseshoe Theatre Company now under the name of the Haymarket Theatre Company.