About

 

In late 1964 a small group of teenagers decided to form an amateur dramatic society. They had just experienced a previous group, “Group 7 Productions”, collapse after a show had to be cancelled at the last minute. Chiswick, decided these youthful idealists, needed a young, dynamic drama group thus Theatre West Four was born.A constitution was drawn up.

The maximum age of members was set at 30 and a democratic structure was put into place to ensure that no one director or clique could dominate the group.TW4’s first production was Jean Anouilh’s Dinner with the Family. The group adopted Chiswick Town Hall as its main performance venue and set about producing an eclectic mix of shows ranging from Shakespeare to Albee to Orton and including several successful musicals. The renowned playwright Jimmie Chinn wrote two plays especially for Theatre West Four, one of which was Straight and Narrow which became a huge West End hit starring Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Membership grew and Theatre West Four thrived, at its peak staging two or three main shows a year, as well as smaller studio productions. Through talent, hard work and boundless energy, TW4 became a successful and well-respected group, winning numerous local awards and competitions. Aristocracy, even royalty are known to have attended TW4 shows on a number of occasions!

As well as staging theatrical productions, the group regularly pursues other activities including theatre workshop sessions, rehearsed readings, lectures by outside visitors, and theatre trips together with social events.

Over forty years on and our constitution and democratic structure both survive. Thankfully, however, the age limit has been abandoned; indeed several founder members have played key roles in keeping the group alive and the future is looking very bright indeed with an influx of very talented and enthusiastic young people in recent years.

We have rehearsal, weekly meeting and studio space in two local Chiswick church halls, and have been fortunate for the last six years to secure the Studio Theatre at the Questors in Ealing as the venue for our main productions. We are continuing to produce shows and an exciting programme for the future is well under way. You will find details in the appropriate link.

Meanwhile we are always looking for new members interested in directing, acting, lighting, costumes props or any other facets that make a successful theatre group. If you would like to join or want to find out more, please e-mail us on info@theatrewestfour.co.uk.

Theatre West Four is looking forward to hearing from you.