WE NEED THE HALL...Plea To Council

Will this be ignored as well?

To The Blue Mountains City Council

Katoomba NSW 2780 2 - 6 - 07


Dear General Manager and Councillors,

On behalf of The Brook Community Theatre, we, the committee, make an urgent plea to be granted use of the Mechanics’ Institute at Lawson, as our venue, the Woodford Uniting Church Hall that we have occupied for the past twenty-one years, is now on the market.

The Brook was founded by Seamus Rothsey, and Elizabeth Watson in 1982 as a non-profit, self-funded and independent organisation run by volunteers.
The Brook staged its first production, ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’ at the Woodford Hall in 1986, and to this day has been true to its policy of keeping theatre live in the mid-mountains, with the involvement of the local community of all ages, both on and off the stage.

The Brook has also been true to Seamus’ intention of maintaining professional standards, and has enjoyed a fine reputation for quality theatre in over sixty productions. We also conduct Drama Classes for children and teenagers every week, culminating in student performances, with many gaining additional theatrical experience in Brook pantomimes at the end of the year.

We are currently rehearsing two one-act plays, one of which was the winner of our competition launched two years ago to encourage new works by local writers.

We are preparing for two more productions this year, and three in 2008. Our not having a secure venue does not dampen our commitment and determination to continue the success story of our much loved theatre company.

We cannot emphasise enough the importance of the Brook Community Theatre as being of both cultural and social benefit to the mid-mountains community.

It is our understanding that the Mechanics Institute had been recently renovated, and would therefore be most suitable as a performance space for our theatre company, and for other cultural groups such as The Mudlarks, whose current venue, the Woodford Uniting Church, is being sold, and the group is also desperate for rehearsal and performance space in the mid-mountains.

Members of our Committee have recently inspected the Mechanics’ Institute, and certified it as a perfect venue for our Company, and implore the Council to preserve this building as a much needed performance space and an essential part of the Blue Mountains history.
The future of theatre groups such as ours will depend on the preservation of the Mechanics’ Institute.

Yours Faithfully,

Leila Wedd

Artistic Director

On behalf of the Committee of
The Brook Community Theatre Group Inc.