The Athenaeum Variety Group - The Princess and the Pea (1992)

Written by Dave Rowney. Directed by Keith Humphries.
For over 25 years, The Athenaeum Variety Group produced Warminster's annual pantomimes, playing to packed houses during February's half term week. The shows ran from Monday to Saturday, with performances each evening and a matinee performance on the Saturday. The Athenaeum had a seating capacity of about 240 and, in a typical year, some 1600 adults and children would come to watch the show. Many local groups and organisations supported the AVG pantomimes, not least the local cubs and brownies from the Warminster and Westbury area. The profits from each year's show went to support local charities. Sadly, in the mid 1990s, the AVG decided to close due to irreconcilable differences with the new management of the Athenaeum, who wanted to take over the pantomime and keep the profits for themselves. Had they approached things in a different way, the AVG may well have got on board, but the management's heavy-handed attitude and bullying approach meant that all goodwill had been lost, and the AVG packed its bags - along with all its costumes, scenery and props that it had accumulated over the years - not to mention its wealth of experience and skills. A sad ending for a group who had given so much to the town, and who had also done so much to contribute to the well-being of the Athenaeum, supporting it with endless kind deeds and gestures of goodwill. Many running repairs to the fabric of the building had been done by members of the AVG over the years, and the group itself provided seats, curtains, backdrops, equipment and many other items in the theatre - including building the front of house coffee area and bar. In 1992, the AVG refurbished the theatre's 3 dressing rooms out of it's own pocket, and earlier had built a storage facility to the rear of the building which remains to this day.