My name is Michael Caine – and this is where it all began
We continue to explore the history of theatrical entertainment in Horsham with part two of The Dramatic Tale of Horsham Theatre, a retelling of the story by Horsham Museum and Art Gallery’s heritage and museum manager, Jeremy Knight.
Act Two – Assembly Rooms Rather Than Theatres: Throughout the 19th century, Horsham seems to have had no actual theatre. There were performances in pubs and inns, and the town was blessed with two large assembly rooms, the King’s Head and Richmond Hotel.
When the Corn Exchange was built in the late 1850s it was intended to be used as a meeting room and, being next to the Black Horse Inn, it also took on the function of an assembly room. Posters from the period show many performances took place in town.
Amateur dramatics had a strong following and this remained the case into the Edwardian era, a heyday for the London theatre.
In 1912, The Daily News and Leader published an article, ‘our mirthless village’, by E. Clapham Palmer, supposedly a correspondent who knew Horsham.
He wrote: “Sir, So London spends £30,000 a day on being amused. In little country towns and villages it is necessary to live without being amused.
In a place like Horsham of 12,000 inhabitants, there is little chance of being entertained unless the cricket club, or the football club, or some other deserving institution, is good enough to get into debt. Then, perhaps, someone will get up amateur theatricals, and give us an entertaining evening.”
The article says that once a month during the winter, a touring company would put a show on in the assembly room of the chief hotel, probably the King’s Head, and noted that despite plans to build a larger hall, the construction of a proper theatre venue never came to fruition.
What is clear from all the posters in the museum’s collection is that the people of Horsham preferred variety shows to plays.
Act Three – The Theatre Electric Arrives: The biggest change in Horsham’s theatrical scene came with the arrival of the cinema. Without the investment from, and popularity of, film, it is doubtful whether Horsham would ever have had a stage on which to perform.
The following story only later gains importance, as it is the place where future ‘knight of the stage and screen’ Sir Michael Caine, would make his mark.
In October 1911, The Carfax Electric Theatre opened. The entrance was through the alley at the side of the Stout House, and it had a small sign suspended over the pavement.
Plans for a 40ft long hall were submitted in June 1911 by the brewers, King and Barnes, but instead, the cinema was established by brothers Philip and Charles Bingham. In 1917, the Carfax Electric Theatre purchased 28 Carfax, Walter Oldershaw’s outfitters shop, which was next to the pub and directly in front of the auditorium. This building was then converted into an entrance. This and other improvements saw the theatre renamed to Carfax Theatre with a grand opening by the famous writer, Hillaire Belloc.
The 1920s saw the creation of the Horsham Players, then in 1929, Horsham’s entertainment world saw the biggest change of all, the town finally had its first permanent, purposebuilt, theatre.
In autumn 1929, the Blue Flash Company owned all three cinemas in the town; Central Hall, Carfax and its finest, The Capitol. That October, at The Capitol, the company installed sound apparatus so it could play talkies.
The purpose of The Blue Flash Company was to provide employment for out of work bandsmen who had previously been in the army. The bandsmen would then use their musical skills to play live soundtracks for the silent shows. Now that talkies were being shown, and demanded by the public, the need for live music rapidly declined.
The Carfax cinema therefore decided to close for a week and convert its space into a live theatre. They held a season of plays by Frank Buckley’s Repertory Company, realising that it would be difficult for silent films now to compete with the talkies.
Act Four – A Knight Begins as a Knave: Post-war Horsham saw a notable entrant on to its stage, Michael Caine, whose acting career began in the town. Caine responded to an advertisement for an assistant stage manager at the Horsham-based Westminster Repertory Company. This position led to walk-on roles at the Carfax Theatre, where he worked for nine months. Sadly, the company closed while he was sick with malaria, an illness he picked up in Korea during military service.
The other development in the 1950s was the formation of HAODS (Horsham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society), who started off by primarily performing works by Gilbert and Sullivan. They performed in the Theatre Royal, which seems to have changed its name following the closure of the Westminster Repertory Company, and was known as the Theatre Royal from Carfax Theatre.
In 1981 Horsham District Council made a very public pledge to keep live theatre in Horsham. The obvious venue was the old Capitol Theatre but the building was in the way of major redevelopment of Swan Yard.
Horsham Urban District Council had original bought the site in 1953 for £27,000 and now M&S was offering £1.5million for it. The council agreed to spend £200,000 to demolish the old theatre and at same time purchased the old ABC Cinema in North Street. The building cost £200,000 and a further £900,000 was set aside to convert it into a new theatre.
This theatre became The Capitol, opening in 1984, and the rest is its history.