“Talent, Enthusiasm, Teamwork” is the name of a new book, recently launched to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Newmarket’s very own Kings Theatre. The three words have served its members well as the Nomads has developed into one of the country’s longest serving Amateur Dramatic Societies.
Believed to be the only theatre in the land that has recorded its memoirs in a published book of its kind, it brings together a permanent record of the memories, people and history of this wonderful society. The Nomads is an amateur dramatic and musical society born out of two separate societies formed in the 1930’s. It is unusual in that it owns its own theatre, thanks to the generosity of an altruistic member of his time, Captain King, whose name the theatre takes. Today, it has over 120 Nomads members, 60 Young Nomads, 30 Kings Kids, 20 Kings Kiddies and performs an impressive six shows each year.
With the society’s extensive history the need for its story to be recorded for posperity fell to a relatively newcomer, Steven Fenn. He was initially asked to become the Archivist and bring some sense of order to the society’s very large collection of photographs, programmes, tickets, posters and press cuttings. The closure of the theatre during Covid gave retiree Steven the time and physical space to bring some semblance of order to the masses of archive material. However, little did he realise that this immense task would lead to the writing and publishing of a book.
Much of the information came from reading and transcribing years and years’ worth of AGM minutes which both Steven and lifetime Nomads member, David Dowle diligently undertook. As for sifting through the press cuttings, with 400 performances under its belt, the job of restoring these precious reviews became a labour of love.
Literally thousands of hours later and with the dipping in and out of many others, the celebratory book was completed, a mere few months after the society’s officially 75th year.
The book is now on sale, priced at £20, with proceeds going towards the continued upkeep of the theatre. Ensuring that the next generation has the means to perform and entertain as well as play a key role in Newmarket’s community and leisure scene for many years to come.
For more information on the history of the Nomads, how to become a member and where you can purchase the book, click here.
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