About The Bonington PlayersA little bit of history and what we do today...

The Bonington Players is one of the leading amateur theatre groups in Nottinghamshire. We pride ourselves on staging the very best of amateur theatre in Arnold and earning a reputation for the high professional standards that we achieve.

Formed in 1963 and named after Richard Parkes Bonington, a painter of the English school who was born and raised in Arnold, we began with performances at the Old People's Welfare Centre on Nottingham Road, since renamed Arnold Community Centre. We still use this as a rehearsal venue and workshop and storage facility but we became the resident theatre company at the Bonington Theatre when it opened in 1982. The group had campaigned hard for a theatre in Arnold to replace the original Bonington Theatre which dated back to 1912 but which was closed in 1957 and later demolished. The new Bonington Theatre was eventually built as part of the new Arnold Leisure Centre complex in the centre of the town and it offers the very best experience for present day theatregoers with comfortable seating, excellent sight-lines, a friendly licensed bar and ample adjacent free car parking.

We continue to offer our patrons three productions a season with a wide choice of theatre from serious drama to rip-roaring farce, from classic plays to modern pieces, and with occasional forays into musical theatre and pantomime.  Over the years we have performed the works of William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Noel Coward, JB Priestley, Agatha Christie, Philip King, Alan Ayckbourn, Michael Frayn, Alan Bennett, Joe Orton, Ray Cooney, John Cleese, Nicolai Gogol, Georges Feydeau, Jean Anouilh, Arthur Miller, Neil Simon and many others.

The Bonington Players is a long-standing member of NANDA which exists to support and promote all aspects of amateur theatre within the county.  We regularly win awards in their festivals for acting, directing, set design, costumes and stage presentation. For more information about NANDA visit its website: www.nandanotts.co.uk