Chester Gang Show 54 Years On
Chester Gang Show began as "Scoutabout" as a joint venture between the 8th & 13th Chester Scout Groups back in 1953. We ran for two nights plus a matinee, starting on a very cold Friday night the 16th of January, until Saturday 17th. The original venue was in the Cathedral Refectory fitted out with a stage, while the dressing rooms were in the cloisters; if there was ever cause for a haunting by the original occupants that was it.
Within three years we moved on to another historic but more appropriate berth, the original Victorian Chester
Royalty Theatre where we performed until 1965. From then on we arrived at our present home, The Chester Gateway
Theatre in 1969 after two shows in the enormous ABC Cinema.
Our longest serving producer (Roy Fisher) with 32 shows to his credit steered the ship until 1995 and we received the Scout Association Gang Show Red Scarf award in year 2000, when Matt Davies had taken over. That, in a nutshell, is a an abbreviated version of our tale of rags to riches but, if you want to find out more, click on the Gang Show History or the Appreciation of Roy Fisher items on the menu.
51 Shows to date
Our 51st show celebrating the Centenary of Scouting has now moved into history and our home for 38 years, the Chester Gateway Theatre, now awaits the ultimate sanction of the demolition gang. The next move is (in a way) a return to square one. In 1953 we opened in the monastic splendour of the Cathedral Refectory which was then effectively part of the original King’s School within the city; we are now about to transfer to the new King’s School buildings just over the Dee in Wrexham Road.
This year’s show will be a voyage of discovery, not only for you the audience, but for the production team as they rediscover the art of cramming a quart into a pint pot. Therefore we invite you all yet again to join us to investigate what fate has in store.
If you now click on the button to call up our magic self-calculating booking form, the ultimate gateway to thrills and amazement; all will be revealed. We are not difficult to find, simply insert the King’s School postcode into your satellite navigation system or Google map and then rattle the buttons. Remember, if you don’t book early you might be disappointed. If you live locally and don’t book early, you might find a reincarnated version of the press gang banging on your door in the middle of the night. If you haven’t been before then why not try a new experience? In fact, we will be all trying a new experience!