August 24, 2026
What is Summer Rep?
As the summer rep season is ahead of us here at the Little Theatre, what better time to explain more about the summer repertory as a theatrical tradition and what it means to us here in Sheringham.
WHAT IS A SUMMER REPERTORY THEATRE?
A repertory theatre is a unique and fast-paced form of theatre, where a company of actors performs a rotation of different plays, specifically across the summer season, often changing productions regularly rather than staging just one show for an extended run. Here at the Little theatre, we are celebrating 66 years of the summer rep, and as we are one of the UK’s last rural repertory outposts, we wanted to share with you the tradition’s history.
THE SUMMER REPERTORY AS A THEATRICAL TRADITION:
The first repertory theatre in the UK was the Gaiety Theatre in Manchester. Founded by Annie Horniman, the theatre opened for its first season in September 1908 and is recognised as the first modern repertory theatre in the country. During Annie Horniman’s time running the theatre, she encouraged local writers to write for the rep, who later became known as the Manchester School of Playwrights. Ever since it was introduced by Annie Horniman during the early 1900’s, the summer repertory tradition is still going strong to produce a wide variety of all kinds of plays every single summer. The summer repertory is a tradition where cast becomes family, and familiar faces join new talent to entertain audiences throughout the summer season. The fast paced and ever-exciting format of rehearsals and performances has served as a training ground for top talent and has proved a great environment for young as well as experienced actors to thrive in the theatre.
THE SUMMER REPERTORY – OUR STORY:
Our first summer repertory season began in the summer of 1960 with plays and performances including; ‘The Pleasure of His Company’, ‘Love from a Stranger’, ‘Beside the Seaside’, ‘Friends and Neighbours’, ‘Doctor in the House’, ‘There Was a Crooked Man’ and ‘Murder without Crime’. Since then, we have continued to perform multiple shows for our summer rep every year as one of the last remaining summer repertory theatres in the UK. Our summer rep season spans from July to September and is always filled with incredible plays performed by our extremely talented cast.
