Conquest News
Conquest Theatre shortlisted in the Hereford Times Community Awards 2025
The Conquest Theatre in Bromyard has been shortlisted in the Contribution to the Arts category at the Hereford Times Community Awards 2025. The awards celebrate the outstanding people, organisations, and projects that make Herefordshire a vibrant and inclusive community.
The original Conquest Theatre opened in 1978 and in the 47 years since, we have been at the heart of Bromyard’s cultural life, providing high-quality performing arts for audiences across the rural market town. The theatre is entirely volunteer-run, with teams working tirelessly behind the scenes and on stage to ensure every production is a success. From performers and backstage crews to front of house, box office, and technical teams, each volunteer contributes their time, skills, and passion to bring the arts to life.
The theatre’s audiences also play a vital role, supporting performances and helping to sustain a thriving programme of events. This shortlisting recognises the collective effort of volunteers and audiences alike, highlighting the importance of community-driven arts.
The theatre’s management committee said: “We are incredibly proud to be shortlisted. This recognition reflects the hard work and dedication of our volunteers and the enthusiasm of our audiences, who make the Conquest a hub for creativity and community in Bromyard and beyond.”
The winners of the Hereford Times Community Awards will be announced at a ceremony at Hereford Cathedral on Wednesday 29th October.
– Wednesday 17th September 2025
2026 Musical
We are delighted to share that we have secured the rights for our 2026 musical, which is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! Thanks to the help of our members who voted on a number of musicals, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was chosen. We can’t wait to get started!
If you would like to be the first to hear information about tickets going on sale or audition information, register your interest with this form here.
We have more shows lined up for 2026 so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more information we will release soon!
– Wednesday 4th June 2025
New What’s On Brochure – May to August 2025
We finally have our brand new brochure which covers May to August! This brochure is jam-packed full of the events we have scheduled and there is something for everyone! We have lots of live on-stage events such as The Silver Club by Mark Stubbs, the Youth Theatre’s Alice in Wonderland and One Vision School of Art’s Come Alive and Frozen JR. We also have a whole host of films scheduled including Paddington in Peru, Gladiator II and Wicked. Finally, we have event cinema screenings the Royal Ballet and Opera which includes Die Walküre, as well as Il Barbiere di Siviglia from the New York Met Opera. From the National Theatre, is A Streetcar Named Desire.
Don’t miss out on grabbing your free copy of the What’s On Brochure by downloading it or collecting your copy from the Conquest Theatre.
– Thursday 10th April 2025
NODA awards 2025
We are incredibly proud to announce that we WON the best musical in the district for Shrek the Musical at the West Midlands NODA awards!
The director and cast member of Shrek the Musical, Lisa and Rob, attended the NODA awards and accepted the award for best musical.
We want to say a huge congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic production. There was a mammoth amount of work that went into the production from so many individuals that made Shrek the Musical the fabulous show it was. We are so proud!
– Sunday 6th April 2025
Press release – Abigail’s Party – Conquest Theatre production
The Conquest Theatre in Bromyard is preparing to transport its audience back to the decade of bellbottoms, cheese and pineapple, and the Ford Escort where Abba were dominating the charts.
The charity, volunteer-run theatre on the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border is producing Abigail’s Party, where in the 1970s British suburbanites Laurence and Beverly are entertaining their new neighbours, Angela and Tony. They’re also entertaining Susan, whose teenage daughter Abigail is having a party to which Susan has been dis-invited.
Over drinks and snacks, cliches and fatuous small talk abound. The tension escalates as the marital strain between Beverly and Laurence surfaces. Susan’s anxiety over Abigail’s party accelerates as rock music and God-knows-what permeate the room. As Beverly and Angela offer some supremely tactless remarks, reality breaks through the smugness when Laurence collapses with a fatal heart attack.
Featuring a cast of talented actors from in and around the town, Bromyard-born director Karen Lloyd was 12 years old when the play came out in 1977, so remembers the decade’s famous clothes, fashion, music, interior design and furniture, cars and more.
She said: “I look at the time with nostalgia and childhood memories in photos, but I remember Margaret Thatcher coming to power in 1979 and I remember power cuts and strikes. We had candlelight and played cards.”
Turning her attention to the play, Karen, otherwise known as Kaz, said: “Mike Leigh wrote the play as a piece that was based on improvisation, it was written as a social comment of that time.
“Today the play has a culty, camp, kitsch 1970s situation comedy to it, but it also has a dark psychological elements to it, some elements are very cruel.
“All of the ideas and themes are not just a comment of the 70s and the past they are here today… what we consume daily on social media, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and reality TV all sell us lifestyles that make us richer, sexier, healthier and ultimately more loveable – a basic need we all have.
“I have exaggerated the set, colours, costumes etc, as I wanted to pay homage to this time in a kind of caricature way, but wanted the detail to be spot on. The truth is in the dialogue and the characters and their actions.” Tickets are on sale for the play, which is on Thursday, April 10 to Saturday, April 12 at 7.30pm, via conquest-theatre.co.uk or in person at the box office during opening times.
– Thursday 3rd April 2025
Hereford County Drama Festival
It’s safe to say we are over the moon with the cast and crew of Educating Rita who gave a fantastic performance last night at the Hereford County Drama Festival and won!
Huge well done to everyone involved in this fabulous production, it really was a stellar performance! The team won not one but SIX awards for best director, best actor, best actress, best set, best play and best new company!
Educating Rita is on to the next step of the festival in May! Huge thank you to The Market Theatre for hosting the awards! It was fabulous to see all the other performances and be involved with such hard-working and talented groups!
(Photo credit) Catherine Crosswell
– Sunday 23rd March 2025
Membership update
As of 12th February 2025, the Management Team voted for the memberships and benefits to change. Due to the system for creating and renewing memberships, we will no longer be offering a joint membership or friend of the Conquest membership. Anyone who has either of these memberships will still have the benefits of them until February 2026. The new benefits have taken immediate effect.
The benefits of the full membership are now as follows:
Subscription to e-newsletter
One free hot drink for the member holder at every event
Right to vote at the Conquest Theatre AGM
One half price ticket to any night of a main stage Conquest Theatre production
50p discount on film tickets
25% off costume hire
5% off at the bar
The benefits of the actor membership are as follows:
Ability to act on-stage in all Conquest Theatre productions
Subscription to e-newsletter
One free hot drink for the member holder at every event
Right to vote at the Conquest Theatre AGM
One half price ticket to any night of a main stage Conquest Theatre production that can be gifted to a friend or family
50p discount on film tickets
25% off costume hire
5% off at the bar
The changes made were the ability for the half-price ticket to be booked for any night instead of the opening night and 5% off at the bar instead of discount of a bottle of wine. We hope you make use of these improved benefits and as always, membership benefits can only be redeemed if a membership card is presented to our volunteers when making a purchase.
Want to find out more about memberships? Visit our membership page here.
– Monday 3rd March 2025
NODA Nominations 2025
We are so excited to hear that our productions of Blackadder II and Shrek the Musical have been nominated for a NODA award in the drama and musical categories! A huge congratulations to the cast and crew who worked so hard for both productions and created fantastic shows! We look forward to attending the awards evening and seeing all the other fabulous amateur dramatics companies!
– Saturday 22nd February 2025
Conquest Theatre live on stage upgrade project press release:
Live events at the Conquest Theatre in Bromyard are being boosted by a £10,000 investment in the volunteer-run venue. Thanks to funding from the UK Shared Prosperity fund, audiences are being wowed by state-of-the-art LED lighting and stunning new curtains in the theatre’s 153-seat auditorium.
The theatre, which has been in Tenbury Road since 1991, is an important lifeline for its volunteers, customers and users, spanning from four to 94. It is now equipped to deal with the demands of some great touring shows, such as Queen tribute Killer Rhapsody, Remi Harris’s A Man of the World: The Music of Peter Green and much more.
It also means actors get a more professional experience while performing on the stage in productions such as Shrek the Musical, Macbeth and Abigail’s Party. Audiences have been amazed by the project, with comments including “I thought the lighting was better because it changed colour faster, there were more colours and the light moved adding to the concert experience”, “the lighting was way better, we even took pictures of the lighting itself”, and “the lighting was perfect”.
The new curtains, the main set in a rich purple, have also impressed, with the overwhelming majority of audiences saying they are a huge improvement. A Conquest Theatre spokesperson said: “We are so bowled over by the support and amazing feedback we have received since installing the new lighting and curtains. In the space of four years, it now means our auditorium has had a complete transformation. Having installed new seats in 2021, along with new carpets and lick of paint, we now boast the really wonderful new curtains which really complete the space. “While we might be a little biased, the theatre is such an invaluable facility for the town. Bromyard has to be one of the smallest towns in the country with its own purpose-built and fully equipped theatre.
“Of course, we cannot thank the grants team at Herefordshire Council and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund enough. We are all aware of the cost of living challenges currently facing everyone so this grant funding has been invaluable in helping us to upgrade the facilities on offer here in the heart of Bromyard.”
The Conquest Theatre live on stage upgrade programme has received £8,453.07 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
– Thursday 6th February 2024
UK Shared Prosperity Fund Grant
The Conquest Theatre is delighted to announce its live on stage upgrade programme which will see more than £10,000 invested in our facilities.
The project will see new state-of-the-art LED lighting, infrastructure improvements and two new sets of curtains to bring new life to the stage.
This will improve the quality of our in-house productions, such as Shrek the Musical this autumn, as well as the facilities we can offer to visiting companies.
Keep an eye out on our website and social media over the coming months for the latest on the project.
The Conquest Theatre live on stage upgrade programme has received £8,453.07 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
– Saturday 17th August 2024
The Conquest Theatre would like to express its gratitude to the late David Verrinder who has left a generous bequest in his will. The Conquest Theatre Management Team are looking into a specific area of the theatre to be the beneficiary of the bequest and will present a plaque in David’s memory in the near future. David was an avid performer and lover of theatre. His money will be invested into the future of the theatre and will leave a lasting legacy.
-Wednesday 16th October 2024