Wednesday January 26th saw the 100th anniversary of the founding of Leicester Drama Society. On 26th January 1922, the inaugural meeting the the LDS was held, anecdotally at the Turkey Café on Granby Street.

On 28th January 2022, the theatre paid host to the launch of a new book which covers the last forty years of the theatre’s activities: In Our Time has been complied by members of the theatre, and published by local publisher The Book Guild. The evening at the theatre on 28th was hosted by Head of Productions John Ghent, and was attended by Sir Peter Soulsby, Mayor of Leicester, along with alumni of the theatre, trustees and long-standing members.

One of the theatre’s patrons, Richard Cadell, spoke emotionally about how the theatre had started his career in show business, and had directly led to his success with The Sooty and Sweep Show. Richard also played a video message from former Little alumnus Andy Nyman, who said that he was “honoured to be a part of the Little Theatre’s history”. Other former Little alumni present included Leon Ferguson, David Plimmer and David Shaw Parker.

The highlight of the evening was when Sooty was talking to Sir Peter Soulsby, but somehow he managed to squirt a water pistol in Sir Peter’s face… all taken in the best spirit (indeed, Sir Peter said he was a big Sooty fan).

In Our Time is available for sale from the theatre Box Office, the publisher’s website or through online and high street bookshops.

Photographs below by John Ghent.