{"id":47953,"title":"How it all started","description":"The Theatre of Small Convenience on Edith Walk in Malvern.","content":"

Dennis Neale is a self-taught puppeteer and outsider artist who<\/p>

lives in West Malvern. In 1997 Dennis took on a deconsecrated<\/p>

Victorian public toilet from the District Council for a peppercorn<\/p>

rent, and raised money to convert the tired and unassuming space<\/p>

into a theatre by selling bric-a-brac and collectables. With the help<\/p>

of hardworking friends, his enthusiasm and dedication<\/p>

transformed the toilet into a tiny yet beautifully formed theatre.<\/p>

In 1999 Dennis preformed his first puppet show, with puppets and<\/p>

scenery he had made from junk, odds and ends, papier-m\u00e2ch\u00e9, and<\/p>

paint, with a script he himself had written. The newly fledged<\/p>

Theatre of Small Convenience soon attracted attention from the<\/p>

press, which brought audiences, and in turn encouraged Dennis to<\/p>

push on with grander and increasingly elaborate shows.<\/p>

Dennis typically opened only for the Summer and Spring months,<\/p>

as the ambient temperature in the theatre was far too cold for<\/p>

regular Winter performances. Whilst the theatre had a capacity for<\/p>

twelve people sitting or sixteen standing, Dennis often struggled<\/p>

to gather an audience, despite the obvious love from the<\/p>

community. To attract attention to current performances, and<\/p>

encourage passers-by to come in Dennis recruited a team of<\/p>

glamorous usherettes, coined \u2018The Shady Ladies\u201d after the<\/p>

upturned lampshades they wore upon their heads, who would take<\/p>

a \u00a31 admittance, for the short shows, which commonly lasted<\/p>

between 5 and 10 minutes.
\"DennisThe theatre sadly closed in 2017 when Dennis was forced into<\/p>

retirement by ill health. In 2018, the lease was taken on by the<\/p>

Warwickshire College Group and used by drama and creative arts<\/p>

students from the Malvern Hills College. Tragically a<\/p>

dehumidifier was left unattended, causing a small fire and<\/p>

considerable smoke damage to the interior that Dennis had<\/p>

lovingly created and added to over the previous eighteen-years.<\/p>

In 2021, Layla Glantz and Sean Prentice set up the Facebook<\/p>

group, Friends of the Theatre of Small Convenience to garner<\/p>

support and lobby the Council into saving the theatre for posterity.<\/p>

In 2022 Layla called on Loz Samuels for assistance and sadly had<\/p>

to withdraw from the project due to other commitments. Loz<\/p>

drove the project forward rallying help to pull a proposal together<\/p>

to present to the Council. In 2024 a Community Interest Company<\/p>

was formed by Loz Samuels, Dibah Farooqui and Jan Birtle, who<\/p>

made it their mission to restore the theatre space, retaining as<\/p>

many of its original features as possible. They started a<\/p>

crowdfunding campaign and successfully raised over \u00a314,000<\/p>

towards the costs of repair.<\/p>

In January 2025 the group were given the keys by the Council and<\/p>

work started on restoration. Dennis has been involved from the<\/p>

onset of the campaign, providing advice and information about the<\/p>

building, gaining joy from witnessing its revival and rebirth. More<\/p>

recently he has loaned puppets and props for exhibitions and talks,<\/p>

all helping to build momentum to get the Theatre of Small<\/p>

Convenience up and running as a performative and creative once<\/p>

more.

Co-authored by Loz Samuels and Sean Prentice<\/p>","urlTitle":"how-it-all-started","url":"\/blog\/how-it-all-started\/","editListUrl":"\/my-blogs","editUrl":"\/my-blogs\/edit\/how-it-all-started\/","fullUrl":"https:\/\/tosc.teemill.com\/blog\/how-it-all-started\/","featured":false,"published":true,"showOnSitemap":true,"hidden":false,"visibility":null,"createdAt":1743458115,"updatedAt":1743626111,"publishedAt":1743626110,"lastReadAt":null,"division":{"id":390913,"name":"ToSC"},"tags":[],"metaImage":{"original":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/r0ldzklj2b2eutibpjuvwrhp0xonbix1ciakxuonqdmf1kig.jpeg","thumbnail":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/r0ldzklj2b2eutibpjuvwrhp0xonbix1ciakxuonqdmf1kig.jpeg.jpg?w=1140&h=855","banner":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/r0ldzklj2b2eutibpjuvwrhp0xonbix1ciakxuonqdmf1kig.jpeg.jpg?w=1920&h=1440"},"metaTitle":"","metaDescription":"","keyPhraseCampaignId":null,"series":[],"similarReads":[],"labels":[]}