It’s official: Surrey Little Theatre has merged with Langley Players drama club to become Langley Little Theatre.
The new company’s home stage will be the 80-seat Langley Playhouse, which will be renovated with cash from the sale of Surrey Little Theatre’s building and land, on 184th Street in the Clayton area.
The sale closes June 30, according to a newsletter emailed to Langley Little Theatre subscribers.
“This gives us very little time to remove the lights and sound equipment, the props, costumes and furniture that we would like to salvage. A work bee occurred on Saturday June 5th. It was great to see so many members in person,” the newsletter says.
“We have started preparing the Langley Playhouse for the renovations by removing the seats and storing them in containers situated at the back of the parking lot. More containers will be ordered as necessary for both the Langley and Surrey costumes, props and furniture. We have also secured a temperature-controlled storage site for the lights and sound equipment. Again, help would be welcomed.”
Merger talks between the two volunteer-run companies took place in early 2020, and continued as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live-theatre productions locally.
• RELATED STORY, from December 2020: Surrey Little Theatre, Langley Players look to merge as single company at 200th Street theatre.
It’s not immediately clear who bought the Surrey Little Theatre building and land, or what is planned for the site.
A “public goodbye event” for Surrey Little Theatre is planned for Sunday, June 27 from 2 to 4 p.m.
The new Langley Little Theatre website (langleylittletheatre.org) says Langley Little Theatre Society is “an exciting new theatre south of the Fraser.”
In recent years, operators of Surrey Little Theatre have searched for a new home amid development pressures in their corner of Clayton, on 184th Street at Fraser Highway.
The 76-seat theatre, a structure first opened in 1936 as Clayton United Church, was taken over by the theatre group in the 1960s. The city has plans to widen 184th Street, and the building would have to be moved for that to happen.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
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