In the autumn of 1943 a small group of nine people met in a small studio near the Parish Church to discuss the formation of a play - reading and discussion group. Wigan Little Theatre came into being as a Friendly Society. 56a Market Street, became the headquarters On weeknights one could find pieces of sets in construction or the actors in rehearsal, in the knowledge that the set had to be erected on a stage on a Monday night, and the play dress-rehearsed on the Tuesday. That stage was at St. Michael's Hall in Shaw Street, and it was to be the group's platform for three and a half years. Four hundred Wiganers were now members and the financial success of the productions in following months, together with monies raised by private efforts, enabled the pioneers to plunge. While the reign at St. Michael's was blooming, the committee had taken an option on the derelict cinema, which is now our theatre, and the sojourn at 56a ended, for all rehearsals and preparation could now be held in the equally spare surroundings of the Alliance. This was in 1946, and it was a condition of the building license for its conversion, that as many jobs as could be done by amateur labour should be. Expert advice duly delegated to eager novices directed the stripping of plaster and pickaxing of underground passageways each evening, while by day the joiners and plasterers spread their masking finishes The final weeks of preparation were frenzied. By February 1948, productions had raised £850, interest free loans had been encouraged to the tune of £820, members' private efforts had brought in £1, 450 and the scheme by which our supporters endowed seats in the theatre at £5 each had produced £500. In all, when the theatre opened, £3, 500 had been raised to cover the deposit on the building and necessary alterations amounting to £2, 500. This was followed by a generous interest free loan of £4, 000 by Mr. F. T. Hanson, which put the theatre on a solid footing.
