The spirit of the Redgrave lives on in Brightwells as the success of a literary festival performance has prompted fresh calls to bring a theatre back to Farnham.

More theatre could be coming to Brightwells Creative Space following a sell-out Farnham Rep performance of the Tom Stoppard classic Albert’s Bridge.

The company, which performed under the joint direction of Brenda Longman of the Rep and David Edwards of the Farnham Theatre Association (FTA), transformed the blank canvas space into a small studio theatre.

More could follow as the success of the Farnham Literary Festival show has got the FTA exploring the idea of further productions at the community unit.

But while it’s just about large enough and centrally located, it’s not a long-term solution with Farnham being without a dedicated theatre space since the Redgrave’s closure in 1997 and subsequent demolition.

“Whilst the space was adequate and the location is very central, it did highlight the need for more live theatre in our historic town, and the need for a dedicated theatre space,” said theatregoer and supporter, Alison Molan.

“Not only would a dedicated theatre space stimulate the local economy by giving employment to actors, technicians, administrators, marketers, caterers and contractors it would have a positive knock on effect on other hospitality businesses in our town.”

She added: “Acting students and other students on related courses at UCA could also benefit from such a facility. “

“We were delighted that the Farnham Literary Festival gave us this opportunity to present the work of the renowned playwright, Tom Stoppard,” said director, David Edwards.

“The author had visited the Redgrave Theatre himself in 1987 to guide the cast of Rough Crossing and we were thrilled to bring his work back to a live audience in Farnham for the first time in nearly forty years.”