The Cotswold Playhouse was built in 1836 as a Primitive Methodist Chapel.

The original plaque giving its date of foundation is now positioned in the theatre’s lighting workshop.

In the 1850s a room was built onto the side of the chapel, which later became the Playhouse Green Room.

Between being a place of worship and 1951, when the Cotswold Players bought it, the building was known as Slade Hall, licensed for entertainment and at one time used as the headquarters of Stroud Boys’ Club.

Before the 1950s, Cotswold Players productions took place in St Laurence Church Hall, then known as the Church Institute.

Over the last 60 years improvements have progressively been made to the Playhouse, which today is a comfortable and well-equipped centre for drama, appreciated by locals and visitors to Stroud alike.