Very limited parking is available at The Playhouse and on the surrounding streets. 

Try parking in the Sainsbury's multi-storey carpark which is about 100 metres nearby.

"Local Hero: Hollywood on Thames" 
Surrey Brass - Walton on Thames Playhouse 
Sunday 21st March 2004

Sunday evening saw the nostalgic return of Walton on Thames to those heady days when it was "Hollywood on Thames", the hub of the British film industry.

Walton Playhouse (the last surviving building of the original Walton studio complex) hosted an enthusiastic audience who were treated to a showing of previously unseen films by local hero, Cecil Hepworth - a driving force behind British film-making of the early twentieth century.

Reactions in the hall proved that the five films dating from 1899 to 1915 were just as fresh and entertaining today as they were with the original audience, but this time accompanied by wonderful brand new scores composed by local composer John Hughes and premiered by Surrey Brass, who were directed by Tom Hammond. This "innovative and entertaining brass ensemble" perfectly captured both the spirit and whimsicality of "The Dog Outwits the Kidnappers" and the moody magnificence of "Burnham Beeches".

The movies featured either Hepworth himself (as the dastardly villain seizing his young daughter Elizabeth only to be outwitted by the family dog, Blair - who undoubtedly stole the show!) or renowned actresses of the silent movie era Chrissie White and Alma Taylor, both of whom lived in or around Walton. Many of the scenes were shot in the locality and places such as Church Square, Shepperton were still recognisable today, adding to the considerable local interest. The pre-concert talk by Simon Brown, the eminent early film expert from the British Film Institute, gave a fascinating insight into the life and times of Cecil Hepworth and his film company. The show was particularly appreciated by VIP guest Valerie Williamson, Hepworth's daughter, who had not seen any the films before and particularly liked "Burnham Beeches".

John Hughes captured the essence of the films, never detracting from the films themselves but complimenting them with music that, as one 12 year old in the audience remarked "seemed as if it had always been there".

After a short interval, the audience was treated to only the second performance ever in the UK of a Phil Snedecor arrangement of "Sing, Sing, Sing" previously made famous by Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. Surrey Brass, now risen like a mighty theatre Wurlitzer from the Playhouse orchestra pit to the relative comfort of the Playhouse stage, demonstrated their musical versatility bringing to life film images ranging from the tumbleweed from Enrico Morricone's "Once Upon A Time In The West" to the light sabres of "Star Wars" dramatic musical score.

The appreciative audience, including a encouragingly large number of young folk, local film buffs and historians, the Deputy Mayor and several Councillors thoroughly enjoyed the evening and demanded an encore - Surrey Brass duly obliged with "Those Magnificent Men in the Flying Machines".

Steven Bishop