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The resident theatre group, The Green Theatre Company, was formed in 1986 and is the only theatre company in the Kingston area to own their own venue, albeit an old converted cricket pavilion. Contrary to popular belief, the Green was not named after the shade the building used to be painted, but after the area in which it is situated - Barton Green.
As well as performing their own shows, they have had visiting companies such as Conditional Sentences, Pandemonium Circus and Rara Avis use the venue for rehearsal and performance, and the band Totally Committed started out on the Green stage before touring local pubs and venues and mutating into Life & Soul.
They have been part of the Kingston Arts Festival, Kingston Fringe Festival and Malden Fortnight and now hold an annual New Playwrights' Competition to encourage and recognise young people in scriptwriting.
The Green Theatre has, like all good theatres, its own ghost. Theo Charlton (to use his full name) was chairman and founder of the Malden Youth Theatre and died in Sept/Oct 1981. Although only a couple of people claim to actually have seen Theo's ghost, many have heard odd noises, sensed a presence and often had a strong feeling that they were being watched!
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