Millicent theatre group The Company of Seven has given its last performances after more than 75 years of “treading the boards”.


Interest in presenting and performing in stage productions has waned over the past two decades.


The actors have concentrated on street theatre and clowning at public events rather than three-act plays which had been the forte of the company.


The small number of remaining members have resolved to wind up its affairs and decide how its bank balance of $9000 can be spent.


Phil Golding, John O’Connell, Jan Armit and Chris Hollingsworth have set the date.


The final meeting of The Company of Seven will be held at the Millicent Library at 3pm on May 1.


Some life members no longer live in Millicent including Bill Hudd, Irene Stratford and David Mitchell.


The Company of Seven began in the Millicent Anglican Parish Hall on a cold evening of October 12, 1949.


Anglican parish priest Father John Price had emigrated to South Australia from his native England the previous year.


Father Price convinced some of the younger members of the Anglican parish to present, under his direction, A.A. Milne’s one act play “The Ugly Duckling”.


This play had a cast of seven and it was performed in the Parish Hall which was then about the size of a school classroom.


John Morris, now deceased, was one of the founders of The Company of Seven and appeared in that first production.


He wrote this description of the early days in 1949.


“On the evening of the presentation there was much merriment during the dressing up and make up procedures,” Mr Morris wrote.


“I recall donning a pair of ladies’ silk pyjama pants (pink) and white silk stockings to simulate a courtly dress.


“Anyway, the performance, before an audience of about 30 succeeded beyond our wildest expectations.


“On the technical side, a stage had been rigged at one end of the little hall out of trestle table tops, various boxes and a few ashlars of Mount Gambier stone.


“By means of a piece of fencing wire tensioned between opposite window frames, a curtain was supported which moved freely.


“The lighting, which was very favourably commented upon, consisted of two small industrial floods placed either side of the stage, with 150-watt lamps shining down at the appropriate angle and a piece of timber supporting a row of 60 lamps, with reflectors made of jam tins to serve as footlights.”


The Company of Seven had its hey-day in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s when three plays per year were presented to large and appreciative audiences across the region.


When the Millicent War Memorial Civic and Arts Centre was erected in 1970, The Company of Seven had its own Green Room.


It helped to launch careers such as local teacher Dave Reed who became a professional actor.


Other notable performers were Shirley Thorpe and Wendy Jennings (both deceased), Lisa Braes (nee Haskett) and Peter Manders.