LTG – Little Theatre Guild – a confederation of 126 amateur theatres that own their theatre building
Author: Anne Gilmour
Former National Secretary LTG
Date of publication: 19/05/2026
Over the weekend of 15 – 17 May 2026, delegates from Members of the LTG met at the Crescent Theatre, Birmingham in the heart of the UK to celebrate 80 years of the Little Theatre Guild at the 2026 National Conference, an annual event.
The Crescent runs two venues and the event began on Friday evening at their smaller venue, The Old Rep, a long established theatre which opened in 1913. After tours and supper, delegates were treated to entertainment from two members of the Crescent Youth Theatre and the cast of their Come From Away production.
On Saturday and Sunday, all events took place at their newer purpose build theatre standing by one of the canals for which Birmingham is famous. The programme included: workshops, presentations, the AGM and Open Forum discussion, a Youth Theatre Festival, a production, a gala supper and the announcement of a new LTG Patron, actor and director Joseph Millson. He will replace Jessica Swale of recent Paddington fame who is an excellent playwright and author of Nell Gwynn and Blue Stockings, both regularly staged by amateur theatres here in the UK.
The key factor for Membership of the LTG is that the Member owns, or has a long lease on their theatre building so they have building issues to deal with (leaking roofs a current topic) as well as the artistic side of staging and performing plays. Over the conference weekend, delegates had plenty of opportunities to network, to exchange ideas and experiences, and get to know each other. It is also a great way to gain knowledge on how new and planned legislation might impact on the way they work. Issues of Health and Safety, safeguarding and fundraising are of particular concern.
So how is LTG linked to AITA/IATA?
The LTG is a full member of ITE – International Theatre Exchange – the AITA/IATA GB National Centre. Indeed, the current Chair of LTG, Nick Morley, paid a short visit to Monaco last year over the weekend of the GA and was very impressed by what he saw. He has become a trustee of ITE and has proposed it as a role for all future LTG Chairs.
While very few LTG Members are involved in international amateur theatre, there are small pockets of international work such as that undertaken by the Medway Little Theatre Youth Section who regularly attend the Gibraltar One-Act Play Festival. They also took part in the National Conference Youth Theatre Festival (see HERE) and they have signed up
to the AITA/IATA weareamateurtheatre Instagram account.They will take the week 18-23 May to report on their experiences of preparation for and performance at the Festival. We hope to encourage more LTG Members to consider international festivals.
LTG has three Regions – North, Central and South – and the National Conference, where possible, cycles between each Region. In addition to the National Conference, each Region hosts a one or two day Regional Conference in the autumn which also cycles between theatres in the Region who have the capacity to host such an event. The LTG also produces an annual Yearbook which details all 126 members and the productions staged over the previous season.
LTG has been going for 80 years and I have every confidence it will go for at least another 80 years.