An Ayrshire Arts Archive
Over a period of 55 years
the Compass Club has been presenting quality drama in Ayr and the surrounding
district. With the assistance of the Compass Club Archivists, the
Network has assembled an online history of the group.
This table lists all productions prior
to the closure of the Civic Theatre in 2002.
| Year | Play | Author |
| 1954 | To Dorothy a Son | Roger MacDougall |
| 1955 | The Late Edwina Black | William Dinner & William Morum |
| Mr Bolfry | James Bridie | |
| 1956 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Oscar Wilde |
| John Gabriel Borkman | Henrik Ibsen | |
| 1957 | Rookery Nook | Ben Travers[1] |
| The Man | Mel Danelli | |
| 1958 | It’s Never Too Late | Felicity Douglas |
| The Reluctant Debutante | Alec Douglas-Home | |
| 1959 | The Miser | Moliere |
| 1960 | The Admirable Crichton | J. M. Barrie |
| A Question of Fact | Wynyard Browne | |
| 1961 | The Chalk Garden | Enid Bagnold |
| Roar like a Dove | Lesley Storm | |
| 1962 | Black Limelight | Gordon Sherry |
| McAdam and Eve | Roger MacDougall | |
| 1963 | The Caretaker | Harold Pinter |
| The Sleeping Prince | Terence Rattigan | |
| 1964 | The Heiress | Ruth & Augustus Goetz [2] |
| A Likely Tale | Gerald Savory | |
| 1965 | Five Finger Exercise | Peter Shaffer |
| Out of the Crocodile | Giles Cooper | |
| 1966 | The Happy Marriage | John Clements |
| [SOCIAL EVENING: The Bald Prima Donna] | Eugene Ionesco | |
| 1967 | Billy Liar | Keith Waterhouse & Willis Hall |
| The Reluctant Peer | Alec Douglas-Home | |
| 1968 | The Killing of Sister George | Frank Marcus |
| Ghosts | Henrik Ibsen | |
| 1969 | Hay Fever | Noel Coward |
| Relatively Speaking | Alan Aykbourn | |
| 1970 | The Wrong Side of the Park | John Mortimer |
| A Taste of Honey | Shelagh Delaney | |
| 1971 | Browning Version / Harlequinade | Terence Rattigan |
| The Barretts of Wimpole Street | Rudolf Besier | |
| 1972 | A Man for All Seasons | Robert Bolt |
| The Man Who Came to Dinner | George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart | |
| 1973 | King Lear | William Shakespeare |
| Sabrina Fair | Samuel A. Taylor | |
| 1974 | The Three Sisters | Anton Chekhov |
| Shelly | Anne Jellicoe | |
| 1975 | Hamlet | William Shakespeare |
| A Delicate Balance | Edward Albee | |
| 1976 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Jay Presson Allen |
| Habeas Corpus | Alan Bennett [1] | |
| 1977 | The Seagull | Anton Chekhov |
| The Crucible | Arthur Miller | |
| 1978 | The Government Inspector | Nikolai Gogol |
| Macbeth | William Shakespeare | |
| 1979 | Rookery Nook | Ben Travers {2} |
| The Hollow Crown | John Barton | |
| Equus | Peter Shaffer | |
| 1980 | The Playboy of the Western World | John Millington Synge |
| The Taming of the Shrew | William Shakespeare | |
| 1981 | The Lion in Winter | James Goldman |
| Mary Rose | JM Barrie | |
| 1982 | Ten Times Table | Alan Aykbourn |
| 1983 | Entertaining Mr Sloane | Joe Orton |
| A Voyage Round My Father | John Mortimer | |
| 1984 | DEATH OF BILL GRIERSON FOUNDING MEMBER/DIRECTOR | |
| 1985 | Joking Apart | Alan Aykbourn |
| Ring Round the Moon | Jean Anouilh | |
| 1986 | I Have Been Here Before | J B Priestley |
| The Importance of Being Earnest | Oscar Wilde | |
| 1987 | Blithe Spirit | Noel Coward |
| She Stoops to Conquer | Oliver Goldsmith | |
| 1988 | Dead Man’s Hand | Seymour Matthews |
| Abigail’s Party | Mike Leigh | |
| 1989 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Peter Nichols |
| Round and Round the Garden | Alan Aykbourn | |
| 1990 | The Day After the Fair | Frank Harvey |
| Pack of Lies | Hugh Whitemore | |
| 1991 | Outside Edge | Richard Harris |
| One For The Road | Willy Russell | |
| 1992 | Absent Friends | Alan Aykbourn |
| Pygmalion | George Bernard Shaw | |
| 1993 | Groping for Words | Sue Townsend |
| Private Lives | Noel Coward | |
| 1994 | Habeas Corpus | Alan Bennett |
| Lady Windermere’s Fan |
Oscar Wilde | |
| 1995 | California Suite | Neil Simon |
| Whose Life Is It Anyway? | Brian Clark | |
| 1996 | The Heiress | Ruth & Augustus Goetz |
| Present Laughter | Noel Coward | |
| 1997 | Death & the Maiden | Ariel Dorfman |
| Teechers | John Godber | |
| 1998 | How The Other Half Loves | Alan Aykbourn |
| Educating Rita | Willy Russell | |
| 1999 | Les Liaisons Dangereuses | Christopher Hampton |
| Communicating Doors |
Alan Aykbourn | |
| 2000 | No Sex Please, We’re British | Anthony Marriot & Alistair Foot |
| An Inspector Calls | J. B. Priestley | |
| 2001 | Bedroom Farce | Alan Aykbourn |
| The Dining Room | A. R. Gurney | |
| 2002 | The Wind Netters | Ian Staples |
| Wit’s End | Neil Rhodes |
Text and images prepared by Carolyn O'Hara from the Compass Archive. Where a play title has a blue background, please double click on the text to read a press review.
Poster for the first Compass Club production in October 1954.
The 1957 production of The Man by Mel Danelli, with Bill Grierson and Dorothy Miller
The 1963 production of The Caretaker by Harold Pinter, with Bill Grierson and Raymond Bramwell.
The 1971 production of The Browning Version by Terrence Rattigan, with Bill Grierson and Ian White.
The 1971 production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street by Rudolf Besier, with Susan Porteous.
The 1971 production of A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt, with Bill Grierson
The 1975 production of Hamlet by William Shakespeare with Bill Grierson and Eric Finlay.
The 1973 production of King Lear by William Shakespeare with Bill Grierson and Alan Wands
The 1981 production of The Lion in Winter by James Goldman with Bill Grierson , Isobel Cummings, Katherine McAlister, Ken O’Hara, Tom Murphy, David Vincent and Barry McGuire.
The 1983 production of Voyage Round my Father by John Mortimer, with Bill Grierson