Middlesbrough could not merely travel to Stockton to satisfy its longing for the drama, for much the same process had been busy there and the closing of the Opera House bereaved a vast area with a massive population of all opportunity for participating in one of the oldest arts of mankind.

As the Middlesbrough Opera House lay dying, Miss Leah Bateman of the Macdona Players gave advice as follows: "Keep the legitimate stage alive in your town by every means in your power.

In response, representatives from over forty dramatic societies met in 1923 to consider forming a company to keep live theatre active in the area.

[citation needed] As a result, a town's meeting was held on 5 February 1930 and a large committee elected which met for the first time on 24 April.

In the immediate post-war years the society decided to commission its own auditorium, entrusting the finance and fund-raising to founding treasurer John Berriman.