SUPPORTERS of amateur theatre in part of the region are facing a series of setbacks which threaten to bring down the final curtain.

One music group in Weardale, County Durham, has had to temporarily disband because the Methodist church hall where it staged its productions has been turned over to business use.

A drama club has had to vacate the hall it used for 27 years because of cutbacks in local authority spending.

In addition, another drama group has lost its home in the heart of the Wear Valley because of a tightening of health and safely regulations.

"It is no over-statement to say that amateur theatre in this area is now facing its biggest cricis ever," said Bernard Lally, a leading member of the Glenholme Theatre Club, which is based at Crook.

The club had to vacate the town's Elite Hall, where it has performed a host of plays and pantomimes since 1977, after it was closed by Wear Valley District Clouncil as part of cost-cutting in leisure services.

The result is that so far this year the club has been unable to stage one production, although it is hoping to produce pantomimes at St Catherine's Community Centre this Christmas and one play at the Masonic hall.

"We still firmly believe there is a place for amateur theatre in this area," said Mr Lally. "We have a lot of young people involved with the club, particularly the pantos.

"But it is important to realise the impact that the loss of the Elite Hall will have in ways we have not yet foreseen. Its facilities cannot be equalled anywhere else."

At nearby Wolsingham, the 11-year-old Music Makers group has lost the use of the Methodist church hall, where it staged its lavish productions.

It has been rented to a sportswear designer to help raise much-needed funds for the Methodist church.

"We have had to temporarily disband the group," said chairman John Anderson. "We are hopful we can sort something out, but if we can't, that could be the end of the Music Makers."

He said the move was particularly heartbreaking for the dozen or so children who were members of the group.

"We feel for them as they have become the pivot of many of our productions."

Meanwhile, the wealth of lavish costumes the group has either made or bought over the years will remain in mothballs in a storeroom above the town's chemist shop.

The Phoenix Players, who have staged plays at the Church Hall, Stanhope, have had to look for a new home because of a breach in health and safety regulations.

These ruled that, after 16 years, the removal of a door to extend stage space was unsafe and could not continue.

But the group recently staged its latest comedy at the refurbished St John's Chapel Town Hall.

"It proved a fantastic success," said chairwoman and founder member Miriam Ashton. "We are hoping that we have managed to find a new home at St John's Chapel."