Spotlight on… THE MILL AT SONNING
The Mill at Sonning is a very special unique venue on the banks of the River Thames in Berkshire, which has served its audiences with a traditional two course buffet dinner before the show for forty-two years. The management of the venue is very much a family affair with Artistic Director Sally Hughes and her son Adam Rolston running the venue today. We sat down for a chat with them as they begin a whole new chapter in the venue’s history.
The site used to be a flour mill that served Huntley and Palmer biscuit factory in nearby Reading until its conversion into a restaurant and 217-seater theatre from 1977 by Sally’s parents, Tim and Eileen Richards, opening for business in July 1982. It won the UK Theatre Award for the UK’s Most Welcoming Theatre for three years running (2016-2018) and won Best Musical Award in 2023 for its gorgeous production of Gypsy.
In 2018, they undertook a complete renovation of the two-storey restaurant, giving the place a more elegant, brighter feel, responding to a sense that audiences wanted something more upmarket and appealing, but Covid delayed the second phase of that transformation. So ahead of the opening of their latest season with the classic Ray Cooney’s Eighties farce, It Runs In The Family, they changed all of the restaurant furniture and imagery and switched to table service. It creates a modern ambience with first class service from the well-dressed young team of servers. Sally Hughes reports that 60% of her audience still select the steak and ale pie and the bread-and-butter pudding from the choice of four options but now, it is served to the table in an individual pie dish rather than self-served from large trays. As a customer, the changes appear seamless and very successful but clearly a great deal of work goes into that smooth changeover and ensuring the loyal customer base enjoy the elevation of the offer. It is hoped that it will attract additional new audiences from a young demographic and tap into the large local corporate entertaining sector who can be offered a private area in the restaurant.
The programming of the venue too is undergoing an evolution, designed to take the core audience forward while attracting new audiences and creating further revenue streams to support the upkeep of the wonderful site. Adam Rolston is the film producer of A Street Cat Named Bob (2016) and brings that experience of identifying books that can be adapted into stage plays to the venue. In this season’s programme, they are adapting PD James’s novel, Death Comes To Pemberley, inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, and the Gerald Durrell’s novel The Entrance into The Shadow In The Mirror. At a time when many producers are nervous about the risks in new works, it is exciting and refreshing to see them undertaking such adaptations. They know their core audience who expect to see the latter thriller in the programme and will surely be fascinated by the former in the 250th Anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. They have also built a strong reputation for their Christmas musicals over the last few years, directed by Joseph Pitcher and Jonathan O’Boyle, and this year, they will stage My Fair Lady.
This is a venue that sells tickets on the basis of its lovely food offering and very good quality production values in an intimate environment and while it has a loyal band of regular cast members, it does not rely on star casting to sell tickets. But it has pulled off quite a coup in casting James Bye as Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy in Death Comes To Pemberley, announcing it shortly after his surprise "death (after 11 years) as character Martin Fowler in fortieth anniversary LIVE episode of Eastenders. That casting is made all the more important by the Mill at Sonning undertaking its first tour of a production immediately following the play’s run at the venue. The tour starts in July at Theatre Royal Windsor and continues to Richmond in September via Cardiff, Bath, Guildford, Bromley, High Wycombe, and Brighton. This presents another new challenge as Sean Cavanagh’s multi-location set design will have to work on the Mill’s small stage which backs onto the Mill river, as well as in traditional proscenium arch venues. It will be exciting to see how the production changes as it goes out on tour.
The production marks the Mill at Sonning’s first venture with co-producer Rishi Anand’s Studio RA and with Executive producer and tour manager New Road Theatricals. Adam Rolston said: “Working with Rishi is always a joy, and I am thrilled that he has joined us on Death Comes To Pemberley. Bringing P.D James’ bestselling novel to UK audiences feels particularly apt in this 250th anniversary year of Jane Austen and we couldn’t be more excited. Our goal is for this to be the first of many collaborations with Studio RA and I would firmly watch this space.”
Another interesting developing programme strand are immersive experiences in the restaurant in the periods between shows in the theatre. After the success of Noel Coward’s Still Life, the play behind Brief Encounter, in the Watermill Bar, they are staging a one-hour immersive version of The Importance of Being Earnest in the main restaurant directed by Tam Williams in September with, of course, cucumber sandwiches served before the arrival of Lady Bracknell.
All of these initiatives are a necessary response to the challenges of running a venue post-Covid with rising costs, not least by the imposition of higher National Insurance and minimum wages, but also rising food costs and interest costs (to serve the Companies secured funding). The new service delivery has virtually eliminated food wastage which saves money and is good for their commitment to sustainability. Another challenge is how to reward the wonderful serving staff now that they are more engaged in the delivery of the pre-show experience, and they have introduced a £3.50 per person service charge payable on the night for those staff. It is a necessary and logical change, but communication is vital in explaining it to core customers. There is also a need to consider enhanced understudies and swings to ensure the show goes on to cover illness and avoid recent mini crises requiring local actors or even Sally herself to go on at short notice! The investment in LED lighting, enhanced heating with 75% provided by geothermal energy and a syphon turbine (which was installed in 2005 which creates most of their electricity as well as sending on to the grid) provides better temperature control and cuts costs too as well as supporting their sustainability commitment.
The enhanced Theatre Tax Relief is an essential part of the current model as well as driving tickets sales to 70% plus of audience capacity. Sally reports that the hugely successful musicals at Christmas achieve a wonderful 90% plus capacity and that the aim is to deliver this without special offers below the standard pricing, which is now £74 to £104.50 depending on the genre and performance time.
Developing a younger audience and a corporate audience is a key development strand which the changes are aimed at addressing, while continuing to satisfy the regulars, including the coach parties that took time to return post-Covid. The corporate entertaining packages start at £10,000 and include 10 tickets per show, programme ads, and discounted drinks and opportunities to meet the cast.
In the longer term, there are large capital projects to develop the site for which planning permission has been secured, but the focus for now is on the customer experience and building on the venue’s unique offering with a large new audience base while retaining its core. They seem to have clear vision, know what to do and are taking steps to create a more robust business model which enables them to rebuild reserves and develop the location. If you have never been to the Mill at Sonning or have not visited for a few years, it is a good time to go with an exciting programme for the rest of 2025, and you are sure of a warm welcome from Sally and her brilliant front of house staff.
Nick Wayne