Volunteers of the Studio Theatre at Wymondham High School are celebrating after their screening of Atonement broke box-office records. The group has been putting on regular films since February 2006 but this was the first sell-out and they even had to put out an extra row of seats.

Volunteers of the Studio Theatre at Wymondham High School are celebrating after their screening of Atonement broke box-office records.

The group has been putting on regular films since February 2006 but this was the first sell-out and they even had to put out an extra row of seats.

“We had the winning combination of a film based on a popular book and a lot of media coverage around the film's Golden Globes and Oscar nominations in the week running up to the screening”, said community arts coordinator Kay Southgate.

“We also owe our success to the dedication of volunteers Gill and Peter Jones who spent hours in the rain posting arts leaflets through letterboxes. They target a different part of the town each month and keep a colour coded map of where they have been. This month they did an audience survey and were astounded to find that a fifth of the audience found out about us in this way!

“Our hope is that once people have discovered the quality of what we are offering they will become regular attenders so we won't have to leaflet the same part of town twice.”

The group's spring season includes a includes a professional performance from brass quartet The Brassketeers on February 27 and the regional theatre company Eastern Angles' new production The Cuckoo Teapot on March 11. The next film, on February 23, is La Vie en Rose (12A), a biopic of Edith Piaf shown in French with English subtitles, priced at £4. Tickets for all the events can be bought directly at The Book Fountain, Wharton's Court, or by calling Kay on 01953 713108.

New visual arts courses have also been added to the menu of events this term.