WHAT'S next then for the Brewery Theatre Company after yet again, the forward-thinking outfit played to full houses, this time for a four-night run of Arthur Miller's The Crucible.

"We want to continue not to do just shows, but develop other aspects such as play readings, workshops and look into connections with filmmakers," discloses BTC chairman and Brewery Arts Centre board member Sean Lee.

BTC has a reputation for good quality work and the membership is growing and growing.

"For The Crucible we could have cast it twice over and its important that the momentum is kept going," Sean points out.

More than 800 theatregoers saw The Crucible and it grossed £6,000 at the box office but Sean wouldn't be drawn on how it compares with other productions staged at the Brewery Arts Centre: "We have a loyal audience and that's reflected in the fact that we can put on a show like The Crucible and not worry about losing money.

Sean is keen to encourage more new writing, which leads to the opportunity to mention Robert Cohen's Tale of Mrs Hellis, about Beatrix Potter.

Robert wrote The Wife of Kendal, which was put on at Kendal Parish Church in October 2000.

It was a seriously ambitious project, staged to celebrate the new Millennium.

Regardless of the logistical challenges, the organisers pulled it off. It drew in the crowds and put Robert on the map as a playwright.

"It's in the early planning stage along with other options and projects," mentions Sean, albeit guardedly.

"Personally, I'd love to commission a one-person play based on Wainwright, for someone such as Simon Yaxley to perform," one of the region's most popular actors and a voice of Lakeland Radio.

"A local connection helps to bring the audience in, as was proved with What Colour's Your Hoover, which we'd like to revive just to satisfy public demand.

"People still ask me when are we going to do it again."

Staging plays like The Crucible is a winner for a theatre company like BTC, both commercially and artistically.

It features in the national curriculum and with a director of the calibre of Steve Tomlin it's hard to go wrong.

"It's great to have the connection with people such as Steve and this is what we want to build on."

The Brewery has been a platform for many to go on to greater things, a fact that Sean is proud of.

The forerunner to BTC, the Brewery Players, and professional group Pocket Theatre, which was set-up in the late 1980s by the Kendal arts centre's vital and visionary former director Anne Pierson, have had names such as leading theatre director Laurence Boswell tread their boards. Also, Gerry Mulgrew of Communicado Theatre; The Crow Road and Rose and Maloney writer Bryan Elsey (also producer of Skins); and Stephen Jeffreys, who was playwright in residence for Pocket Theatre and went on to pen The Libertine for the Royal Court, producing the feature film of the same title, starring Johnny Depp in 2006.

"Over the years we've been able to work with some of the icons of modern day British theatre," smiles Sean.

"And I cut my teeth with Pocket Theatre on a YTS scheme!"

"We have a strong membership but we're always looking for new people, regardless of experience." Anyone interested in joining BTC should log on to www.brewerytheatrecompany.co.uk.