The Miller Centre Players was formed in 1991 following a merger of the Miller Centre Workshop and the Caterham Players.

Dorothy Miller, whose portrait hangs at the top of the stairs from the foyer to the auditorium at the Miller Centre, founded the Caterham Players in 1945. Their first play – The Late Christopher Bean by Emlyn Williams – was presented in April on the tiny stage of St John’s School.

Subsequent plays were staged in the old St John’s Hall in Stafford Road – not an ideal venue as the members had to build a portable stage that had to be taken down after every show. In 1951 St John’s Church decided to rebuild and enlarge the building – renamed Stafford Hall - thereby providing a welcome improvement in facilities.

By 1977 it became obvious that Stafford Hall would require considerable refurbishment if it was to continue as a suitable home for the Players and their audience. However, at this time, Michael and Christine Pilch had founded a charity for older people, the Park Hill Trust, and planned to convert the old (and now abandoned) St John’s School into a combined retirement centre and theatre.

The intention was that a club would be established for retired people, who would provide all the services needed to underpin a small theatre – making costumes and scenery, running the box office, staffing the bar and the front-of-house teams needed on performance nights. In return the costs of the day centre would be subsidised from ticket sales.

As the Caterham Players were unable to commit themselves to more than five shows a year – insufficient to support the day centre or justify full-time occupation of the theatre throughout the year - a new company, the Miller Centre Workshop was formed and agreement reached that each group would stage five shows a year with seven performances for each show.