The Supreme Sunbeam

The Sunbeam Motorcycle Company was started by John Marston, who was born in Ludlow, in the county Shropshire, England in 1836. He was a member of a minor landowning family.

In 1851, at age 15, he was sent to Wolverhampton to be apprenticed to Edward Perry as a japanware manufacturer. Eight years on, at the age of 23, John left and set up his own japanning business – John Marston Ltd.

The company began making bicycles and, on the suggestion of his wife Ellen, Marston adopted the trademark brand “Sunbeam”. As a result, the Paul Street works were called ‘Sunbeamland’. They were made until 1936 and, to the end, remained the best bicycle money could buy.any and every sort of domestic article. He did so well that when Perry died in 1871, Marston took over his company and incorporated it into his own.

From 1903 John Marston Ltd had made some early experiments in adding engines to bicycles but they were unsuccessful, with one man being killed. John Marston’s aversion to motorcycles did not encourage further development, and so the Sunbeam Motor Car Company Ltd was founded in 1905. However, suffering from a slump which hit car making, Marston (at the age of 76) was pushed into making motorcycles – for which there was a greater and increasing market – from 1912 onwards.

CYT were awarded the heritage lottery grant to explore the history of this world famous company and to investigate the impact that it had on the local community, its employees and their families. As part of this, CYT staged a show at The Grand Theatre in Wolverhampton, and created a film about Sunbeam.

We would like our audiences to realise that this was very much a young people’s led project. From day one the youth theatre members were responsible for:

• Creative Research
• Marketing and Publicity
• Fundraising – holding events and raising over £5,000 towards the costs of the show.
• Learning how to plan and structure the lead into such a big performance
• Writing and Directing their own short performances at Bantock House
• Making from scratch two of the costumes you see on stage in an outreach project based at Colton Hills School.
• Crewing and performing in a short film about the history of Sunbeam based on the memories of 97 year old George Peck who worked for the Marston’s at Sunbeamland.
• Touring a promotional road-show around primary schools, performing and showing the film.
• Building, painting and working as assistant designers on the set.
• Selecting, altering and fitting all the costumes and dressing the cast backstage, as well as dressing the front of house staff at the theatre.
• Designing and organising the front of house displays in the foyer areas.
• Operating the lighting and sound and flies during the performance.
• Working as apprentice directors, designers and stage-managers throughout the rehearsal period and performance run.