The next session will be on Tuesday 19th January 2010 in the theatre bar at 7-30pm. We will read Peter Flannery's play "Singer" which tells the story of Singer, an Holocaust survivor, who ruthlessly drives himself to the top of society in Thatcher's Britain.
If you wish to know more about the play readings contact Frank Boocock on 01457 873985 or on fandmboo@btinternet.com
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Play reading
The next play reading will be on Wednesday 9th November at 7-30pm in the theatre bar. The play to be read will be "Stars in the Morning Sky" by a Russian playwright, Alexander Galin. It is set in Moscow during the 1980 Olympic Games, the ones boycotted by the USA, when certain "undesirables" were taken from the streets of Moscow and dumped in a derelict barracks so the city would present a shiny, clean face to the world. The story of these people is told with sensitivity and humour. [Will similar people be removed from London in 2012?]
The play reading after that will be on Wednesday 9th December at 7-30pm in the LIBRARY. The play to be read will be "The Entertainer" by John Osborne. Archie Rice, the entertainer, played by Sir Laurence Olivier in the original production, is a Music Hall artist on the way down and he represents the rundown Britain of the mid 1950's as seen by John Osborne.
If you wish to know more about the play readings contact Frank Boocock on either 01457 873985 or on fandmboo@btinternet.com
The play reading after that will be on Wednesday 9th December at 7-30pm in the LIBRARY. The play to be read will be "The Entertainer" by John Osborne. Archie Rice, the entertainer, played by Sir Laurence Olivier in the original production, is a Music Hall artist on the way down and he represents the rundown Britain of the mid 1950's as seen by John Osborne.
If you wish to know more about the play readings contact Frank Boocock on either 01457 873985 or on fandmboo@btinternet.com
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Play reading
The next play reading will be on 15th September at 7-30pm in the theatre bar. The play to be read will be "Long Day's Journey into Night" By Eugene O'Niell. It is an autobiographical portrait of a family in ruin, flawed by alcohol, tuberculosis, drug addiction and in denial of all of the above. It really is not as miserable as it sounds!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Close season
Saddleworth Players is currently in its close season, although the theatre is still in use for private hires. In the meantime, all the work that needs to go on during the summer months to ensure the theatre is up to scratch will be taking place.
If you can spare some time during the summer to come and lend a hand, in any way you can, please contact Ken Wright or Edwina Rigby to see when people will be in the theatre working.
If you can spare some time during the summer to come and lend a hand, in any way you can, please contact Ken Wright or Edwina Rigby to see when people will be in the theatre working.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Play reading - Long Day's…
The next play reading will not be until Tuesday 15th September 2009 in the theatre bar at 7-30pm The play we will be reading is Eugene O'Niell's "Long Day's Journey into Night" The play is set in 1912 in the New England port of New London and is an autobiographical portrait of a family in ruins, flawed by alcohol, tuberculosis, drug addiction and denial of all the above. Believe it or not it is not as depressing as it may sound!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Anniversary celebrations
This year is the 75th anniversary of Saddleworth Players, and we will be marking the occasion in a few different ways over the forthcoming months. First of all, we will be producing a commemorative programme for the final play of the season, Rumours, which will look back at the history of the theatre, as well as our plans for the future.
We are also holding a celebration ball, on July 4th at the Civic Hall in Uppermill. Tickets are £20 each, with music from the Dave Donohoe Band, and a buffet supper by Clough Manor. To find out more, contact the box office on 01457 874644.
We are also holding a celebration ball, on July 4th at the Civic Hall in Uppermill. Tickets are £20 each, with music from the Dave Donohoe Band, and a buffet supper by Clough Manor. To find out more, contact the box office on 01457 874644.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Play reading
The next play reading will be onTuesday 2nd June at 7-30pm in the theatre bar when we will read George Bernard Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra" Forget Shakespear's "Cleopatra" this is a young and skitish girl meeting an older and wiser man who sets her on the road to full womanhood. It is full of Shaw's wit. For any further information contact Frank Boocock on 01457 873985 or on fandmboo@btinternet.com
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tickets on sale
Tickets are now on open sale for our next production – The Shell Seekers. The show runs from Saturday March 28th to Saturday April 4th (no Monday performance). You can book tickets through the box office Tuesday to Friday 7.30-9.00pm. Or you can email bookings@saddleworthplayers.org.uk
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Play reading – Medea
The next play reading will be on Wednesday 15th April at 7-30pm in the theatre bar. We will be reading "Medea" by the Greek playwright Euripides. This is no dry academic play! These are Mediterranean peoples, passions run high and the mis-quote "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" sums up Medea exactly. For further information contact Frank Boocock on 01457 873985 or fandmboo@btinternet.com.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
2009-10 season
Saddleworth Players will be producing the following plays for the 2009-2010 season.
Winslow Boy – Terence Rattigan
The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan is based on an actual incident in the Edwardian era, which took place at the Royal Naval College, Osbourne.
Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, The Winslow Boy is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for stealing a postal order. To clear the boy's name was imperative for the family's honour; had they not done so, they would have been shunned by their peers and society. The boy's life would have been wrecked by the stain on his character.
The play was inspired by an actual event, which set a legal precedent: the case of Stonyhurst College alumnus George Archer-Shee, a cadet at Osborne in 1908, who was accused of stealing a postal order from a fellow cadet. His elder brother Major Martin Archer-Shee, was convinced of his innocence, and persuaded his father (also called Martin) to engage lawyers. The most respected barrister of the day, Sir Edward Carson was also persuaded of his innocence, and insisted on the case coming to court. On the fourth day of the trial, the Solicitor General accepted that Archer-Shee was innocent, and ultimately the family was paid compensation. George Archer-Shee died in the First World War and his name is inscribed on the war memorial in the village of Woodchester in Gloucestershire where his parents lived.
The Killing of Sister George – Frank Marcus
The Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that served as the basis for a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.
Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers. She is portrayed by June Buckridge, who in real life is gin-guzzling, cigar-chomping, and slightly sadistic, the antithesis of the sweet character she plays. June lives with Alice "Childie" McNaught, a considerably younger dim-witted woman she often verbally and sometimes physically abuses. When June discovers her character is scheduled to be killed, she becomes increasingly impossible to work and live with. Mercy Croft, an executive at the radio station, intercedes in her professional and personal lives supposedly to help, but she actually has an agenda of her own.
Equally Divided – Ronald Harwood
Shortly after the funeral of her mother, to whom she has sacrificed her life to nurse the bedridden old woman, Edith, severe, embittered and unmarried, now has her sister Renata staying with her. Renata is glamorous, well off, selfish and several times married.
When the contents of their mother’s will are made known, childhood rivalries re-emerge. Solicitor, Charles Mowbray is bewitched by Renata and pays her much attention but Edith finds support from the flamboyant antiques dealer Fabian Hill whom, unknown to her sister, has been engaged to ‘cast an eye’ over theit mother’s valuable pieces.
Chalk Garden – Enid Bagnold
Raised in a manor house beside the sea, where the flowers struggle to grow, sixteen-year-old Laurel runs wild. As her eccentric grandmother tends to the garden, Laurel's need for love forces her into a world of fantasy. But things begin to change with the sudden appointment of a governess who brings a mysterious new presence to an already dysfunctional household.
Come Blow Your Horn – Neil Simon
Chronologically speaking, ''Come Blow Your Horn'' is the fourth play in the Neil Simon semiautobiographical cycle that later carried him from Brighton Beach to Biloxi to Broadway. After ''Broadway Bound,'' the Neil Simon stand-in left home and moved to his worldly brother's bachelor apartment in Manhattan, where he received on-the-job training as a ladies' man.
The author's first Broadway play and, consequently, his first Broadway hit, was prescient. In the 1961 comedy, we can see the author's comic talent and, with knowledge from hindsight, we can spot hints of Simon plays and characters to come. Upstairs and unseen in this East Side apartment house is a man named Felix Ungar, later to migrate to Riverside Drive where he became the obsessively neat half of ''The Odd Couple.''
Winslow Boy – Terence Rattigan
The Winslow Boy by Terence Rattigan is based on an actual incident in the Edwardian era, which took place at the Royal Naval College, Osbourne.
Set against the strict codes of conduct and manners of the age, The Winslow Boy is based on a father's fight to clear his son's name after the boy is expelled from Osborne Naval College for stealing a postal order. To clear the boy's name was imperative for the family's honour; had they not done so, they would have been shunned by their peers and society. The boy's life would have been wrecked by the stain on his character.
The play was inspired by an actual event, which set a legal precedent: the case of Stonyhurst College alumnus George Archer-Shee, a cadet at Osborne in 1908, who was accused of stealing a postal order from a fellow cadet. His elder brother Major Martin Archer-Shee, was convinced of his innocence, and persuaded his father (also called Martin) to engage lawyers. The most respected barrister of the day, Sir Edward Carson was also persuaded of his innocence, and insisted on the case coming to court. On the fourth day of the trial, the Solicitor General accepted that Archer-Shee was innocent, and ultimately the family was paid compensation. George Archer-Shee died in the First World War and his name is inscribed on the war memorial in the village of Woodchester in Gloucestershire where his parents lived.
The Killing of Sister George – Frank Marcus
The Killing of Sister George is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that served as the basis for a 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.
Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio series Applehurst, a nurse who ministers to the medical needs and personal problems of the local villagers. She is portrayed by June Buckridge, who in real life is gin-guzzling, cigar-chomping, and slightly sadistic, the antithesis of the sweet character she plays. June lives with Alice "Childie" McNaught, a considerably younger dim-witted woman she often verbally and sometimes physically abuses. When June discovers her character is scheduled to be killed, she becomes increasingly impossible to work and live with. Mercy Croft, an executive at the radio station, intercedes in her professional and personal lives supposedly to help, but she actually has an agenda of her own.
Equally Divided – Ronald Harwood
Shortly after the funeral of her mother, to whom she has sacrificed her life to nurse the bedridden old woman, Edith, severe, embittered and unmarried, now has her sister Renata staying with her. Renata is glamorous, well off, selfish and several times married.
When the contents of their mother’s will are made known, childhood rivalries re-emerge. Solicitor, Charles Mowbray is bewitched by Renata and pays her much attention but Edith finds support from the flamboyant antiques dealer Fabian Hill whom, unknown to her sister, has been engaged to ‘cast an eye’ over theit mother’s valuable pieces.
Chalk Garden – Enid Bagnold
Raised in a manor house beside the sea, where the flowers struggle to grow, sixteen-year-old Laurel runs wild. As her eccentric grandmother tends to the garden, Laurel's need for love forces her into a world of fantasy. But things begin to change with the sudden appointment of a governess who brings a mysterious new presence to an already dysfunctional household.
Come Blow Your Horn – Neil Simon
Chronologically speaking, ''Come Blow Your Horn'' is the fourth play in the Neil Simon semiautobiographical cycle that later carried him from Brighton Beach to Biloxi to Broadway. After ''Broadway Bound,'' the Neil Simon stand-in left home and moved to his worldly brother's bachelor apartment in Manhattan, where he received on-the-job training as a ladies' man.
The author's first Broadway play and, consequently, his first Broadway hit, was prescient. In the 1961 comedy, we can see the author's comic talent and, with knowledge from hindsight, we can spot hints of Simon plays and characters to come. Upstairs and unseen in this East Side apartment house is a man named Felix Ungar, later to migrate to Riverside Drive where he became the obsessively neat half of ''The Odd Couple.''
Monday, February 16, 2009
Adrian Clark at Millgate
An evening of clairvoyance and mediumship with Adrian Clark, international spiritual medium
Join us for an evening of love and laughter as Adrian Clark, international spiritual medium joins two worlds. Adrian works with spirit and brings through message with evidence of survival - proof that life continues after the physical body dies. Adrian established himself as a medium in 1995 and has since then appeared in a variety of venues, including spiritual churches, psychic societies, and theatres around the UK and Europe.
16s and over only. Tickets £10 advance or pay on the door. Tel: 0845 130 9517 to book your places – visit www.adrianclark.me.uk
Doors 7.30pm for 8pm start. Address: Millgate Arts Centre, Stoneswood Road, Delph, OL3 5DY(18th March).
16s and over only. Tickets £10 advance or pay on the door. Tel: 0845 130 9517 to book your places – visit www.adrianclark.me.uk
Doors 7.30pm for 8pm start. Address: Millgate Arts Centre, Stoneswood Road, Delph, OL3 5DY(18th March).
Sunday, February 15, 2009
The Shell Seekers
The next play at Saddleworth Players is the Shell Seekers, a stage play adapted from the novel of the same name by Rosamunde Pilcher. First performaed in 2005, it tells the story of Penelope Keeling, whose father painted 'The Shell Seekers', the painting which acts as the backdrop to the play – a touching, romantic, family drama.
It has been adapted twice for the small screen; the first version, starring Angela Lansbury won an Emmy – although it took considerable liberties with the storyline – the second version was a mini-series starring Vanessa Redgrave.
The novel was first published in 1988, and was phenomenally successful, selling over five million copies worlwide. Told through a combination of flashbacks and scenes from the present day, it shows what life was like for everyday people during the second world war – Pilcher herself served with the Women's Naval Service for three years towards the end of the war.
But it also tells the story of a family, the relationships that intertwine within it, and of the unexpected directions that life takes us within them.
It has been adapted twice for the small screen; the first version, starring Angela Lansbury won an Emmy – although it took considerable liberties with the storyline – the second version was a mini-series starring Vanessa Redgrave.
The novel was first published in 1988, and was phenomenally successful, selling over five million copies worlwide. Told through a combination of flashbacks and scenes from the present day, it shows what life was like for everyday people during the second world war – Pilcher herself served with the Women's Naval Service for three years towards the end of the war.
But it also tells the story of a family, the relationships that intertwine within it, and of the unexpected directions that life takes us within them.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Tickets for Lucia
We are now into the last week of bookings for Make Way For Lucia. Tickets are on sale at the box office Tuesday through to Friday 7.30pm till 9.00pm, by calling 01457 874644 or by calling into the box office in person. You can also email bookings@saddleworthplayers.org.uk. The play runs from Saturday 7th to 14th (Happy Valentines), with no Monday performance.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Play reading
The next play reading will be on Tuesday 24th February at 7-30pm in the theatre bar, when we will read Marina Carr's "The Bog of the Cats". Marina Carr is one of Ireland's best modern playwrights and this play is a very loose re-working of the Greek play "Medea" by Euripides".
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