Dear Players and Friends,
In less than two weeks the curtains will open on Jessica Swale’s bawdy romp of a play, Nell Gwynn, which will be a feast for the eyes and ears as we travel back in time to the court of King Charles II and to the rough and ready world of the newly opened theatres. It’s a huge undertaking, a massive, talented cast and crew with music and singing alongside the drama. Auditions brought us a cast of new comers to the Millgate stage, and it’s great to welcome this talented bunch, strutting and fretting alongside seasoned Saddleworth Players.
The play is such that rehearsals needed to start, early, in September, off site, and snuck in, on stage, in between bookings and Waiting for God rehearsals. Thanks to everyone involved for their flexibility and commitment! It can’t have been easy keeping up with multiple locations and days.
With such a large cast comes the challenge of costuming them all, from the Nobility through to the gutter snipes and Sue Lund, from the costume team, has excelled herself. Every rail in the dressing room is heaving with costume changes, labelled by character and location, and each outfit is a composite of many parts, including wigs, aprons, bodices, overskirts, bum rolls etc. etc. It’s going to be a truly dazzling show. In order that I don’t miss out on the tinsel dust, I’ve signed up as a dresser. There are going to be some speedy changes back stage, and, with a large cast, there is the never ending threat of emergency repairs and lost items. I can envisage a nightly scramble as we search for missing buckles and hairpins. I’m so glad we now have laundry facilities—there’ll be a least two washing machine loads a night!
Volunteer Training Monday 17th November:
Most of you are aware that we run training sessions on the quiet Monday of Saddleworth Players’ shows. To date these have focussed on backstage roles such as Props and Stage Management, and Front of House roles such as Box Office and Bar. On 17th November I’ll be running a Costume training session. We are looking to train dressers to work backstage and Costume Leads to plan the costumes for each show of the Season. More details of this are on page 3 of this edition. Contact me for more details or sign up for the training session when the email comes round.
AGM Update
In this SPNews edition is a summary of Andrew Mann’s address at the AGM on the 29th October where he thanks everyone for their hard work and dedication last year, and looks forward to training and developing more volunteers to keep us growing and thriving into the future.
The theatre is a fantastic creative hub where you’ll meet like minded people. Working together on shows builds friendships that span decades. It’s always great to work (play!) with friends, old and new, so please look out for opportunities to get involved.
Welcome Stella as Front of House Coordinator:
Last year I discovered the best kept secret—the joy of working on front of house. It’s an incredibly sociable role, for all of 45 minutes before a show, 20 in the interval and then home time– or down to the bar to socialise even more. As an usher, your role is to meet and greet then keep the audience safe whilst also watching the show and, as theatre manager, you get to sit in the box office surrounded by ice cream and chocolate. What’s not to like? We have welcomed Stella Callow to the role of box office manager in charge of filling the rota, so do make sure you show your support by signing up. There are many, many pantomime performances (oh yes there are), so do, please see what you can fit into your festive calendar.
Finally, may I plug a free writing workshop from Jo Norland, author of, “Lizzy, Darcy and Jane,” staged at the Millgate in 2024.’ If you’re a budding play write, poet or novelist but just can’t seem to get your ideas on the page, this may just be what you need. Register HERE
In addition to volunteering, I hope you’ll make the most of the fabulous shows and films on offer.
See you at the Millgate,
Verity
CONTENT
- Preview Nell Gwynn
- Archive Team
- Costume dressers
- AGM Chairman’s address and thankyou
- Own a piece of history: take home a ‘stagey-bit’
- Waiting For God First Night Review by John Rigby