NO-ONE can deny Carol Davies’ commitment to making sure a 50th anniversary is marked in the right way – a day-and-a-half making lobster costumes exemplified that.
Throw in controlling 23 cast members, to the point of putting fingers on lips to make sure they stay quiet – with the older ones needing telling most.
That is just a glimpse of what is going into Alice at the theatre at Delph’s Millgate Arts Centre.
It’s 50 years since the Saddleworth Players moved into Millgate Arts Centre, and to mark the occasion director Carol Davies has assembled a cast of 23. Some are veterans of the very first productions at Millgate, and others are drawn from the SPY group of young actors. All of them act their socks off in this production of Alice, by Laura Wade. This is not Alice in Wonderland as you may remember it from childhood. […]
reproduced from article by Gary Carter in Saddleworth Independent FULL ARTICLE IN SADDLEWORTH INDEPENDENT HOPES are high Delph’s Millgate Arts Centre can break more records with the 2023/24 season that has just been announced. Volunteers at the venue were left stunned when recent show Silver Lining played to 94 per cent full houses, leaving them wondering if similar may have happened before things were logged on computers. But as its 50th anniversary approaches, with special celebrations […]
Tributes have been paid to a man described as a rock by the Saddleworth arts community. Since Kenneth Arthur Deighton MBE, aged 92, died the community have been mourning his loss. He was a founder committee member and director of the Saddleworth Festival of the Arts from 1957 until the festival finished in 2019. A man who always preferred non-stage roles, Mr Deighton was a former President of Saddleworth Musical Society, former president of Saddleworth Players and later […]
How Saddleworth Players saved Delph Village as we know it now
by Ian Perks I’ve been asked to write my recollections of theatre life at Saddleworth Players as I am one of vanishingly few members who played at the Mechanics Institute which is now the car park. In 1970 I had been kicking around the local amateur theatre scene for 12 years (I started young). Mostly I played in small societies who staged their productions in church halls. The plays on offer were Lancashire comedies, thrillers […]
An Actor’s Tale: 5 Decades of Saddleworth Players at the Millgate Part 2 : 1980s in a series of memories from John Tanner In the 80s I was involved in 15 plays (a record for me as I usually only do one play a season). If Poppy is reading this she will probably realise this may have coincided with Jennie being born in 1977 and David in 1980! Well it is a self indulgent hobby! […]
So, you want to act?’ This was how I was welcomed as a new member of Saddleworth Players in 1972. Having finished University in 1972 I knew I would be living and working in Saddleworth and, having given up on the idea of possibly trying to go to Drama College, a relative told me about Saddleworth Players moving across to the Millgate. I was met by Joan Nuttal and Millicent Mallalieu (both legendary figures ) […]
A momentous season as Saddleworth Players celebrates 50 years at Millgate For Saddleworth Players our 2022/23 season will be a truly momentous one as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary in residence at The Millgate Arts Centre. Our history, however, can be traced back to the 1920’s with the “Girls Friendly Society” at St Thomas’s Church, in Delph. The society decided to start up evening dramatic art classes and sought and won sponsorship from the W.E.A. […]
Millgate Arts Centre is celebrating 50 years. Saddleworth Players moved from the Mechanics Hall in Millgate in 1972 with the first show in 1973. Our Golden Jubilee will be celebrated throughout 2022 & 2023 culminating in a special performance in autumn 2023 to mark the 50th anniversary of the first show in autumn 2023 We plan to run events through the year and gather memories of the last 50 years and share them with the […]