For the past seven years, professional theatre company The Big Tiny have been making a West End quality pantomime in our theatre in Saddleworth. In the wake of the Oldham Coliseum closing, the Saddleworth panto is perfect for families in need of a panto fix. And what a panto it is too! In the last three years, The Big Tiny have been nominated for Best Script, Best Direction and Best Pantomime at the UK Pantomime […]
by Verity Mann My last count for costumes was 72 which makes it, possibly, our most ambitious project to date and Singers, not Sinners, by Livi Michael and Carol Davies, a walk in the historic park! I could well be wrong on the count though, as once I got above 60 I gave into a little mild, incredulous panic! When you consider that each costume has multiple elements from hats and goggles to socks and shoe […]
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. […]
What an interesting play for Saddleworth Players to choose to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their moving into Millgate Arts Centre. With a big cast of 23, it is an opportunity to use their range of actors from Seasoned Seniors (who had been in the first plays at Millgate) to Aspiring Apprentices and those in between. Equally it is an opportunity for the crew- set, costume, props, lighting, visuals and sound- to show their creativity. […]
What a treat, to be involved in the production team of the opening play of our new season at Saddleworth Players! Albeit, in a different role than Millgate regulars will know me as! I’m usually found donning a black T-shirt and being the Director of SPY Theatre (Saddleworth Players Youth Theatre). I’m also owner of Act One Theatre School in Uppermill, where we teach over 200 children a week at my beautiful studio, in dance, […]
Hi! I joined Saddleworth Players after I had auditioned for Curtain Up! as Betty and was very surprised to get it. I have loved live theatre since first going to Oldham Rep (as it was then) at age seven or eight with my auntie who worked as a volunteer there. I sat watching the pantomime and loved every minute. In the 70s I was a volunteer at Playhouse 2 for quite a long time and […]
Hi, I’m Siobhan Ebden and in the comedy Curtain Up! I play Pam the first wife, mother of Teresa and daughter in law of Betty. Pam is not always a very easy character to like though she is great to play as she has a sharp wit and some fantastic one liners. I’ve been involved with Saddleworth Players for a few years, with some smaller roles in a couple of plays and open days. I […]
I have long been a supporter of Millgate Arts Centre and Saddleworth Players. Having been a member of Oldham Lyceum players for many years and volunteering on the bar occasionally, I appreciate how much time, effort and energy goes into each production. Many years ago, I had the pleasure of interviewing author Louis de Bernieres on the Millgate stage as part of a fundraising event for Delph Library; another example of how volunteers are so vital […]
Curtain up! is a hilarious comedy of five women who inherit equal shares in an old dilapidated theatre and plan to bring it back to life again. The females try various fund-raising schemes, but their most ambitious idea is to hold a concert featuring local talent and the world-famous star, Liza Minnelli, who agrees to appear for no fee. However, plans go awfully wrong, when they hear that Liza Minnelli has cancelled. It is a […]