We were all knocked sideways by the death of my old friend Ambrose Ashley, hundreds of miles away in Italy. I’m guardian to Philip, the young heir to the Ashley estate and he went haring off to Florence when he received word of his cousin’s serious illness. Ambrose had only recently met his cousin Rachel out there, a great beauty, by all accounts, and married her in weeks. Naturally we were all agog to meet […]
Hi! I’m Sam and I’m playing the part of Philip in My Cousin Rachel, the first play of the new season here at Millgate. It’s my fifth play here with Saddleworth Players, the most recent of which was Incorruptible in June. I’m so excited to be treading the boards for the first play in front of the new seats in the auditorium! One of the great aspects of this play is the “did she, didn’t […]
Hi, my name is Kerry. This is my first play with The Saddleworth Players and what a play to jump in with! I’m really enjoying playing Louise, the excitable girl-next- door who is forgotten by Philip when the mature and exotic Mrs. Ashley comes to stay at Barton Manor. Louise is sweet and innocent to begin with, but her jealousy of Rachel Ashley brings out the worst in her character; she is taken in by […]
In looking back over our last Season, I realised that all the plays had been costume dramas, taking us from Medieval France, 17th Century London, the 1930s, to the 1950s. We are very fortunate in having a huge (and packed) costume store which provides most of what we need, with some hectic bouts of sewing to supplement it. When we first looked at My Cousin Rachel, we were unsure where to place it in time. […]
Hi, I’m Verity and I’ll be playing Rachel Ashley in our first play of the Season ‘My Cousin Rachel’ by Diana Morgan. It’s a gothic drama based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, and I’m thrilled that we are bringing it to the stage. Daphne du Maurier is one of my all time favourite writers. Her prose is beautifully crafted but she is also gifted in bringing complex characters to life, and gently bringing […]
Our first play of the season is ‘My Cousin Rachel’ by Diane Morgan adapted from the novel by Daphne de Maurier. She wrote many well-known novels ‘Jamaica Inn’, ‘Frenchmans Creek’ ,’Rebecca’ all made into successful films. You may know Hitchcock‘s film ‘The Birds’ and the seventies horror film ‘Don’t Look Now’ with Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. Both of these were stories written by Daphne du Maurier. She tells a good story and is notorious […]
Hi! My name’s Sam and I’m portraying the role of Jack in this upcoming production of Incorruptible. My most recent role here at Millgate was Branwell last summer in “We Are Three Sisters”, and you might also have seen me in Great Expectations and The Graduate. It was with great excitement that I agreed to don the motley and an eyepatch for this play and make a fool of myself again! Jack’s a fascinating and […]
Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain in 1955 at the age of 28. Amanda Whittington’s story gives the audience a glimpse into Ellis’s life leading up to her being convicted of killing her lover David Blakely and the injustices surrounding her trial and execution. As the Director Sue Stephenson states in her notes in the programme, there would have been a very different outcome had the crime had been committed […]
In 1955, Ruth Ellis shot and killed her abusive lover in cold blood. Convicted of the crime at trial, Ruth became the last woman to the hanged for murder in Britain. But what drove Ruth to kill David, her racing driver lover? Why did she plead not guilty to the murder at trial? Who was she trying to protect? Set in the seedy world of 1950s gentlemen’s clubs, The Thrill of Love by Amanda Whittington […]
I play Vickie Martin (formerly Valerie Mewes) in the play, who was a real-life model and actress and close friend of Ruth Ellis. She is an ambitious girl and mixed with some very affluent and influential people but her own story turns out tragically too! She cares deeply for her friend and tries (like others) to save her from the destructive relationships she has become embroiled in! Sadly, as we know, with no success! The […]