Review of Bette & Joan I’ve just had the pleasure of catching the new Saddleworth Player’s performance, Bette and Joan, at the Millgate Art Centre in Delph. It is directed by Melvyn Bates and stars Rachel Harrison and Tracey Rontree as Bette Davis and Joan Crawford respectfully. The action of the play takes place in Hollywood during 1962, at the height of the Hollywood actresses renown feud. It takes place in the background of the […]
Opening Night Review of Silver Lining
Carol Davies is directing Saddleworth Players latest show Silver Lining by Sandy Toksvig… here are her thoughts… When I first read Sandi Toksvig’s ‘Silver Lining’ I was in no doubt that Saddleworth Players should do it. I laughed through my first reading of it and I laughed two years later through the cast read through. Putting it on stage though was an entirely different matter. Shakespeare wrote about ‘the two hour’s traffic of our stage’ […]
Saddleworth Players are implementing some changes to the way we organise ourselves. The problem: COVID closed down all the theatres and when we re-emerged in the recovery season we found that many people who previously were involved didn’t return. For some it was an opportunity to take stock and retire, for others, the lockdowns provided new hobbies and focus and the theatre has slipped in importance. This current Season we’ve attempted to carry on as […]
The play is set in a ski lodge in France where Daniel Corban has just reported that his newly wedded wife has been missing for 10 days to the police. The Chief Inspector seems unhelpful but promises he will investigate for him. Seconds later the new local priest, Father Maximin, exclaims he’s found his wife and brings her to the chalet. However, Daniel claims he’s never set eyes on this woman before. As the story […]
Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: two of the deadliest arch-rivals of all time. Born in the same year (though Davis swore ‘Crawford is 5 years older than me if she is a day’, the two fought bitterly throughout their Long and brilliant Hollywood careers. The women worked together only once, in the classic thriller Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? in which their violent hatred of each other as rival sisters was no act. In this […]
Saddleworth Players at Millgate Arts Centre annual advent calendar 2022 we hope you enjoy opening the doors on the advent calendar bringing back memories from past shows Let’s get this party started Saddleworth Players Youth Theatre… put the kettle on for a brew We’re making a list . We’re checking it twice working off the mince pies We three kings of orient are all I want for Christmas is… It’s Christmas jumper day…. Fred and […]
A review from the first night audience member: Wow – what an EPIC piece of theatre!!! Just 4 (tremendous) actors, multi-roling, gave a fabulous, enthralling & strory-telling performance. I can only imagine the hard work that went into this from the actors, director & crew…!! Your use of a simple, but effective multi-use set, really helped with the audiences understanding of the ‘scene setting’, from the dark dungeons to the dusty desert, we were treated […]
Many congratulations to all involved in a superb team effort at Saddleworth Players at Millgate Arts Centre for their production of ‘Ben Hur.’ Four excellent performances from Mark Rosenthal, Andy Hoyle, Kate Davies and Jon Comyn-Platt: epic, hectic, chaotic, at times neurotic, consistently eccentric! It wasn’t so much directed, more choreographed by Verity Mann and the entire tech team was a tour de force. And thank you for allowing me the opportunity for audience participation […]
full of humour and energy John Rigby On hearing of the Saddleworth Players’ plan to put on Ben Hur at the Millgate, I must admit that my first reaction was one of bewilderment, especially as it was going to be played as a comedy. What on earth would it be like? Carry On Crashing, perhaps, or a cross between Hollywood epic and Last of the Summer Wine, with chariots lurching out of control down Stoneswood […]