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 […]
reproduced from News@Ken By Ken Bennett By day, Liz Travis is the popular headteacher in a 200-pupil village school… But from now until October 1, every night except Monday, she playing a starring role in Saddleworth Players production of “Scary Bikers” at Millgate Arts centre, Delph. And Liz, 49, who has lead Holy Trinity Dobcross School for 15 years, says candidly: “The most common question I am asked when I appear on publicity for the […]
A review of opening night by Martin Roche The great thing about a piece of theatre is when the subject matter brings an idea, a concept, a story to the stage which feels original and just works. I think we’re on safe ground in the originality stakes with a two-hander play encompassing foreign cycling trips, bereavement, Brexit, the Miner’s Strike and a burgeoning friendship! I guess it is the latter which is the glue which […]
By Carol Davies On Saturday, the 4th of June 2022 the play ‘Singers not Sinners’ premiered at Millgate Arts Centre, Delph and ran for a week. On the 30th August last it was reprised with the same cast at Oldham Parish Church, now Saint Mary’s with Saint Peter, on the site of the 1701 church. It was an extraordinary experience and a major place on the Journey. Because from Page to Stage IS a journey.. […]
Although it dominated our lives, Brexit has so far made surprisingly few appearances on stage, for obvious reasons. It is, however, a key topic – along with grief and cycling – in this humane, funny and perceptive two-hander written by John Godber. The play presents us with an odd couple brought together by loss and a love of bikes. Don, an ex-miner and now a porter at Pontefract hospital, is grieving over the death of […]
Putting a play on its feet is, of course, a director’s job but putting your own play on its feet has a slightly different feel to it. It has been a fascinating journey writing and rewriting it on the page and then taking it from page to stage firstly at Millgate Arts Centre and now at Oldham Parish Church. The company’s skills and enthusiasm has made the whole rehearsal experience a joy and Peter Wakefield’s […]
a review of opening night by Verity Mann Saddleworth Players’ Youth (SPY) Theatre, have tackled Dennis Kelly’s ‘DNA’; a dark look at society’s response to cruelty, bullying, peer pressure and pack mentality with style and aplomb. Having thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas Production, I was anticipating clever staging, slick scene changes and confident acting, and was not disappointed. The SPYs are a close knit team, the on-stage chemistry palpable, and they bring to life this ensemble […]