Thursday 26 October 2017





BATS REVIEW, FOR 'TEECHERS' PRODUCED BY PAULINE NEVELL
     St Joseph’s Players, Leigh.
Teechers, written by Jon Godber was originally designed to be played by three young actors. St. Joseph’s Players brought this production to the stage with nine actors portraying the twenty characters who appear in the play and this worked perfectly.

We are introduced to of the ups and downs of life at Whitwall High School where newly qualified Drama teacher Mr. Nixon (portrayed by Cameron Lyth) experiences the life in a school that is not doing very well and the teachers are too set in their ways to make a difference. Nixon soon realises this and successfully interviews for a job at the more exclusive school where budgets and facilities and much better.
The story is narrated through the eyes of three pupils, Salty, Gail and Hobby played by Cameron Lyth, Zoe Unsworth and Hannah Parr respectively. These three young actors each give faultless, well polished performances. We were also treated to the vocal talents of Zoe and Hannah which was of a such high standard that it was hard to believe that it was actually live.
Another excellent performance came from society stalwart Keith Hindley who portrayed Teacher, Mr Basford with just the right amount of pompousness and then interpreted the roles of pupils Oggy Moxan and Pete Saxon with an excellent amount of comedic quality and timing.
With supporting performances from Kay Unsworth, Angela Grime, Kitti Dixon, Vikkey Dixon and Luke Ellam , this was definitely a team effort and all nine members of the cast worked extremely hard to present a production of a very high standard.
Director Pauline Nevell has done a sterling job bringing this production to life. With excellent casting and a simple yet effective set, she has revealed what talent St Josephs are nurturing and giving lots of promise for the future.
Well done to all involved.
Graham Cohen

   'TIME MURDERER PLEASE'
     Produced by Doreen Johnson
             BATS Review
       'Time Murderer Please'
St. Joseph’s Players
Set in the saloon bar and private sitting room of a hotel in Salford this murder mystery presented by St Joseph’s Players has all the ingredients required to get you thinking.
When stranger, Mike, turns up at the hotel claiming to have lost his memory, he is soon linked to the murder of a local school teacher. However, as the plot unfolds the mystery man soon starts to put the pieces of the murder together himself and drawing his own conclusions. This character was in the capable hands of Brendan Delaney whose performance was consistently believable to the point that we were never too sure if he was guilty or not.
Several suspects later, the story unfolds and keeps us guessing right till the very end were the unlikely murderer is revealed.
The 10 strong cast do a sterling job of transporting this piece from script to stage. Michael Evans as the hen pecked husband and Hotel Proprietor, Dugdale contrasts nicely with Katherine Roberts as Mrs Dugdale. She certainly wore the trousers and took no messing from anyone.
Local Policeman, George played by Muhammad Al-Yasseri and love interest /barmaid Sadie, Jennel Unsworth compliment each others performances very well and show a great deal of promise for the future.
Paul Jameson as Freddie, turns in another excellent performance and kept the pace consistent throughout.
Barbara Mayers as Grannie delivered her comedic one liners with aplomb. With supporting performances form Chris Lovelady as Irma, Donna Wood and Pat and Karl Gerrard Mr Brooks.
This was another successful production for this society who are proving that they are a force to be reckoned with world of amateur theatre.
Well done to all concerned.
Graham Cohen.

Friday 22 September 2017

             

           From Tues. 10th Oct. to Sat. 14th Oct.        

      A class room comedy by JOHN GODBER
                  Directed by Pauline Nevell

Fast moving and highly entertaining, 'TEECHERS' evokes life at a modern school.  Using the format of an end of term play, the new drama teacher's progress through two terms of recalcitrant classes, cynical colleagues and obstructive caretakers is reviewed.  Disillusioned, he departs for a safer private school.  
We have great pleasure in introducing in this production  some of the new and talented young actors who recently became members.  They are proving to be an invaluable addition to St Joseph's Players.

Friday 4 August 2017






                              DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Tuesday 12th September to Saturday 16th September, commencing at 7-30pm
'TIME, MURDERER, PLEASE' by CHARLES DYER, a Comedy Thriller, directed by Doreen Johnson.  
Tickets are £8 adults, 16yrs and under £4.  Advance tickets will be on sale from Spectrum Blinds (inside Stones Carpet Shop) Chapel St Leigh
 A very intriguing comed thriller set in the 1960's from the writer who wrote 'Wanted: One Body!  A stranger arrives at a North London public house claiming to have lost his memory, but baring a close resemblance to a man wanted for questioning about the seemingly senseless murder of a school teacher elsewhere in the city.  At first the residents and staff of the pub have no suspicions, but the mysterious visitor begins to draw his own conclusions as pieces of his identity begin to fall into place.,
This play offers some real belly laughs whilst keeping the audience guessing during it's build to a dynamic climax
                                               _________________________________

From Tuesday 10th October to 14th October we have:  

'TEECHERS' by JOHN GODBER, a comedy, directed by Pauline Nevell  Curtain up 7-30pm (Tickets as previous play)
A fast-moving and HIGHLY entertaining, Teechers evokes life at a modern school. Using the format of an end-of-term play, the new drama teacher's progress through two terms of recalcitrant classes, cynical colleagues and obstructive caretakers is reviewed.  This play is a laugh a minute.

Saturday 6 May 2017

                            BAFTA REVIEW FOR 

                    "LOOK BACK FOR MURDER" 


St. Joseph’s Players


St Josephs Players latest offering was Agatha Christies ‘Go Back For Murder’, based on the great author’s book- ‘Five Little Pigs’. The first act takes place at five different settings that are depicted forward of the main stage and highlighted through effective lighting.

We are introduced to Carla Crale who is desperate to prove that her mother was innocent of poisoning her father. Carla is portrayed by society stalwart Claire Nash who played this character with ease and brought an assured, well studied performance to the stage. She enlists the help of Solicitor Justin Fogg played with by Paul Jameson who assists her in locating each of the witnesses to obtain their version of events. Jameson’s performance complemented that of Nash and they worked very well together.

As Carla sets out on her quest we are introduced to several other characters who all agree to revisit the Carla’s family home to reconstruct the events that led to the murder of her father.

The set for act two introduced us to Carla’s family home and what a great set it was too. It consisted of a sitting room that extended out into the garden. Well designed and cleverly lit to add great effect. This act was presented as a flashback to the day of the murder where the events of the day are revisited.

This is where the characters came to life and splendid performances from Karen Jones, Pauline Nevell, Keith Hindley, David Hodgkinson, Kay Unsworth, Karl Gerrard, Muhammad Al-Yasseri and Pauline Dowsett all combine to bring this murder mystery to a conclusion (of which I wont reveal!)

Director Donna Wood has gathered a very talented and well chosen cast who brought Christies script to life and portrayed the story with great aplomb.

Graham Cohen


Sunday 2 April 2017

AGATHA CHRISTIE 'Go Back For Murder'

One of Agatha Christie's best Murder Mystery's 'GO BACK FOR MURDER'.

Imprisoned for poisoning her husband fifteen years earlier, Caroline Crale finds herself at death's door, and writes a letter expressing her undeniable innocence to her daughter Carla.  Carla aided by Justin Fogg, a former admirer of Caroline, persuades those present on the day of her father's death to return to the scene of the crime.  When the witnesses reassemble, Fogg discovers the identity of the true murderer, and Carla discovers her true feelings for Fogg.

Sunday 5 February 2017

       St Joseph’s Players   BATS REVIEW
      ROBINSON CRUSOE PANTOMIME

With the dust only just settling after the hectic Christmas festivities, St Joseph’s Players in Leigh have been busy presenting their annual pantomime production. This year’s offering was Robinson Crusoe from the pen of society stalwart Doreen Johnson. St. Joseph's have an excellent reputation for presenting good family pantomimes and this one was no exception. 
The principal line-up was led by Clare Nash in the title role of Robinson. Clare gave an assured performance and commanded the stage with ease. Robinsons love interest was Erica (the girl next door) played by Zoe Unsworth. Zoe gave a confident performance and treated the audience to some excellent vocals.
The comedy was in the capable hands of Keith Hindley in the role of pantomime dame ‘Bluebell Crusoe’. Hindley brings the traditional pantomime dame to life and his excellent comic timing brought the required response from the audience. His appearance towards the end of the show as ‘Honey G’ was a highlight. It would have worked wonderfully as the audience song.
The principal line up consisted of many other characters, too many to mention, who all gave splendid performances that brought the story to life. The dancers executed the musical numbers with ease and a 20 strong children’s’ chorus treated us to a medley of well-rehearsed song and dance routines.
This production certainly had the family feel about it and it was absolutely apparent that all the members of this company were having an excellent time in presenting this show to their audience.
The live band added an extra touch to the production under the baton of Craig Barlow. The set was very effective with some excellent backdrops and well-designed set pieces.
Directors, Doreen Johnson and Pauline Nevell should be very proud of their cast as well as the whole production. Congratulations.


Graham Cohen.