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.