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.

NEW BOX OFFICE

                               NEW BOX OFFICE
         STONES CARPETS, CHAPEL ST. LEIGH

Martin from STONES CARPETS on Chapel St. Leigh. on hearing that RATCLIFFES our previous Box Office had sadly closed  came to the rescue and has offered to take over the task.  
From the 1st of DECEMBER tickets will be on sale for our popular annual Pantomime.  ROBINSON CRUSOE,  which will run from the 18th January 2017 to Saturday 28th January 2017.  Evening performances comm. at 7-15pm  Tickets are £8 Adults, 16yrs & under £4.  There are three matinees comm. at 2pm  tickets are £10 adults 16yrs & under are £4.  SPECIAL OFFER:  All tickets on the 18th & 19th of January will be £4  Early booking is recommended.

The Box Office will be open from 9am to 5pm Monday to Saturday and Sunday 9am to 12 noon.  Comm. 1st December.

 BATS REVIEW FOR CHESHIRE CATS PRODUCTION

Cheshire Cats

St Joseph’s Players, Leigh

When thinking of fundraising ideas to raise money for Cancer awareness many ideas come to mind but by writing a play about a group of women running a race for life, author Gail Young has come up with a gem.

St Joseph’s Players took on this task with aplomb as they provided comedy, pathos and a really good night’s entertainment. Pauline Nevell has directed a real cracker here and with such a talented cast this production has hit all the right notes.

Vicky and Maggie, given a touch of realism by Donna Wood and Nicola Reynolds set the scene as they want to take things at an easy pace but with the introduction of organiser Hilary, played with abounding energy by Clare Nash the girls are put to the test and train flat out in order to reach their personal best.

Testosterone is on hand by the introduction of Vicky’s toyboy Andrew. Daniel McCarrick was game in providing us with a great performance dressed in full lycra regalia complete with wig. Jenny Costello proves to be one to watch as she portrayed Siobhan with a subtle innocence which made the character real.

At some point in the play each character gave a monologue or a song, telling their story and this touch made the significance of the play more apparent. This was done very well. 

Providing cameo performances were Louise Bailey-Farrell as the keep fit aerobics instructor and Vikky Dixon, Chris Lovelady, Maggie Hall and the hilarious Pauline Dowsett as marshals for the run. 

Pulling off a good comedy isn’t easy, but with such a great comedy actress as Barbara Mayers you know you are on to a winner. Mayers performance as Yvonne was nothing short of hilarious. One minute we had tones of Hyacinth, but that was soon replaced by a touch of Hylda Baker. Mayers had the audience on the edge of their seats in anticipation as they waited for the next one liner or anecdote. The song she performed was comedy gold. A truly brilliant performance.

All in all, this production left the audience wanting more which is a good sign that you have done a good job, and in this case St Josephs, in the capable hands of Pauline Nevell can add this production to their list of successes.     

Paul Cohen
BATS           

  Our next production HAPPY JACK is almost upon us, commencing on Tuesday 11^th October to Saturday 15^th October 7-30pm start £8 adults 16yrs and under £4 (Please Pay on the door on the night.)

Synopsis of HAPPY JACK

A sense of Yorkshire pride comes through John Godber’s words in his much loved Comedy Drama HAPPY JACK which he wrote two years before the cataclysmic miner’s strike of 1984

Northern couple, Liz and Jack, played by Pauline Nevell & Keith Hindley open this remarkable play by addressing the audience about the biographical details of the characters they play, and then slipping into those characters. Small, lovingly detailed extracts from the couple's lives are shown from their early courtship days, through to their retirement, but not in chronological order, so we constantly weave a path through their long life together.

Liz is the fastidious northern wife, who scrubs the steps on Wednesdays and woe-betide if the washing and cleaning duties aren’t done properly on the right day of the week. Her cheerful drudgery is punctuated with an occasional bout of giddiness; the squeal of her laughter is so infectious, it’s impossible not to smile along. She ends so many of her sentences with a long-suffering look and the words ‘You have to laugh, Jack’, as if it will persuade him to do so. Happy Jack, she calls him because he is such a miserable character. The Financial Times described the play as 'Neat, touching and joyously celebratory’.   A night not to be missed.

We are proud to announce that our BATS award winners this year are, Pauline Nevell, Clare Nash, Paul Jameson, Terry Mc Cabe and Jim Reynolds. Congratulations xxx

St Joseph's Players are proud to present a comedy CHESHIRE CATS, by Gail Young, produced by Pauline Nevell. comm. on Tuesday 13th September to Saturday 17th September, curtain up 7-30pm, at St Joseph's Hall, Chapel St. Leigh WN7 2PR.  Tickets are £8 adults & 16yrs and under £4.  Pay on the door on the night. Advance tickets available in August from Ratcliffes Cycles, Bradshawgate, Leigh.
for info email stjosephsplayers1@gmail.com 
Below is the background to this brilliant play:

Gail Young, the author, walked The MoonWalk in 2003 with her friends and was so inspired by her experience, the camaraderie of the walkers, the ups and downs of the training walks and the marathon itself, the laughs and tears along the way that she jotted it all down on paper. She directed and acted alongside the Guilden Sutton Players in the very first performances of the play in Guilden Sutton Village Hall near Chester in November 2005. The play was then taken to the Edinburgh Fringe in the summer of 2006, raising more funds for Walk the Walk. This fantastic play now found a publisher and is waiting to be performed by many more enthusiasts for appreciative audiences worldwide. Yes, worldwide. It has found its way to New Zealand and has even been translated into Flemish for a performance in Belgium.

“The play follows a team of women training for and participating in The MoonWalk London, and is a comic drama intended to pay tribute to charity walkers, race organisers and marshals everywhere. My mum, sister in law, and a best friend had suffered from breast cancer. Sadly all three are no longer with us now - and they were my original reason for walking the walk.

I was asked to join a gang of Cheshire ladies to walk in The MoonWalk in May 2003 as one of their members had dropped out. The name of the team was the ‘Cheshire Cats’ – and the play is partly based on real events that weekend. On the train home from London I did say ‘Someone should write a play about this weekend…’ – and reader, I wrote it!”

(Gail Young, Author)  If you wished to know more about walk the walk uniting against breast cancer, please contact walkthewalk.org/CheshireCats

Our next production is A Thriller set in Victorian England 

 "THE LATE EDWINA BLACK"  by William Dinner and William Moran

Directed by Pauline Nevell.  Commencing on Tuesday 12th April to Saturday 16th April, Curtain up at 7-30pm.  You can pay on the door on the night or collect advance tickets from Ratcliffes Bike Shop, Bradshawgate, Leigh from 1st March  Tickets are £8 adults 16yrs & under £4  Bar, Raffle & Refreshments available.

The domineering Edwina Black has just died, and the general feeling appears to be of relief rather than grief. The local community whispers that her death is a disguised blessing for all concerned, particularly her henpecked widower Gregory (Farrar) and downtrodden personal companion Elizabeth (Fitzgerald). Unknown to anybody, Gregory and Elizabeth have been clandestine lovers for some time, and matters take a serious turn when the local doctor, feeling uneasy about Edwina's sudden and unexpected death, orders an autopsy. The result came back, revealing that Edwina's body is full of arsenic.  The plot thickens!!!!