In 2020 we will be celebrating our 40th anniversary. Head over to our facebook pages were we thought a look back into the archives would be interesting, so for the next year we will be sharing “40 years of the players theatre group”.
But to start with we need to tell you all how it all began.
In 1980 the St. Patrick’s church committee approached Pauline King to ask if her Dance School would put on a show to raise money to help fund a Church Hall. Pauline suggested a better idea would be to stage a talent contest involving members of the church as she felt this would have a greater appeal and The St Patricks Players was formed. The performance went ahead in the United Reform Church in 1981 and was followed by a performance of a narrated pantomime at the Senior Citizens Christmas Party. This was enjoyed so much by both those taking part and the audience that it was decided to put on a proper pantomime the following year. The pantomime performed was The Sleeping Beauty in 1983. The show was a roaring success raising £345 for the church. Quite a sum in those days. 40 years on we have had 6 changes of venue and three name changes from the St Patricks Players to the Woolston Players and finally, as The Players Theatre Group. The group has performed over 70 shows with over a thousand cast members and Pauline is still the Players producer alongside Jack Slade.
First thing to come out of the archives are these 2 photograph. The first one is a finale shot of the original cast of Sleeping beauty in 1983 and the 2nd photo is of Pauline King, Kieron King and Marie Slade (King), our longest surviving members who are still in the drama group to this day.Hope you enjoy looking back at these memories as much as we enjoyed making them, if you have any memories of your own about the drama group we would love to hear about them from you.
But to start with we need to tell you all how it all began.
In 1980 the St. Patrick’s church committee approached Pauline King to ask if her Dance School would put on a show to raise money to help fund a Church Hall. Pauline suggested a better idea would be to stage a talent contest involving members of the church as she felt this would have a greater appeal and The St Patricks Players was formed. The performance went ahead in the United Reform Church in 1981 and was followed by a performance of a narrated pantomime at the Senior Citizens Christmas Party. This was enjoyed so much by both those taking part and the audience that it was decided to put on a proper pantomime the following year. The pantomime performed was The Sleeping Beauty in 1983. The show was a roaring success raising £345 for the church. Quite a sum in those days. 40 years on we have had 6 changes of venue and three name changes from the St Patricks Players to the Woolston Players and finally, as The Players Theatre Group. The group has performed over 70 shows with over a thousand cast members and Pauline is still the Players producer alongside Jack Slade.
First thing to come out of the archives are these 2 photograph. The first one is a finale shot of the original cast of Sleeping beauty in 1983 and the 2nd photo is of Pauline King, Kieron King and Marie Slade (King), our longest surviving members who are still in the drama group to this day.Hope you enjoy looking back at these memories as much as we enjoyed making them, if you have any memories of your own about the drama group we would love to hear about them from you.