The phrase ‘third time lucky’ could have been invented for Newcastle Players over the past few months. We had originally planned to do Ira Levin’s Deathtrap as our April Production. However, we were denied a license meaning a furious scramble to find another play. We settled on Habeas Corpus by Alan Bennett, but this was beset with casting difficulties. So, another frantic search for a suitable play was upon us. Luckily, we’ve found one with John Godber’s Lucky Sods; an earthy Northern comedy about a couple who win the lottery. (More details here)
Newcastle Players are Lucky Sods!
February 11th, 2012Newcastle Players Books
October 30th, 2011There is more about the Newcastle Players in two books by Geoff Price.
Founded 1934 – The Story of the Newcastle Players
Founded 1934 – The Story of the Newcastle Players traces the history of the society from its beginnings in 1934 up to the time of the book’s publication in 2006. It describes how the Newcastle Players first performed in church halls and later in the Municipal Hall in Newcastle-under-Lyme before moving to the Mitchell Memorial Theatre in 1958.
The 180-page book contains a wealth of illustrations and information about productions, people and places that have played an important part in the story of the Newcastle Players through eight decades.
150 years of a Hartshill Institution
150 YEARS of a Hartshill Institution plots the history from 1859 to its 150th anniversary in 2009 of a Grade-II Listed Building, which was once the hub of the village of Hartshill in Stoke-on-Trent and which is now known as the Newcastle Players Theatre Workshop.
The building was originally financed by the potter Colin Minton Campbell to serve as a lecture hall and reading room for the Hartshill Working Men’s Association. The Minton family later transferred the ownership of the building to Holy Trinity Church in Hartshill. As the Hartshill Church Institute, it was home to a host of social and other activities connected with the church. It was acquired by the Newcastle Players in 1969 and the sets for all the society’s productions have been built there. Many of these are illustrated in the book.
Available from the author
Both books are available direct from the author at 103, Paris Avenue, Newcastle, Staffs. ST5 2QP (Tel: 01782 617055) or email the society at newcastle.players@lineone.net
Founded 1934 costs £9.95 and 150 YEARS £7.50. Delivery is free (by hand) to addresses with ST1, ST4 or ST5 postcodes, but £1.50 should be added to cover postage and packing to other UK addresses. Cheques should be made payable to G.H Price.
Proceeds to Workshop Refurbishment Fund
The proceeds from the sale of the books are going to the fund which the Newcastle Players have set up to pay for the ongoing refurbishment of the society’s Theatre Workshop in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.
Radio Stoke interview
September 28th, 2011Earlier this month, we were interviewed on BBC Radio Stoke, talking about how the society works, putting out an appeal for anyone interested in backstage work, and of course plugging our upcoming show ‘Caught in the Net‘.
You can listen again here;
And if we’ve whetted your appetite, details on how to join the society are here.
Newcastle Players enter the 21st century!
September 28th, 2011Mitch reopens
September 28th, 2011
The Mitchell Arts Centre (formally the Mitchell Memorial Theatre), where the Newcastle Players have performed since 1958, has now reopened after a two and a half year refurbishment. During that time, extensive work has been carried out to the interior of the building, including improved disabled access, reorganisation of the dressing and backstage areas, a new café bar at the front of the theatre (see photograph below) and work on the auditorium which has brought the facility into the twenty-first century.
We look forward to returning to ‘The Mitch’ in April next year.
Programme Quiz winner
September 16th, 2011Following our very successful run of Noises Off in November 2009, we are pleased to announce the winner of our programme competition and the answers to our 15 questions.
The Winner : Mrs Marylin Smith of Trentham, Stoke on Trent with 14.5 points out of a possible 15.
The Prize: Four free tickets for Outside Edge at The Stoke Rep in September (see Coming Next)
The Questions & Answers:
1. In what year was Checkov born ? 1860
2. What is deoxyribonucleic acid better known as? DNA
3. “We all are born mad. Some remain so.” Name the Samuel Beckett paly this line comes from? Waiting for Godot
4. Who is Lady Creighton-Ward better known as? Lady Penelope
5. Who once said of John Gielgud, that he had a voice “like a silver trumpet muffled in silk”? Alec Guinness
6. Whose secret ingredient is codenamed 7X? Coca-Cola
7. “You were born with your legs apart. They’ll send you to the grave in a Y-shaped coffin.” Name the Joe Orton play
this line comes from. What the Butler Saw
8. Which city is also known as The Steel City? Sheffield
9. Who played ‘Curly’ in the Royal National Theatre production of Oklahoma! in 1998? Hugh Jackman
10.What word (in the English language) has six vowels, and every one is ‘A’? Taramasalata
11.What is traditionally used to substitute whisky on stage? Cold tea
12. What connects Wedgwood pottery and The Origin Of Species? Josiah Wedgwood was Charles Darwin’s grandfather
13. Is it considered lucky or unlucky to use a real Bible on stage? Unlucky
14.What 15-letter word contains the letter ‘E’ five times and no other vowels? Defencelessness
15.With whom did Andrew Lloyd Webber co-write By Jeeves, which had a run at the Duke of York’s and Lyric theatres in
1996? Alan Ayckbourn
Bargain Hunt – Old picture in props brings in windfall
September 13th, 2011
Extract from ‘John Slin’s Amateur Stage’
Members of Staffordshire’s Newcastle Players were intrigued to see an old oil painting, twice used in their productions at the Mitchell Memorial Theatre, Hanley, providing the background during BBC1’s Bargain Hunt – twice.
The painting, entitled Idol, daughter of S E Letts, Esq, was nearly dumped during a general clear-out of their 19th-Century Grade 2 listed workshop in the village of Hartshill in Stoke on Trent in readiness for its refurbishment, but member Rob Vaughan decided that it might possibly be worth something to the Players
– and it later produced £880 at auction.