News from the Players

Terra Nova won the Alan Sanders Trophy for Wardrobe.

Nantwich Players were also nominated for costumes for The Day after the Fair and Three Hisses for Villainy. (Diana Park = Wardrobe Mistress).

Terra Nova won the John Palin Trophy for Stagecraft which includes set design, painting, building, projection, sound, lighting and props.

Nantwich Players also nominated for Stagecraft for Party Piece, Three Hisses for Villainy, and The Day after the Fair.

Terra Nova won the Simon Saft Trophy for Adventurous Theatre.

Nantwich Players also nominated for The Day After the Fair

The Drunkard’s Wife (Victorian melodrama) won the Peter Kennedy Comedy Cup.

Eve Walker also nominated as Jennifer Hinson in Party Piece

Mrs Greta Guest, Secretary to Nantwich Players for 20 years, won the Stenson Cup for long service to Amateur Dramatics.

The Derek Tipton Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominees:
Helen Gresty, Eryl Kelly and Sue Woodward

The John Langridge Trophy for Best Actor Nominees:
Charlie Gobbett and Simon Porter

The Vicki Lane Trophy for Best Director Nominees:
Charlotte Lightbody and John Powell

Sixteen drama groups belong to the guild and 53 productions were adjudicated by Joan Cooper over the 2006-2007 Season.

Nantwich Players won 4 Awards out of 17 and our productions were nominated 14 times out of 74.

Rebecca Burchell won Most Promising Female Youngster for Lucy in Lady of Lanarth.

Eryl Kelly won the Geoffrey Kellett Cup for Best Supporting Actress for Kathleen Scott in Terra Nova.

Terra Nova won the Margaret Thomas Salver for Best Costume. (Wardrobe Mistress = Diana Park)

Terra Nova went on to win the ultimate prize: the John Blackburn Award for Best Overall Production.

Nominations in other categories were:

Simon Porter for Best Supporting Actor as Sir Eustace in The Drunkard’s Wife.
Charlotte Lightbody (Terra Nova) and John Powell (Day after Fair) for Best Director.
Jane Whalley for Best Supporting Actress (Tina Lewis in Love Nest)
Three Hisses for Villainy for Best Production with Musical Content
Day after the Fair for Runner-Up for Best Overall Production
Day after the Fair and Terra Nova for Best Lighting and Sound
Day after the Fair and Terra Nova for Dramatic Achievement

Terra Nova, the story of Captain Scott's expedition to the South Pole in 1912, won Wardrobe, Stagecraft and Adventurous Theatre Awards, receiving nominations in 7 categories including Best Director and Best Overall Production.

Three Hisses for Villainy, the Victorian melodrama staged in December 2006, was also nominated in 7 categories and took the prize for best Comedy for the whole season.

The 39 productions entered for this competition were performed by drama groups as far away as Preston and included over 250 individual acting performances. Nantwich Players were nominated in 12 out of 16 categories as well as a special Award made each year for long service to amateur drama which was awarded to Greta Guest, Secretary to Nantwich Players for 20 years.

Jeremy Acklam, Chairman of Nantwich Players, expressed his delight at the recognition of the group's high standards "It was particularly good to receive Awards for some of the backstage contributions to our productions such as Wardrobe and Stagecraft. These unsung heroes don't receive the applause at the end of the show but, with the director, have created the visual identity of each play."

The actual Awards were:

Wardrobe - Terra Nova Stagecraft - Terra Nova Adventurous Theatre - Terra Nova Best Comedy production - Three Hisses for Villainy Long service award - Mrs Greta Guest

Nantwich Players' next production is Alan Ayckbourn's RolePlay, at the Players' Theatre 14 - 21 July. Tickets on sale now at the Civic Hall.

Wardrobe - Terra Nova Stagecraft - Terra Nova Adventurous Theatre - Terra Nova Best Comedy production - Three Hisses for Villainy Long service award - Mrs Greta Guest

Nantwich Players' next production is Alan Ayckbourn's RolePlay, at the Players' Theatre 14 - 21 July. Tickets on sale now at the Civic Hall.

Passing of Jennifer Greene

We are sorry to report the death of Jennifer Greene who had been a member of the Players for about a year. Jennifer, aged 28, was the young lady who was born with a metabolic disease and whose parents founded the Research Trust for Metabolic Disease in Children (now called Climb) to find out more about the diseases. Despite the sad news, a Songs of Praise service went ahead in Nantwich Parish Church on Saturday, March 31. It was held to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of the charity We send our condolences to Lesley and Peter Greene (Jennifer’s parents), and her sister, Becky.

Posted: 02 April 2007

Award for Gareth

PLAYERS' member, Gareth Roberts, was the winner of the Community Initiative of the Year award at the fifth annual Oscars of the Mayor of Crewe and Nantwich in February. Gareth said: "To my surprise I was nominated by someone at work for my involvement with promoting fire safety especially among schoolchildren in Crewe.

  "When I got to work I was thrilled to be handed the award by my boss who attended the ceremony. I turned down the invitation to the ceremony due to my involvement with "Terra Nova" (it was the night of the dress rehearsal).  When I met the Mayor after the play on Monday night, I took the opportunity to thank him for the award and he fully understood why I couldn't attend."

Gareth missed out on being Volunteer of the Year at the 2005 ceremony for his work in fund raising at Crewe Fire Station and for the Seahorse Swimming Club, Crewe, but in April 2006 he received a Community Safety Award from Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service for "carrying out safety initiatives and organising fire station days, sports days, etc, which helps to promote fire safety awareness."

Clock will remember a Players' stalwart

A NEW clock (left) has been placed in the theatre foyer in memory of one of the Players' stalwarts, John Shaw (right), who died last year. The clock has been donated by his family and presented at the end of the opening night of our  production of "Party Piece" in October 2006.

   A retired District Judge, John came to Nantwich in 1955, joining the Players the following year. He took part in a play in the mobile theatre, The Century Theatre, which visited the town annually for a while.

   He also appeared in many of our productions in the Civic Hall and then our own Players' Theatre, as well as directing nine of our productions.

   His funeral took place at Nantwich Parish Church on Tuesday, June 20, followed by a private service at the local crematorium.

Shows completely sold out

GETTING in early to the Nantwich Tourist Information Centre, in the Civic Hall, in, Market Street, has become a necessity for patrons who want to get tickets for productions.

   And back in February 2006 we had to stage an extra matinee to accommodate all the people who wanted tickets.

   If you want tickets for a show, don't delay in contacting the TIC. See the Current Show page for details.   

Anne finds most of the £3,000

MEMBER Anne Corbishley has found nearly all of the £3,000 she needed so that she can spend a week camping under the stars on an African game reserve. But the money is not for her. It will go to the Born Free Foundation for their work at the Shamwari reserve near to Port Elizabeth.

   One of the ways she devised to raise the money was to hire the Players' Theatre and stage a variety show starring fellow Players. There was a successful three-night run which raised around £1,000. She also organised a pub quiz night.

   The planned autumn visit was later cancelled but Anne will be at the reserve later year.

   Sadly, Anne will be leaving us as she has a new job with the R.S.P.C.A. in Lancashire, and is moving house. Meanwhile, she is planning to continue as a full member.

An "Oscar" for Edward

PLAYERS member Edward Passmore (pictured left, making his acceptance speech) won the Performer of the Year award in the Mayor's "Oscars" event at Nantwich Civic Hall, on February 17, 2006, hosted by the Mayor of Crewe and Nantwich (Cllr Maureen Grant).

   He was then a member of the YouthTheatre but has since transferred to the main membership as a Junior Member. In the Oscars, he was competing against an Irish dancing duo and a boy dance band - as well as fellow Players' member, Margaret Boschi (right), who starred in a Fringe Festival production on New York's Broadway last year.  

   Edward won the award for his protrayal of John Merrick in the Youth Theatre's production of "The Elephant Man" - a role for which he won two others awards in separate theatre festivals in 2005.

   His was the 10th award to come our way in the 2004-05 season.

  lFor details of our 2005-06 awards, see the Awards page.  

lWould you like to read more about our members and Nantwich Players in general? The stories on this page are just a few from editions of our internal Newsletter which is sent to all Friends of the Theatre - our supporter members. To find out more, visit the Friends of the Theatre page.  

PAGE UPDATED APRIL 02 2007