Back to 1932

On October,7^th,  1932, wholesome Yorkshire fare was provided for all visitors to the Farrar Street Congregational Church...in the shape of “Custard and Rhewbarb i’ Paris”. So stated the opening of the Barnsley Chronicle review of a Farrar Street Congregational Church Players production, published on Saturday 15^th October 1932. 

A whole cast photograph was published with the review.   Clearly, a play outside  of the established theatre’s published repertoire, provided nonetheless and evenings enjoyment and funds for the church. According to the Chronicle review, “..all gave their best to make the production a rip roaring success......they took advantage of the droll dialogue and went through with a rare spirit of assurance” Twenty two members took to the stage and it was noted that “it is to the credit of the players that they were not rendered speechless by the sheer humour of the piece”

The piece, a three act dialect sketch was written by Eleanor Reynolds about whom little is known. The plays were not published as far as can be determined, but Bill Moss remembered his father and uncle having scripts which were typewritten. One of her plays was performed in 1937 in Stocksbridge by a group. The play was “Gwynne versus Gwynne”. 

That group performed two other works of Reynolds which indicates she was a popular writer in area. It may be possible that the Stocksbridge group had seen Farrar Street’s version of “Gwynne versus Gwynne” which was performed in November 1935, among the six further Reynolds plays were produced by Farrar Street  Players.

2 Early reviews

Gwynn Versus Gwynne by Eleanor Reynolds 1935

Produced by Miss M H Ridsdale         Stage manager   Ernest Hawley

Lighting and effects    John Burns

“An enjoyable production”    “There are about 20 players in the cast....they gave a good performance..which abounds in pathos and comedy”

“The company paid for their own expenses from Barnsley”  This was a performance given in the Haigh Village Institute in aid of the reduction of debt on the Low Swithen Methodist Sunday School.

The above reviews come from the performance at Haigh. 

There are no dates to say which performance came first. The performance at Haigh was a Tuesday evening . The details below are apparently  from a run at Farrar Street which began on a Tuesday evening also. My guess is that the Haigh performance followed the Farrar Street one.

In which case the role of Richard Gwynne was picked up again by Charles I Moss. He is reported playing  the part in a Tuesday performance, but from the two reports, there is no evidence of if the first night was at Haigh or Farrar Street.

After the first night ( a Tuesday) , shortly before the second performance (which was on Thursday),  Charles I Moss, playing Richard Gwynne , was ‘overcome by serious illness’. Minutes before the opening, Colin Thompson stepped into the breach.  He was a local amateur actor and in the circumstances obliged to read the part. He made great efforts to ‘ensure the continuity of the play remaining unbroken’.

“The production was bright and breezy throughout...well in keeping with the Farrar Street tradition.’

Other plays produced by the Players by the seemingly prolific Eleanor Reynolds, fast becoming a Players  tradition, are

The Sealed Envelope                                      ‘Packed audiences enjoy The Sealed Envelope’

The Chinese Riddle                                        ‘Barnsley Church production

Pearls in Pawn                                                ‘Farrar Street Players comedy’

Mint Sauce                                                       Farrer Street comedy production’

Intrigue at Harmony Court                            ‘Farrar Street Players successful show’

The pre war plays from 1932

Pre war plays

The plays written by Eleanor Reynolds whic were the mainstay of the group from their birth until the Second World War.

Eleanor was a prolific playwright from the 1930s onwards.
Derrick, her son,  said: "My father died in 1948 when I was 16, so she probably started writing to supplement the family income."
"In those days we attended Millbridge Methodist Church and the plays would be performed there first."

Derrick still has letters from societies in Clevelys, Blackpool, Barnsley, Holmfirth, Rossendale and North Wales wanting to buy the scripts.

 

Custard and Rhewbarb i’ Paris by Eleanor Reynolds .              1932 GM

The Sealed Envelope by Eleanor Reynolds

Our Jack’s Will by Eleanor Reynolds                                        1933

The Chinese Riddle by Eleanor Reynolds                                 1934 GM

Gwynn Versus Gwynne by Eleanor Reynolds                          1935 F

Pearls in Pawn by Eleanor Reynolds                                                    F

Mint Sauce by Eleanor Reynolds                                                          F

Intrigue at Harmony Court by Eleanor Reynolds                             WS

Armistice by Eleanor Reynolds                                                 1937 GM

An Honest Lawyer by Eleanor Reynolds                                 1938 GM


GM, WS and F refer to the reviwers from the Barnsley Chronicle