Trinity Players chronology from published
reviews
October 15th 1932 Reviewer GM
“..all gave their best to make
the production a rip roaring success”
“..they took the greatest advantage of the droll dialogue and went
through... with a rare spirit of assurance.” “It is to the credit of the
players that they were not rendered speechless by the sheer humour of the
thing.”
Custard and Rhewbarb i’ Paris by Eleanor
Reynolds . Cast of 22
Produced by Mrs B Clare & Mrs
JH Walkham
Musical items between scenes rendered
by Miss Alice Scott & Mr JH Walkham
Accompanist Mrs R Clare
Mrs M Burns; Mrs A Croft; Mrs P
Mann; Mr Charles Moss
(Mrs Mackintosh, Aunt Sophia,
Bridget, Peter)
Miss M Duggleberry; Miss M
Deardon
(Dinah, not named but described as the educated one’)
Mr T Challenger; Mr J Ward
(Baron Lacroste, Count de Mario)
Mr G Broadbent; Mr F Blackburn
(needed mor ‘snap’)
Mrs K Hooper; Miss M Ward; Mr JC
Ward; Miss MH Ridsdale; Miss E Hinchcliffe;
Mr F Jenkinson; Mr R Clare; Mrs E
Cooke; Miss G Scott; Miss M Tock; Mrs L Moss
Undated review by GM
The Sealed Envelope by Eleanor Reynolds
Produced by Miss MH Ridsdale with
lighting by Mr Burns. Stage manager Mr L Holden
Furniture loaned by the White
House
“...an enjoyable piece of
work...the members made the most of it.” “..the effects were particularly
bright...”
Mr T Challenger; Mr E
Priestley; Mrs P Jenkinson; Mr Charlie Moss
(Harry Marks, Bob Lonsdale, Gaunt)
Mr R Clare; Mr G
Jones; Mr A Armitage; Mrs E Loveland
(Sgt Hesketh, Superintendent of Police, Marmaduke Pippin,
Polly (Mrs Pippin))
“...a typical Yorkshire couple...took the comedy lead...”
Mr G Broadhead “..one
of their best character actors..”; Mrs Walkham; Miss W Fearn; Mrs P Holgate.
(Jim Watt, Hetty Watt, Amelia, Grandma)
Miss Betty Burns (daughter of Mrs M Burns – Farrar Street
‘veteran player’)
Miss Holgate; Mrs V
White; Mrs M Blackburn; Messrs. J Broadhead,; D Naylor;
T Dearden
(all minor parts)
Undated review by GM
The Chinese Riddle by Eleanor
Reynolds
Produced by Mrs WH Walkham
Stage Manager Mr E Hawley
“...the players are making considerable headway to becoming
a live wire in local amateur
theatricals.” ...”and appear to have quite a number of rising stars in their ranks’”
“ ..not quite so word perfect.....There was a tendency ...to
clip their words, but otherwise ..speech delivery was quite good.” “I would
have preferred to have seen a little more make-up in evidence...”
New stage erected.
Miss Rids dale; Mrs Burns; Mr G Brodhead; Mr G Jones;
(Lady Bannister, Jane Ann Tally, Martin Tally, Nicholas
Manning)
Mr A Burns; Miss W Fear; Mrs Jenkins on; Miss E Hightower
(Roger, Adam May, Belinda, Violet)
Miss R Whittaker; Mr
E Aneroid; Mr T Challenger; Mr R Medley
(Pauline Branksome, Bill Smithers, Wonky, Rev H Cheery)
Mrs Holgate; Mrs
Cooke; Charles White; Mrs Challenger; Mr G Midgley
(Mrs Wimbleberry, Mrs
Jagger, Simon Bell, Nurse, Norman Lucas)
Undated review by ‘FOOTLIGHT’
Pearls in Pawn by Eleanor Reynolds
Produced by Miss Ridsdale Stage Manager Mr E Hawley Electrician Mr J Burns
“Farrah Street Church Players improve with every performance.”
...”no one interested in amateur stage should miss...a
bright and breezy show, with aa smile in every speech. The fun is clean and the
dialogue witty.”
“...the Players have shown that Yorkshire dialect plays will
‘take’ where other types...would fall
short.”
“Well worth seeing”
Mr G Broadhead; Mrs
Burns; Miss Whittaker; Mrs T Challenger;
Mrs T Jenkinson
(Joshua Jollity, Mrs Makepeace, Mlle Mimi Dupree, Tessa
Winterton)
Mrs F Jenkinson; Mr E
Akeroyd; Miss W Fearn; Mr G jones
(Lucy Jollity, Richard Jollity, Susie, Mr Winterton)
Minor roles by Miss Littlewood, Mrs Holgate, Miss D Tock, Mr
A Burns, Mrs Cooke, Master C White, Mrs Loveland, Miss Dearden
The following reviews
mark a less forma style with the disappearance of titles and almost total use
of first names
Undated review by ‘FOOTLIGHT’
Mint Sauce by Eleanor Reynolds
Friday night. ..a final performance.(ie not Saturday!)
Produced by Miss RH Ridsdale Stage manager Ernest Hawley
Properties Lionel
Holden & John Burns (credit for effects)
... a record audience is anticipated...the show is well in
keeping with the Farrar Streeet tradition”
“..the effect of reality in the desert scenes is heightened
by a generous coating of sand which covers the stage.” “A lively production”
George Broadhead;
Phyllis Jenkinson; Winifrid Fearn
(Elijah Mint, Georgina Mint, Jessica Mint)
Ruth Whittaker; Edith
Loveland; Thomas Challenger; Ernest Akeroyd
(Patricia Lister, Alice Allister, Hon. Jack Heriot, Harvey
Musgrave)
Hilda Foster; Elsie
Lightowler
(Mary Dresden, Janet Dresden)
Edith L Chalenger; Gerald A Jones; Mary Walkham
(Duchess of
Treloar,Colonel Padgett & Lord Mint, Mrs Padgett)
Charles I Moss; Lena
Littleworth; Harry Tindall; Mary Holgate
(Mr Verity/Pullman waiter, Mrs Sugden/Daisy, Murden, Mrs
Croaker)
Bernard Jenkinson;
Eric Priestley; Charles White
(Mr Bartlam, JusufBen Hasan-guide, the porter)
November 23rd 1935 review by ‘FOOTLIGHT’
Gwynn Versus Gwynne by Eleanor
Reynolds
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.’
“...Farrar Street has been referred to by Farrar Street
playgoers as the home of dialect....the cap fits.”
George Broadhead Dan
Tyler
Maud Burns Joanna
Burns
“Perfect foils ..... the ovation they received...indicated
their remarkable popularity”
Mercy Taylor Phyllis
Jenkinson
Aunt Rachel Mary
Holgate
Charles I Moss Richard
Gwynne
Gerald A Jones Squire
Gwynne “...forceful study..”
Ruth Whittaker Mrs
McBlain “..refreshing charactisation...”
Thomas Challenger Vicar
“...a new and attractive angle...” and Mr Bradon
Mary Walkham Mrs
Braddon
Edith L Challenger Sylvia
Edith A Loveland Polly
Ethel Cooke Judith
Lena Littlewood Eva
Plumtirtle
Mary Holgate Miriam
Plumtirtle
Bernard Jenkinson Sanderson
Charles White Terry
Arnold Scholey Stan
Ada Croft Chloe
(a negro servant)
Clive Dale Mountie
Undated review by WS
Intrigue at Harmony Court by Eleanor
Reynolds
Producers Mrs M
Walkham & Mrs L Clare
Scenery and lighting
Messrs. Burns , Pickering and Clayton. (..excellent..)
Two nights of production- Thursday and friday
“..a perfect combination of thrills, mystery and comedy...”
Thomas Challenger;
Mary Ridsdale; Jena White; Winifred Priestley; Ada Croft
(Keith Dudley, Mrs Dudley, Celia, Miss O’Rafferty, Mrs
Odlbody the cook)
Alvin Armitage; Ruth
Armitage; Edith Challenger; Dorothey Armitage; Alvin Armitage
(Broom, Miss Matthews, Winifred Dudley, Banks-a maid, Miles)
Frances Burkinshaw;
Edwin Hartley
(Carol, Station master)
Without dates , it is difficult to place these productions
in the exact order. Apart from grouping together the reviewers WS, CM etc, there
becomes a distinct change in the manner of recording names.
After ‘Pearls in Pawn’
and ‘Mint Sauce’, both reviewed by Footlight, the style becomes less
formal. This is continued in WS’s review of ‘Intrigue at Harmony Court’.
The exception is the continued formal addressing of the
production team.
My guess to the reviewers sequence is GM, Footlight followed
by WS.
Eleanor Reynolds
There is small evidence to the work of this playwright so
loved by the Players and their audiences. Bill Moss remembers his father and
uncle having scripts for some of the playes but they were typewritten and very
unlikely unpublished. Google fails to find her so the lack of published works
seems confirmed.
Google, however,
threw up a result in a memory of
Lilian Birkhead (1896 – 1987) written up in The Paragon (the journal of the
Stocksbridge & District History Society.
Under the heading of Amateur Dramatics, her memoir says, “In
1937, when we had finished with Gilbert and Sullevan operas, we ventured into
amateur dramatics. For several years we did a play by Eleanor Reynolds, whose
homely characters and dialect went down well with players and audiences alike.
The first one, Gwynne versus Gwynne, was
a great success. This was followed by two other Eleanor Reynolds plays, then we
gave a set of three one act plays....also Austin Hyde’s dialect plays.”
The post war years
I am grateful to whoever
typed up the list of productions from 1947 until 1986 and whoever added in ink
the dates and some of the plays.
Here is a transcript of the productions. Please note, not all dates are given but I assume the
chronology is accurate.
Eliza Comes to Stay H
V Edmund Oct
1946
The Wrong Miss Wright
Clash of Wills Eleanor
Reynolds 1947
Moonlight and Magic
The Two Pearls Eleanor
Reynolds
Fiddling Fantasy Eleanor
Reynolds
For the Love of Veronica
When We are Married JB
Priestley
Once a Gentleman
Sarah Ann Holds a Feast
We Took a Cottage
Ma’s Bit of Brass Ronald
Gow
This brings the list up to 1952
The Happiest Days of Your Life John Dighton 1952
The Housemaster Ian
Hay September
1952
The Devil a Saint James
R Gregson November
1952
The Gay Bachelor Armitage
Owen March 1953
Hobson’s Choice Harold
Brighouse November
1953
See How They Run Philip
King March 1954
Here We Come
Gathering Philip
King & Anthony Armstrong May
1954
Too Many Crooks Archie
Douglas November
1954
Maiden Ladies Guy
Paxton & Edward Hoile February
1955
Paper Chain FL
Cary & Ivan Butler October
1955
Out of the Frying Pan Francis Swann 1956
Lights Out at Eleven Armitage
Owen November
1956
Ring Twice Falkland
L Carey 1957
The Love Match * Glenn Melvyn
1957
Love’s a Luxury Guy
Paxton & Edward Hoile 1958
Off the Deep End Dennis
Driscoll 1958
Dry Rot John
Chapman April 1959
Love in a Mist Kenneth
Horne October
1959
The Sixties
A Policeman’s Lot* Christopher
Bond February
1960
Friends and Neighbours * Austin Steele May 1960
Man for the Job Dennis
Driscoll November
1960
Something to Hide Leslie
Sands February
1961
Beside the Seaside Leslie
Sands 1961
All for Mary* Harold
Brooke & Kay Bannerman January
1962
A Sense of Guilt Andrew
Rosenthal*2 March
1962
Basinful of Briny Leslie
Sands May
1962
Pool’s Paradise* Philip
King October
1962
Ride a Cock Horse* W
Barrow March
1963
Crystal Clear* Philip
King & Falkland L Cary May
1963
One of Those Days* K
Richards October
1963
Rock-a-bye Sailor* Philip
King & Falkland L Cary 1964
Cat on the Fiddle John
Dole October
1964
My Flesh, My Blood Bill
Naughton February
1965
The Sound of Murder William
Fairchild January
1966
The Feminine Touch* Wilfred
Massey May 1966
The Holly and the Ivy* Wynyard
Browne 1967
Wild Goose Chase* Derek
Benfield October
1967
Intent to Murder* Leslie
Sands March
1968
Honey Pot* Helen
& Edward V Hoile October
1968
Don’t Listen Ladies P
G Wodehouse November
1969
The Seventies
Love’s a Luxury* Guy
Paxton 1971
Love on the Dole Walter
Greenwood 1971
Champagne for Breakfast* Derek
Benfield May 1972
Not Now Darling* Ray
Cooney & John Chapman 1973
Last play as
Farrar Street Players
Thus Boeing Boeing
became the first as Trinity Players
Boeing Boeing* Marc
Camoletti 1975
Bride and the Bachelor Ronald
Millar 1976
Strike Happy* (2nd performance) Duncan Greenwood 1977
Friends and Neighbours * Austin Steele 1978
Hobson’s Choice* Harold
Brighouse 1979
And the 1980s and onward
When we are Married* JB
Priestley 1980
Book of the Month Basil
Thomas 1981
Spring and Port Wine Bill
Naughton 1982
Love’s a Luxury Guy
Paxton & Edward G Hoile May
1982
Mystery at Greenfingers* J
B Priestley February
1983
Not Now Darling* Ray
Cooney & John Chapman October
1983
Love on the Dole* Ronald
Gow & Walter Greenwood March
1984
Boeing Boeing* Marc
Camoletti October
1984
The Diary of Ann Frank (Reading) November
1984
The Happiest Days of Your Life* John Dighton March
1985
Don’t Listen Ladies* Stephen
Powys & Guy Bolton October
1985
The Vigil Emlyn
Williams December
1985
The Cure for Love* Walter
Greenwood March
1986
Celebration* Willis
Hall 1986
The Ghost Train* Arnold
Ridley 1987
My Three Angels Sam
Spewack 1987
See How They Run Philip
King 1988
Just Between Ourselves * Alan Ayckbourne 1988
All in Good Time* Bill
Naughton 1989
Breath of Spring* Peter
Coke 1989
When We Are Married* J
B Priestley 1990
Cat Among the Pigeons* Duncan
Greenwood 1990
Saturday Night at the Crown* Walter
Greenwood Nov 1990
Two and Two Make Sex* Leslie
Darbon & Richard Harris Mar 1991
Beside the Seaside* Leslie
Sands Nov 1991
Holiday Snap* Michael
Pertwee & John Chapman 1992
Strike Happy* Duncan
Greenwood Nov 1992
Harvey* Mary
Chase Mar 1993
Table Manners* Alan
Ayckbourn 1993
Spring and Port Wine* Bill
Naughton Mar 1994
Love’s a Luxury Bill
Naughton Nov 1994
Love Match Glenn
Melvyn Sep 1994
Celebration* Willis
Hall & Keith Waterhouse Mar 1995
The Devil a Saint* James
R Gregson Nov 1995
The Odd Couple * Neil
Simon Feb 1996
Look Who’s Talking* Derek
Benfield Apr 1996
Time and Time Again* Alan
Ayckbourn Oct 1996
Plaza Suite* Neil
Simon Feb 1997
When We Are Married* J
B Priestley Oct 1997
Love on the Dole* Ronald
Gow & Walter Greenwood Apr 1997
Key for Two* John
Chapman & Dave Freeman Mar 1998
Out of Order* Ray
Cooney Nov 1998
Wedding of the Year* Norman
Robbins Mar 1999
Round and Round the Garden* Alan
Ayckbourne Nov
1999
Happy Birthday* Marc Camoletti Mar 2000
Two Into One* Ray
Cooney Nov 2000
Love on the Dole* Ronald
Gow & Walter Greenwood (lamproom)
Apr2001
Visiting Hour* Richard
Harris Oct 2001
Celebration* Will
Hall& Keith Waterhouse (lamproom)
Mar 2002
Confusions* Alan
Ayckbourn Oct 2002
Outside Edge Richard
Harris
(lamproom) Mar 2003
Cash on Delivery* Ray
Cooney Nov 2003
Take Away the Lady* Jimmie
Chinn Apr 2004
Love’s a Luxury* Guy
Paxton & Edward G Hoile Feb 2005
Sylvia’s Wedding* Jimmie
Chinn June 2005
Who Goes Bare?* Leslie
Darbon & Richard Harris 2005
My Friend Miss Flint* Donald
Churchill & Peter Yeldham 2006
Forever Young* Jack
Slater June 2006
The Collier’s Bride* Jack
Slater Nov 2007
There were 3 one act plays, one of which entered the SADATA
festival
Not Warm – Four Letters Jack
Slater SADATA
Festival 2007
Sofa so Good* Christine
Goodwin 2008
Last Tango in Little Grimley David
Tristram SADATA Festival 2008
2006 Relatively Speaking* Alan Ayckbourn
2007 Mar Billy Liar* Keith Waterhouse
2008 Mar Hobson’s Choice* Harold Brighouse
Nov How the Other Half Loves Alan
Ayckbourn
2009 Mar Celebration Willis Hall & Keith
Waterhouse (lamproom)
Oct Dangerous Corner* J
B Priestley
2010 Apr All Things Bright and Beautiful Wiilis Hall & Keith Waterhouse (lamproom)
Oct Pardon Me Prime Minister* John Graham & Edward Taylor
2011 Strike
Happy* Duncan
Greenwood (lamproom)
Sep Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime* Constance
Cox
2012 Last
Tango In Whitby* Mike
Harding (lamproom)
Look
Who’s Talking* Derek
Benfield
2013 Not
with a Bang * Mike Harding (lamproom)
Side
Effects* Eric
Chappell
2014 Home
is Where your Clothes Are Bob Grant
Best
Served Cold Andrew
Crossland
2015 Whose
Life is it Anyway Brian
Clark
See
How They Run Philip
King
2016 Abigail’s
Party Mike
Leigh
The
Opposite Sex David
Tristram
2017
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
Constance Cox
It
Runs in the family Ray
Cooney
2018 When
We Are Married JB
Priestley
Blood
Brothers Willy
Russell
Comfort
and Joy Mike
Harding
2019 Deathtrap Ira Levin
Someone
Who’ll Watch Over Me Frank
McGuinnness
Murdered
to Death Peter
Gordon
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