Attleborough Players

The Attleborough Players must be really pleased with their latest performance. Playing to packed audiences, the final evening saw standing room only. I don't quite know how Derek Tomlinson manages but he always gets it so right. Babes in the Wood was full of of throw away jokes and one liners that made you cry with laughter. The casting was great, especially the parts of Billy and Boris Bludgeon, played by Peter Long and Andrew Woodrow. They worked so well together.

Juggins, the sheriff's not-so-bright lacky, played by Isla Butcher, endeared herself to the crowd and as for type casting who else could possibly play the nasty Baron Fitz-Badly other than Graham Smith?

With colourful costumes and elaborate scenery, this is one for the photo album.

Producer/director Debbie Thatcher did a fantastic job in her first time in charge so let's hope we see her some more. Keep up the good work Players. If you can do work like this all the time there would be no need for TV!

Look out for the Players' Cabaret Night in aid of Connaught Hall on Saturday, March 29 and the Who Wants to be a Millionaire fundraiser for the Players in April. The next production will be the stage version of the TV series Allo, Allo on July 5th, 10th, 11th and 12th.

Courtesy of Attleborough & Wymondham Mercury (Article by Karen Pettit)

So, Fright Night was gonna be my first theatre experience for about 10 years. I wasn't expecting much and was concerned about the rumours of a transvestite.

The show was actually brilliant! The sketches were funny and really well put together. I liked the music that was chosen (especially the Donnie Darko theme) and the singing was quality.

All the actors did themselves justice and I was genuinely absorbed by it! Congratulations, it was excellent.

Ben Norris (Audience review)

Treasure Island unearths some gems. Saturday night has arrived and I'm off to see another performance by the Attleborough Players.

Just any old pantomime - or so I thought. But it turned out that Treasure Island was the best show that the Players have performed so far. Producer/Director Isla Butcher did a fantastic job and the costumes and make up where superb - especially Long John Tin Foil - played by Peter Long, who could have been mistaken for Johnny Depp's character Captain Jack Sparrow in the Hollywood blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean.

Derek Tomlinson was in full off-the-wall mode with plenty of tongue-in-cheek, lots of old favourites and up to the minute jokes and throwaway lines. It was nice to see so many young members taking part in the show which was the first production for many of them.

Not surprisingly, Graham Smith, played the dame clothed in some very colourful costumes. It was obvious that a lot of hard work had gone into this production. There were too many people to mention by name but a great team effort shone through.

All that is left for me to say is "I'm Benn Gunn, I am!"

Don't miss the next production which is the carnival show in June. I won't be ... Well done Players - keep up the good work!

Courtesy of Attleborough & Wymondham Mercury (Article by Karen Pettit)

Funny trilogy a lesson in co-operation. Three plays in one night ... well what can I say except well done to Attleborough Players and Old Buckenham Players. This was the first time the two amateur dramatic groups have collaborated with a production - and what a great job they all did.

The first play, The Patient, directed by Terry Ward, was a whodunnit with the audience kept guessing right until the end.

Cold Salmon, the second play, was directed by Lisa Chenery and was set in a neglected graveyard on a summer's day. It was a hilarious comedy with some great characters and an unusual ending.

Finally, The Last Bread Pudding, directed by CJ West, saw some very funny one-liners set around an amateur dramatic group meeting in the village hall to discuss their next production.

Old Buckenham Players chairman Laurence Barnett said he was very pleased with how everything had come together. "We are not used to such a large venue and the sound and lighting the Attleborough Players have is second to none" he said. "Our next performance will be our pantomime, Dick Turpin, on January 18, 19 and 20, with tickets on sale from Old Buckenham Post Office".

Graham Smith of Attleborough Players said he was very proud of how things went and was looking forward to the Players' next work which is the pantomime Treasure Island on January 20th, 25th, 26th and 27th. Tickets go on sale soon from AW Myhill and the Flower Box.

Courtesy of Attleborough & Wymondham Mercury (Article by Karen Pettit)

Beastly show was a beaut! The Players' rendition of this classic pantomime was a great success. Every night, they played to a packed audience, and deservedly so.

The Players' rendition of this classic pantomime was a great success. Every night, they played to a packed audience, and deservedly so. Ryan Blackburn, who played the part of the Beast, was simply great. His make-up was applied by Ann Tomlinson, and his hair - his own, not a wig - was lovingly back-combed and styled by Helen Goward. Ryan is leaving in September to go to University. He will be sorely missed by the Players.

Witch Spiteful, played by Isla Butcher and Dyson (Peter Long), were both great characters and really brought the house down with some clever lines written by Derek Tomlinson.

Derek included all the usual slapstick and mayhem you would expect of a pantomime but was also up to the minute with some topical jokes.

I don't know quite how Caroline Wood, who is just 15 years old was choreographer, managed to get Thunderbolt the horse to learn his dance steps, but he did and was in time with the music.

Teething problems that the Players had suffered in earlier performances with the sound and lighting had gone by the time I saw the show, and both Pete Thatcher and Keith Waite did a wonderful job with sound and lighting effects.

Early in the second half, Graham Smith, chairman of the Players, asked any children who wanted to join in to go on stage. As he spoke to all the children in turn, he reached seven-year-old Joel Meredith. The question was: "I think this must be the closest you have been to a big superstar before?" Joel's reply: "No because you are not one!" I am sure the Players will find room for Joel if he wants to join - he's obviously a natural!

An excellent performance. I can't wait for the next production.

Courtesy of Attleborough & Wymondham Mercury (Article by Karen Pettit)

The past few years have seen an influx of musical compilation shows - a collection of hits woven loosely into a story. The past few years have seen an influx of musical compilation shows - a collection of hits woven loosely into a story.

Derek Tomlinson's Show Nights followed a similar pattern, except that the story itself - of a group of drama students paying their way through college by working in a garage - hung together more strongly than most.

Tomlinson appeared himself as Sir Charles Barrington, who with his wife Laud Maud (Helen Goward) had spent a lifetime treading the boards before investing in his profession's future by opening the stage school. However, it's continuance is threatened by his imminent retirement because his accountant son Alex (Peter Long), tired of coming a poor second to his parent's careers, believes it would make more financial sense to realise his asset by selling up. At least, that is, until he falls for budding actress Clare (Isla Butcher) during a visit to the garage.

Amid all this there are sub-plots about tyrannical bosses, unrequited love and a runaway toff who wants a career on the stage rather than the silver spoon lifestyle her parents had in mind.

The musical numbers come from stage and screen over the past 60 years, from Singin' in the Rain and Anything You Can Do to Car Wash and Rocky Horror's Timewarp.

First time producer / director / choreographer Katey Ward extracted some good performances from a perdominantly young cast on a great garage set which even featured a real car and a working car wash.

Best voice of the night was owned by Isla Butcher, totably in Secret Love and On My Own, from Les Miserables, while Peter Long played Alex with a Jack Dee-like world weariness.

There was strong support from Graham Smith as the garage owner - who dons fishnets for the Rocky Horror number - and Clare's fellow students Dannie (Rachel Carroll), Lola (Victoria Chamberlain) and Julie (the ever-smiling Caroline Wood).

The first night performace lacked some pace and pizzazz, not helped by a few sound and music glitches and the rest of the company could do well to learn from young Caroline's visible sparkle and enthusiasm. But this was an ensemble piece in which the producer managed to keep her cast moving throughout with some well-choreographed dance numbers and made the most of the drama in the story.

Courtesy of Attleborough & Wymondham Mercury (Article by John Lawson)