The Chellaston Players and Women’s Institute: Organisation committed to helping others

Jump to: navigation, search

We take a look at two of Chellaston’s leading organisations, the Women’s Institute and theatre company the Chellaston Players.

THE Players were formed in 1975 when a local woman, Edna Ford, advertised in the village – which Chellaston then was – for like-minded people to start a drama group, write Mick Gaunt.

Eight people responded and a meeting was held at Edna’s house to discuss the possibility of producing a play. They had no money, no props or scenery and not a lot of experience.

These founder members were Bill and Janet Ramsbottom, Mike and Anita Fairey, Mike Murray, Sue Hicklin, Dorothy Blundy and April Wilde.

A decision was taken to attempt to produce a play and a grand total of £9 was collected (£1 per head) for general expenses.

Edna’s husband, Frank, kindly offered to lend the money for any royalties and for script copies.

One of the first major decisions was choosing a name for the group. Chellaston Amateur Dramatic Society (CADS) was discarded and, in spite of Frank saying Chellaston Players sounded like a football team, it was selected and has remained the name ever since.

Rehearsals were held in Edna’s living room and she directed the first production, Beside the Seaside, which was performed for three nights at St Peter’s Church Hall in 1976.

Bill Ramsbottom recalls collecting scenery borrowed from Melbourne Gilbert and Sullivan Group in a borrowed van and being very concerned for the church hall stage, as “the scenery appeared to be full of woodworm and had definitely seen better days!”

Left over paint in garages and garden sheds, when all mixed together, produced a mucky beige colour for the seedy boarding house look.

Perhaps more out of curiosity than a real love of theatre, about 300 people came to see this first production and the end result, after returning Frank’s loan, was a profit of £34.

The Players were in business.

Following the success of Beside the Seaside, the company was formally established with Bill as chairman and Edna as secretary.

The second play The Enquiry followed later in the same year and new members, Mike Wadkinson and Peter Waters, among others, were welcomed into the group.

Both are still active members to this day.

Peter, who is from Ireland, was especially pleased to read a review in a local paper which commented: “Peter Waters maintained a well modulated Irish accent throughout.”

Recently, after a long absence, Bill was welcomed back to take parts in The Railway Children and Fly me to the Moon.

In those days, the Players produced two and then three plays a year – a demanding exercise for a young and very small company.

They were not able to boast many full houses.

Indeed, there were times when the cast and crew outnumbered the audience and the treasurer’s hand trembled with anxiety as he added up income against expenditure.

But through the immense energy and drive of the original members, the Players continued to grow in strength, talents and ambition and, in 1980, only five years later, felt confident enough to take a serious drama Rattle of a Simple Man into the Playhouse Studio Theatre.

It had a small cast and was well received by all who watched it.

It was probably at the studio that many of the company had their first experience in what the Players call real theatre, working with proper stage lighting, dressing rooms and in a professional environment.

The second play at the studio was the world amateur premier of The Old Country.

Author Alan Bennett kindly wrote and wished the Players well adding that “if there were any problems they will probably be my fault!”

The Players stayed at the Playhouse for nine years while also continuing to perform at Chellaston, their home base, where they have built up a loyal and faithful band of supporters.

Finances were always a problem and, on one occasion, the committee decided that, should the play not make a profit, if they all chipped in £50 it would just pay royalties and the Playhouse invoice.

By the 1980s, the Players wanted to produce a pantomime but the size of the group was not adequate for the scale of the task.

They simply did not have enough members to take on stage management, crew and front of house roles.

In 1986, they recognised an opportunity when Chellaston Community Association launched a major fund-raising effort to meet a tight city council target to fund the building of a community centre.

The aim was to raise a total of £20,000 by April 1987. The target was set in the summer of 1986 when the CCA had just over £7,000 in the bank.

So, they had less than a year to raise almost £13,000. The Players approached the CCA with a proposal that they would cast, direct and present a pantomime at Christmas 1987, if the CCA would provide stage crew and front of house staff. All profits would then go towards the community centre fund.

The result was a hectic few months of preparation, leading up to the first ever Chellaston Players pantomime, a production of Aladdin in December 1987, which had been written by Mick Gaunt.

This was the one and only year when the pantomime has been presented before Christmas.

Production costs were kept to a bare minimum, to reduce the financial risk and maximise potential profit.

The design of the set for the inside of Aladdin’s cave had to present to the audience a magical appearance, sparkly and full of jewels.

Ultra violet lighting was the obvious answer, but the problem was, what was to be lit up?

Although it is possible to buy special paint that reacts to UV light, this is expensive, so the Players decided that other, cheaper, material would be very effective.

They used Daz soap powder, scattered over glue, spread randomly – but artistically! – on hardboard “rocks”. The result was startling.

The curtains opened onto this scene with no-one on stage and drew instant applause from one audience for the effect alone.

Pyrotechnics were also done very cheaply, but these days it would be best not to go into detail!

The whole production was tremendously exciting for those involved, to the extent that some of the CCA people became so disorientated that they came back for more, and more, and more.

Several are still members of the Players to this day, 18 years on.

The profit was just over £1,300 and this was a significant contribution towards the success of the CCA fund-raising. The target was met during April 1988, just in time.

Because of this success, Derby City Council doubled its promised contribution to the community centre fund.

The Players continued to assist with donations from pantomimes and plays during the course of the next few years.

We obviously cannot know what the result would have been if the target had not been met, but it’s entirely possible that the community centre would not have become reality without the pantomime contribution.

Pantomime was the answer to the Players’ financial problems as they always get good houses.

Following Aladdin in 1986, Mick Gaunt continued to write an annual pantomime and, in 1991/2 a re-written version of Aladdin was performed at Derby’s Guildhall Theatre, a venue they continue to use annually.

Of particular pleasure for the group is the fact that so many of the youth of Chellaston and Derby have been involved, either as dancers or villagers, in these productions and, in 2000, at Peter Waters’ suggestion Chellaston Youth Players were formed.

This exciting group of youngsters, all aged under 18, has now presented six full-length musicals at the Guildhall, all well appreciated by the Derby audiences.

A lot of people are probably not aware of the Derby Amateur Theatre Awards “The Eagles”.

These are presented annually, in various categories, by a panel of judges who have attended participating shows.

Chellaston Players have been very successful in these awards, having received numerous nominations and six winners: Matt Sharratt, Dawn Slater, Sam Talbot (twice), Joy Smith and Jack Pook.

In 2002, the Players returned to the Playhouse Studio with a production of Alan Ayckbourn’s Woman in Mind, which was also performed at Chellaston.

Bouncers, Fly Me to the Moon and Men of the World, all by John Godber, and all presented at the Studio and Chellaston, followed. This does not imply they are becoming a John Godber-fixated society – it was simply that these funny, but challenging, plays became available for amateur production at a suitable time.

Younger members are becoming more prominent. The 2005 pantomime Aladdin (again!) was written and directed by Matt Sharratt.

The 2006 pantomime was Jack and the Beanstalk, this time a purchased script, and Katie Kalis successfully directed with great enthusiasm. Mick Gaunt has come out of retirement to offer Mother Goose for January 2007, revamped and re-written from his 1996 version, which he will direct.

Unfortunately, there is nothing else scheduled. A slot in the studio this autumn was withdrawn due to the planned refurbishment of the Playhouse and an alternative venue and suitable play has yet to be chosen.

Chellaston Players have presented 75 productions since their first in 1976.

Pages linking here