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2003 marked the 80th anniversary of the founding of Painswick Players
by Lucy Hyett. Over the years, a legend has grown up
that the spirit of Lucy lives on in the Painswick Centre and that she appears
in the form of a butterfly
to check what we're doing.
On February 1st, everyone was
delighted, therefore, to spot a red admiral fluttering around the Church Rooms,
obviously attracted by Summertime, compiled and
directed by Pauline Foreman. A happy band of readers, including some original
Lucy Hyett Painswick Players, entertained a packed
audience to a sunny afternoon of poetry and prose with a summery theme,
followed by a cream tea. Idyllic...
In May we staged our first major production of the year, Don't dress for dinner by Marc Camoletti. This erotically frenetic, bed hopping, French
farce was directed jointly by Jack Burgess and Lesley Wolowiec and greeted with
roars of laughter by exceptionally appreciative audiences. For once the
over-used term 'hilarious' was completely justified.
more
from Don't Dress for Dinner...
In July, we celebrated eighty years of
drama in Painswick with Living Legends (July
11th),a triumphant sell out/ standing room only event.
Julian Slade - 
writer of 1950s
hit musical Salad Days and original Lucy Hyett
Painswick Player - joined a host of other past and present PPs
in a memorable evening in front of a warmly appreciative audience. Mind you,
they could hardly be anything else with a couple of hundred bodies packed into
the Painswick Centre.
Highlights included the
sparkling Salad Days excerpts (with Richard Murray and Enid Walklett recreating their original 1984 roles), the
explosive Luck be a Lady tonight (with Richard Murray again as Sky
Masterson), the electrifying Lady Macbeth from Lesley Wolowiec, the
choreographed brilliance of Alistair Anderson and his Master & The Maid
silent movie team, the memorably pukka
Georgina Sutton (and her memorably pukka
knees!), the sheer cross-legged desperation of Pauline Foreman’s Ladies seeking
the Ladies in the Lords, the stylish ‘Handbag...!’ scene from Importance
Of Being Earnest (with Pauline Foreman and newcomers John Torr and Sheree Carver), the
evocative and beautifully paced Resting Place from Judy Reed and Derek
Hodges, and the foot-stamping Stepping Out! finale.
Acting
Funny opener… and The
Master And The Maid silent movie sketch
‘A
Handbag… and Salad Days
closing Act I
Luck
Be A Lady Tonight opening Act II… and The Ladies In The Lords
Stepping
Out! Finale … and the curtain call line-up
And if all this were not enough, we had Julian Slade
as well. It was a truly memorable evening.
As Julian said at the end, 'After 80 years, Painswick
Players is still very much alive and kicking!'
Lynne Gibson's '80 years of drama in Painswick'
display for the Town Hall Exhibition
In addition, we participated in
the 750th Painswick Charter Anniversary week exhibition at the Town Hall with a
display of 80 years of drama in Painswick, including some rare archive pictures
of Miss Lucy Hyett in full thespian action. One
unexpected outcome was that it attractted the
attention of the hugely experienced Sally Lewis and inspired her to offer to
direct the deadly mysterious Dead Man’s Hand by Seymour Matthews for our
December produiction (see below).
The 750th Painswick Charter
Anniversary was also celebrated on Saturday, 12th July with a 'Medieaval Victorian Market Day' (!) and we opened
proceedings with a 're-enactment' of the Charter Ceremony by King Henry
August saw Jan Campbell,
who resigned as PP Chairman when she left to live in Oxfordshire with Keith
Young, marry the lovely Keith in the parish
... and yes sir! She can
boogie...!
September's
Finally for 2003,
in December (4th - 6th) we staged Dead Man’s Hand,
a murder mystery by Seymour Matthews about two British couples apparently
invited on holiday to a villa in southern
Painswick Players list of productions 2000 -