Painswick Players
The First 85 years…
1923 -
1961: Painswick Players
1962 - 1982: Country Players
2000: Return of Painswick Players
Lucy Hyett
Painswick Players was born in the first quarter of the last
century. In 1923, Miss Lucy Hyett
produced As You Like It on the
bowling green in her back garden (see
right), the idyllic grounds of Painswick House,
now part of the Rococo Garden.
For the next
38 years, this truly formidable lady was responsible - virtually
single-handedly - for 56 separate productions, involving some 93 plays,
including a dozen Shakespeares.
One obvious
mark of a Lucy Hyett production right from the
beginning was the sheer scale. The cast of the 1926 production of Henry IV must almost have outnumbered the audience!
1926: Shakespeare's
Henry IV: a cast of thousands...
... including Falstaff and his merry band
Another was
attention to detail, particularly with regard to costume, as the following
designs for the 1930 production of King John show.
King John costume
designs and...
Pictures of the
performance of King John at Painswick House
The routine
was quickly established for a summer production at Painswick
House and a late autumn/Christmas (or sometimes spring) production in 'The
Institute' (now The Painswick Centre).
The cast of the
1933 Christmas production, The Dragon, at The Institute
Many of the
productions, particularly at The Institute, were evenings of one act plays. The
following press cutting for a 1935 evening of One Acts is typical: you
certainly got value for money back then!
Particularly
in the early days, Lucy Hyett frequently took acting
parts herself, usually minor roles. However, in 1935, with typical courage -
not to mention bravado - she produced Macbeth, with herself in the part of Lady Macbeth.
1935: The
sleepwalking scene from Macbeth at Painswick House
with Lady Macbeth played by Lucy Hyett
Some idea of
the impact of the performance can be drawn from this startling water colour impression painted by a local artist after the
event.
Scary,
or what?
By the end of
the 1930s, the tone was becoming less serious with comedies like the 1939
production, Eldorado
by Bernard Gilbert, which tells of the passionate struggle to possess... a
potato!
1939: Eldorado
by Bernard Gilbert, with Mr H Waring,
Mrs Rose Tranter, Ms D
Browning and Mr Charles Sysum
(who was the Painswick House head gardener at the
time)
In the
turbulence of the war years, Painswick Players still
managed to produce a regular programme of One Acters and excerpts and a younger generation of Painswick Players emerged. These included Julian Slade who
was later to achieve fame and fortune as the writer of Salad Days and other hit musical revues of the 1950s.
1945: The Prince Who Was A Piper (Painswick House);
1950: The Rivals (The Institute)with
Julian Slade, far right
1951: A Midsummer Night's Dream, with Julian Slade and Diana Barclay...
... as well as
some 'Rude Mechanicals'
A hint of Miss
Hyett's consummate professionalism can be gathered
from the following excerpt of a Stroud
News & Journal review of J M Barrie's Dear Brutus in 1952:
'Throughout there were evidences of Miss Lucy Hyett's
experience... The casting was admirable, the production flawless, no prompting,
swift and quiet scene changes and throughout an air of confidence.'
1952: J M
Barrie's Dear Brutus and Shakespeare's The Tempest
Her last
production was the 1961 Christmas show, The
Holly and the Ivy. During rehearsals, she was heard to exclaim, 'This play
will be the death of me...' As ever, she was right. She died early in January
1962.
Lucy Hyett
1879 - 1962
There is a commemorative plaque beside the stage in The Painswick Centre. Over the years, a legend has grown up
that the spirit of Miss Lucy continues to keep an eye on things in the form a butterfly, sometimes to be seen
fluttering around during rehearsals.
Painswick Players list of productions 1923 - 1961
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