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Beside
the Seaside by LESLIE SANDS Produced by JIM LESLIE Performed in September 1965 |
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"The inaugural meeting of the Valley Players was in March 1965 and the first nerve-wracking play went on in September. I was crafty enough to grab the date to coincide with the opening of the Community Centre. The hall was packed! OK, so most people came to have a look at their new Centre–nevertheless we took pride in the fact that most of them became regulars." Thus Jim Leslie, founder of the Valley Players and its first producer, remembers the group's beginnings. The play chosen was a broad Northern comedy set in a seaside boarding house, complete with a domineering landlady, a naive honeymoon couple, and a collection of other misfits. Beside the Seaside ran for two performances and the reviewer E. Reavley, writing in the Blyth News, said: "All in all, a very encouraging debut by the only independent dramatic group in the Valley. The acting was excellent throughout, even though several in the cast had no previous experience." The Valley Players had made their mark!
CAST Mrs Austin PEGGY PARKER ▪ Pat Marlow KATHY HINDMARSH Florrie BETTY TAYLOR ▪ Tony Brett DAVE HINDMARSH Ethel Pearson RENE BELL ▪ Wilf Pearson JIMMIE WOOLLEN Sally WENDY JOHNSON ▪ Mr Pepper DAVID JOHNSON Mrs Pepper JEAN JOHNSON PRODUCTION TEAM Stage Manager JOHN BELL Front of House MENA DIXON Scenic Artist PAULINE BALDWIN |
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