'King Arthur: it's panto knight!'

For those of you interested follow some links here:

Who was King Arthur and where was Camelot

History of King Arthur and the Round Table

King Arthur 'Once and Future King'

Pantomime (/ˈpæntəmaɪm/; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is still performed throughout the United Kingdom and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale. It is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers.

"People of Winslow if you missed this one you missed a treat. Many, many, congratulations to ALL cast and the production team. Well done"

"Fantastic show! We loved it"

"Thank you all for a brilliant evening. We really enjoyed it"

2018-2019 Season starts with a bang (or more)

From legends to laughter

We are now in our 51st season and preparations are being made for our forthcoming shows: A Tomb with a View in October. King Arthur: it's Panto Knight! in February 2019 and Out of Focus next May.

Looking forward to hammering the humour with a medley of merriment which, we are sure, will tickle your taste-buds starting with a cracking murder mystery ...

From laughter to legends:

We have had a fantastic 50th Anniversary Season sharing our love of performing with appreciative audiences as we performed Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters, Fran's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: a panto and Peter Skellern's enchanting Trolls.

For more insight into our 50th Season news view our Player's Blog page here

(performed in February 1968)

our first ever production 'Aladdin'

The first full season was in the Public Hall and the production of; three one-act plays, a pantomime ‘Robin Hood and the Babes in the Wood’ and ‘The Linden Tree’. This set the pattern of three productions a year, which has been maintained to the present day.

Over the years we have produced some outstanding and memorable performances, some range from ‘home grown’ plays such as ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ 1995 & 2016 and ‘The Winslow Story’ 2000 & 2008, to premiered amateur performances of shows such as ‘A Chorus of Disapproval’ 1989 and more especially ‘Calendar Girls’ 2012.

For the 2017-2018 season we have had

three brilliant shows

to celebrate 50 Golden Years.

Trolls by Peter Skellern was the last production in our 50th Anniversary Season and an especially enchanting one at that. With a full cast of members, old and new, it celebrated a fantastic season and drives us all forward to the next 50 years.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: a panto

(Feb 2018)

The New Year 2018 brought our much loved family pantomime – based on the book written and directed by Fran Mortimer which was lovingly portrayed, dutifully performed and warmly recieved.

Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters October 2017

Terry Pratchett takes Shakespeare's Macbeth and then turns it up untill the knob comes off. It's all there - a wicked duke and duchess, the ghost of the murdered king, dim soldiers, strolling players, a land in peril; and who stands between the Kingdom and destruction? Three witches: Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick. 

For further information on

Terry Pratchett and his Discworld Novels

visit the website

Some back-stge pictures:

Our Spring Production - May 2017

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild Dramatic Society Murder Mystery

by David McGillivray, Walter Zerlin Jr.

It was a brilliant night! Well done to all involved!

You were all fantastic, well done!

A good evenings entertainment! Well done everyone!

Just some of our audience reactions to our superbly produced 'Farndale' which was thoroughly enjoyed by all involved. We are so lucky to have such talented members both on stage and behind the scenes - without whom it would all come crashing down. (oops, I think it did!)

We are so energised for our forthcoming season - it is going to be a terrific year! The plays that the committee have chosen are brilliant - hoping to involve as many of the Society as possible - and looking into the Players' archives of the last 50 years will be such a treat!

Looking forward to the next 50!

Our annual pantomime 2016-2017 season was:-

Dick Whittington (and his cat)

Unlike many pantomimes the story behind Dick Whittington has some bases of truth as there was a Richard Whittington who became Lord Mayor of London, not just three but, four times.

He didn't, however, come from poor beginnings - he was just the 3rd son of a local landowner who, unlikely to inherit property, made his way to London to gain his fortune.

Thus he did becoming a successful Mercer, dealing in valuable cloths, he traded with the Court of Richard II, gained favour of the Crown even lending the new king Henry IV great sums of money and was appointed Alderman, Sheriff and eventually Mayor of London. In his lifetime he financed a number of public projects and on his death bequeathed his fortune to form the Sir Richard Whittington charity which still helps people to this day.

Richard married Alice in 1402 the daughter of Sir Ivo FitzWaryn, a landowner from the south-west, but she died in 1411 childless. However, as in all good pantomimes, the hero (and his cat) marries the girl and lives happily ever after!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/myths_legends/england/london/article_3.shtml'

http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1386-1421/member/whittington-richard-1423

https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/victorian-pantomime

http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/p/pantomime/

Ever thought about acting?

Able to spare a few evenings a week?

New to the area and keen to meet like-minded people?

The Winslow Players always looking for new members (especially of the male kind) so if you think you or someone you know would be interested in joining us, please use the Contact Us page which will connect you with our Chair or the Director for more information.

All of the poppies that made up the installation were sold, raising millions of pounds which were shared equally amongst six service charities. We are now seeking a new home for our poppy (which we purchased to coincide with our commemorative production of 'Oh What a Lovely War' in October 2014) formally on display at Jennie Wren's Tearooms, Market Square, Winslow

Murder at Quay Cottage

by Simon Amberley and by arrangement with Josef Weinberger Ltd

Directed by Paul Ketteridge

The start of our 2016-2017 season in October saw the return of a previous member to direct a little known play but with mysterious appeal about the untoward happenings at an East Anglian holiday retreat ... very well received with many of the audience left shocked at whodunit! 

The war brought many changes to Winslow, with the young lads going into the forces and the influx of strangers; RAF personnel, Land Army girls and evacuees transforming the nature of every-day life here. The devastation caused when a Wellington bomber on its way back to Horwood aerodrome crashed across the High Street into the Chandos Arms, finally landing on Rose Cottages (which stood where the British Legion Hall stands today) with much loss of life, was a great shock to everyone. The play also included projected images and songs of the period with a chance for some audience participation. 

Beauty and the Beast

(February 2016)

Hope you managed to see our latest pantomime. You may have seen a beautiful Beauty, a fantastic Beast, two popular poodles and stunning sets but did you spot our new lighting system or our newest director long-term member Andrew? Wow what a treat! It was all topped off brilliantly with modern music, that all the kids sang and clapped to, a stunning sound system, gorgeous costumes, hilarious comedy and fabulous singing. Well done everyone. Judging by the audience response it was another successful production!

More photos in Gallery

IF YOU LOVE LIVE THEATRE ...

We love what we do and we hope you enjoy coming to see what we love to do! However, many amateur dramatic societies struggle to get huge audiences these days as we compete in this modern world with round-the-clock TV channels, on-line entertainment, catch-up TV and professional theatre at Milton Keynes, Oxford or Aylesbury. Therefore we have taken the initiative and collaborated with local am-dram groups to help raise awareness of amateur dramatic theatre that is just around your corner and hope that this way you have even more choice to enjoy live theatre ! Please visit our Local Am-Dram Groups page to see what else is going on in the surrounding area!

'Luvvies with wobbly sets? Oh no they're not! Raising the curtain on the new am-dram.'  

The Enquiry (October 2015)

Kate Walmer, in prison for killing her child, is driven to attempt suicide after being viciously attacked. The subsequent enquiry uncovers surprising answers.

Our autumn production in October was a stark contrast not only to our spring production but also to the attitudes and morals of today as it was set in a women's prison in the 1960's. It was a tense hard-hitting play, with some distressing moments, that had the audience on the edge of their seats.

** some of our audience reactions **

In The Art of Coarse Acting, on which the plays are based, I give several definitions of a Coarse Actor. The original was 'one who could remember the lines but not the order in which they come', but there is more to it than just incompetence. Coarse Acting covers every kind of misplaced performance from people who do imitations of Laurence Olivier to frightened players in their first part. Some are accident-prone while many have a compulsion to overdo it. But one feature common to all is that they think every performance was a success. 'Believe me, old chap, the audience never noticed anything wrong'! - By Michael Green.

'Amateur theatre should be celebrated, not derided.' 

PUNCH AND JUDY (February 2015)

1. Pantomime (informally panto), is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is generally performed during the Christmas and New Year season.

The Winslow Players may have fooled some people in thinking that our recent pantomime 'Punch and Judy' was a puppet show but those that came saw there was nothing wooden about any of the performances! All our audiences were very responsive and enjoyed the traditional joining-in of 'booing' and 'cheering' and 'animated singing' so much that everyone went home delighted they had seen a brilliant pantomime once again.

A big well done to all those involved on stage and behind the scenes. You cannot beat live theatre and when it is so close to home, performed by a dedicated bunch of volunteers who give up their time and talent to bring us such wonderful performances, well, there is no need to go anywhere else!

WINSLOW COMMUNITY BUS

For anyone wishing to come along to see Beauty and the Beast but don't want to drive late at night the Winslow Community Bus may run a service for the panto (except for the matinée performance). So please make enquiries.

Call Sue on 01296 715786 for more details and to book.

SLEEPING BEAUTY (February 2014)

Fran made a beautiful Aurora - as did her elder self, Vicky - with her adorable parents Basil and ‘Bewyl’ , her trusty friend Victor and her dashing Prince Valiant. Not forgetting the feather-like fairies who performed a delicate dance of dainty drama and, talking of Feathers, well, what a ‘coo’ to have Rachel in the cast - she gave us such a laugh in rehearsals and was splendid on stage!

The Rainbows, Brownies and Scouts enjoyed the performance along with many others - ticket sales were up by nearly 16% on last year - but one little lad nearly went home after being thoroughly frightened by that scary fairy Zelda Blackadder. However, it must be said that her alta ego, Jen, did manage to ‘cast a spell on him’ so that he and his family were much happier and were able to stay and watch the rest of the panto. But as for that slimy toad Spaldrick …..

THE POLICE SCHOOLS PROJECT

at Newton Longville School

Rapturously Received

The Winslow Players were approached by PCSO Wendy Taylor to take part in the Police Schools Project. We were asked to act as witnesses to various crimes and offences that were to be reported to the school’s ‘Police Station’. Following the scenario of a robbery at the local airport’s jewellery shop we were each given a summary of our knowledge about the event and then interviewed by a group of children, with a police officer on hand, and our statements taken. While some children were investigating this ‘robbery’ others were manning the ‘front desk’ and had to deal with us in various guises pretending to report missing handbags, lost dogs, car-alarms going off, or, to ask about protection from cyber-crime, tractor theft, or your violent neighbour! It was quite a challenge, fantastic to see the children work together and, all in all, jolly good fun!

During Peggy’s questioning when she was caught speeding one young lad told her “you shouldn’t speed you know, you might kill a fox or a badger” - not a child then !

Some children have sent us ‘thank you’ letters and the Police and the School, themselves, have not been able to thank us enough.