Theatre at its best!  Farces & comedy, popular modern & traditional plays, entertainment & revues ... plus social events all year-round!

            

See our productions!  Join our friendly society!

 

Here we are at the end of my third year as Chairman of Cosmopolitan Players – a year full of positive progress within the Society but a year tinged with sadness. Earlier this year we lost our dear friend and colleague, Mary Martin. Mary has worked tirelessly for Cos for many years and was an invaluable support to me as Chairman. But she was more than that  – she was a friend who always had a twinkle in her eye and a smile on her face. She will be sadly missed by us all.

Cos have again staged 3 productions this year providing a balanced programme of plays that have proved equally popular with the public, the Guild and the Society.

 

Our season opened with the stage adaptation of the classic film “Arsenic and Old Lace”, which marked the return of Colin Martin as Director. This was a play with a large cast, with lots of men – always a problem. The cast featured some of our more experienced actors along with a fair few newcomers who have stuck with the Society during the year. The audiences were good and the play made a small profit. Our thanks go to Colin Martin and all involved in the production. The play was nominated as Best Play in the Leeds Civic Arts Guild awards, and 2 of the cast – Daniel Van Garret and Bryan Craven – were also nominated for their performances.

 

In February we moved to Upstairs for what has become our annual John Godber production – this time “Gym & Tonic”. This marked the debut of Lara Woodhouse as Director and Tina Nutt as Stage Manager – a formidable partnership. We won’t mention laptops !!! This was a difficult time for the Society because of Mary’s illness but the company rallied together to provide a wonderful play, full of comedy and tears. As in previous years, all performances were sold out and another profit was made. And again, 2 of the cast – Bernard Wilson and Judith Unwin – were nominated for their performances.

 

Our final production this year was another stage adaptation – this time a little more adventurous – “The Graduate”, directed by Bryan Craven. This was a challenging play that stretched the director and the cast. I believe we succeeded in delivering a quality production that will be remembered for more reasons than the full frontal nudity. And yet again, 2 of the cast were nominated for their performances – Matthew Tempest and Sal Fulcher. And Caroline’s poster was nominated for Best Poster. And we made a profit.

 

We have also continued to run drama workshops, under the auspices of Steve Morrell, with great success. In fact many of our now regular performers have come through those workshops in previous years. A recent introduction has been an evening of play reading and this is something we intend to build on over the coming year.

 

Some of our regular events – Green Room evenings, the BBQ – haven’t been well attended this year, for whatever reasons. We are always interested in hearing your ideas – please let us know.

 

I would like to thank Steve Morrell for his continued support by not only providing a first class Newsletter but maintaining the Cos website – both of which are essential to the communication needs of a modern Society.

I would also like to thank the members of the Committee who have supported me during the year – in particular our Treasurer, Pearl Baxter, who has kept our finances going during her own difficult times. A big thanks also to Eileen Pattison for all her work on the Cos committee over the years – she has taken a break to look after her husband.

 

Now we need to look forward. Our first play of the year is in rehearsal and we have plans beyond that stretching well into 2010. The Society continues to grow in stature and as seen by the number of nominations in the Guild awards, is starting to challenge the “Big 2” drama groups. We have proved that by providing plays that people actually want to see, that you can still make a profit in these cash-strapped times. And we can still have fun along the way !!   

   

 

Contact: Bryan Craven   20 Church Gate, Gildersome, Leeds LS27 7HA

 Tel: 0113 2522514            E-mail: cosplayers@ntlworld