Rainhill Village Hall Archives

When We Are Married – Rainhill Village Hall

18Oct

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

When We Are Married – Rainhill Village Hall

Director Rosetta Parker’s superb revival of JB Priestley’s hilarious 1938 play takes full advantage of the wealth of talent Rainhill Garrick Society has to offer and even with a cast of fourteen, there was still plenty of talent remaining both back and front of house to deliver this thoroughly enjoyable evening. Set entirely in the sitting room of Mr and Mrs Helliman (Rick Young; Tracey Duffy), it is 1920 and they are entertaining two other couples – Mr and Mrs Soppitt (David Parker; Lynn Aconley) and Mr and Mrs Parker (George Lowe; Alison Mawdsley) - as they celebrate the silver anniversary of their triple wedding. They have got it in for Gerald Forbes (Tom Nevitt), the church organist, who has been seen out with a girl at night, something very shocking for that day and age. What they ...

Sunshine on Leith – Rainhill Village Hall

21Jun

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Sunshine on Leith – Rainhill Village Hall

If the question was, do you want to make this work, then director Claire Heaton, a late step-in to get this production on the stage, has delivered a resounding yes with this enjoyable, foot-tapping, and emotional extravaganza featuring songs from The Proclaimers and celebrating all things Scottish – well, England did only manage a draw tonight in the Euros! Recently discharged from the army, Davy (Bryan Dargie) and Alistair (Simon Burgess) return to their families and homes in Edinburgh. Alistair is going out with Davy’s sister, Liz (Charlotte Payne), a nurse, and on the first night back, she sets her brother up on a blind date with one of her colleagues, Yvonne (Dawn Louise). Against this backdrop of youthful love, Davy and Liz’s parents, Rab (Paul Henshaw) and Jean (Julie Gould) are a...

And Then There Were None – Rainhill Village Hall

17May

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

And Then There Were None – Rainhill Village Hall

Agatha Christie’s most popular novel from 1939 – and apparently the bestselling crime novel of all time – is a quintessentially English affair with almost as many copies of it in circulation as The Bible and in too many languages to count. The perfect vehicle for the array of talent that makes up Rainhill Garrick Society, and with the action all taking place in the living room of a house on an island off the coast of Devon, it had the added benefit of the real sound effects from a stormy windblown night outside to add to the suspense on stage. Two servants, Rogers (Rob Williams) and Mrs Rogers (Ruth Proffitt) and eight strangers – secretary Vera Claythorne (Sophie Brogan); adventurer Philip Lombard (Richard Parker); lady-about-town Antonia Marston (Alison Mawdsley); retired police inspe...

16Feb

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Sheila’s Island – Rainhill Village Hall

It’s Bonfire night and Sheila (Rosetta Parker), Denise (Jo Webster), Julie (Sophie Brogan), and Fay (Lynn Aconley) are Team C in Pennine Mineral Water Ltd.’s annual outward-bound team-building weekend. Somehow, Sheila has been nominated team leader, and, using her cryptic crossword solving skills, has unwittingly stranded her team on an island in the Lake District. Our intrepid heroines find themselves manufacturing weapons from bras and spatulas and create a rescue flag with plastic plates and a toasting fork. Questions are asked; truths are told; dirty washing is aired: is it possible to build an adequate night shelter with a prom dress? What is Julie’s husband really up to in Aldi? And why are they on this team building exercise when they could be at a spa? The only one with al...

19Jan

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Snow White – Rainhill Village Hall

Director Karen Woods has kept the spirit of the season alive – oh yes she has! – as Rainhill Musical Theatre company sing us into the New Year with their take on this famous fairy tale to a live musical accompaniment led by Musical Director Wayne Oakes. The kind and beautiful Snow White (Michelle Williams) lives happily in the village of Applebury with Muddles (David Stevens) and his mother, the Dame (Dru Fitzgerald), and other villagers (Fiona O’Gorman; Ryan Greenall; Emily Boycott). Her wicked stepmother, the evil Queen (Sarsh Johnson) is jealous of her beauty and with the assistance of Helga the Hag (Claire Heaton) decides to do away with her. Can fairy Riff (Megan Charlton) and Mirror (Dianne Glover) stop her in her tracks? Will the miners (Ruth Gibb; Annie Topping; Liam Fitzgerald;...

Snow White the Panto – Rainhill Musical Theatre Company at Rainhill Village Hall

9Jan

By NewsdeskNo Comments

NEWS

Snow White the Panto – Rainhill Musical Theatre Company at Rainhill Village Hall

Has the panto season finished? Oh no it hasn’t! And Rainhill Musical Theatre Company are about to prove that very point as they whisk us off to the village of Applebury where the kind and beautiful young Snow White has become the target of her wicked stepmother, the evil Queen Venefica III. But with the help of a charming prince and a host of quirky characters, Snow White is about to embark on a journey of self-discovery to find the true meaning of friendship and love. With their usual slapstick comedy and toe-tapping musical numbers, Rainhill Musical Theatre Company’s panto extravaganza promises to bring laughter and cheer and a whole lot of audience participation on this side-splitting journey full of surprises, gags, and the magic of panto where the stage is set, the jokes are fly...

The Titfield Thunderbolt – Rainhill Garrick Society

9Oct

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Titfield Thunderbolt – Rainhill Garrick Society

Director Judith Martindale blows new life into Philip Goulding’s stage adaptation of the 1952 Ealing comedy classic bringing the right amount of mayhem and merriment to the birthplace of the modern railway and it’s a theatrical treat well worth waiting for. Whilst Clifton (Rob Williams) and Mr Blakeworth (Tom Nevitt) discuss the imminent closure of their railway line, Lady Chesterfield (Tracey Duffy) and Reverend Weech (George Lowe) bring together the local residents including his niece, Joan (Jenny Martindale), retired track layer Dan Taylor (David Parker), and Mrs Bottomley (Ruth Profitt) to run it themselves, with the financial support of philanthropist Mr Valentine (Michael Brennan), who has a fondness for drinking, as well as those much-needed passengers (Angela Vose; Alison Mawdsl...

Alice in Wonderland – Individuality Youth at Rainhill Village Hall

9Jul

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Alice in Wonderland – Individuality Youth at Rainhill Village Hall

Alice (Ellen Challinor) isn’t having much fun with her Nanny (Helena Hanlon) so when she spots a large, talking White Rabbit (Lexie Haslam), she decides to follow, with narrators Lewis (Elijah Houghton) and Carrol (Laia Mogan) recounting her journey and attempts to return home in this tale written and directed by Samantha Moores. Going through the tiniest of doors in her pursuit, Alice enters a magical world where she encounters Leopard (Marina Forshaw), Wolf (Erin Pye), Mock Turtle (Mandi Roberts), Beaver (Reeve Keyte), and Owl (Sienna Sheridan), before further on meeting Tweedle Dee (Milly Sutton) and Tweedle Dum (Louisa Nelson) following which there is Caterpillar (Ella Davies) hoping to transform like its butterfly friends (Laila Muir; Lucy Simpson). Things begin to liven up when...

The Addams Family – Rainhill Village Hall

22Jun

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

The Addams Family – Rainhill Village Hall

Director and choreographer Bryan Dargie takes us into the upside-down world of the Addams Family, where to be sad is to be happy, to feel pain is to feel joy, and death and suffering are the stuff of their dreams. Patriarch Gomez (Luke Montague) and his wife Morticia (Julie Robinson) are visiting the graveyard for an annual gathering of family members including the dead: Evangeline (Claire Heaton), Scarlet (Michelle Williams), Owenna (Claire Jones), Missy (Meg Charlton), Veronica (Annie Topping), Lizzy (Fiona O’Gorman) and Octivia (Anita Shaw). But Uncle Fester (Ben Greenall) stops them returning to their graves to enlist their help, as while torturing brother Pugsley (Tyler Lloyd), Wednesday (Sarah Johnson) has admitted to inviting her new ‘normal’ boyfriend Lucas (Cameron Gilbert) ...

26Mar

By Mark DavorenNo Comments

North West

Steel Magnolias – Rainhill Village Hall

Robert Harling penned this play shortly after the death of his sister and it is very much based on real life experiences: after his sister’s funeral he noticed how the women who supported her came together to share stories and laugh in a way the men of the family seemed unable to do. Director Michèle Martin has remained faithful to the setting in Louisiana in the heart of the Deep South where the action unfolds in the singular setting of a small-town beauty salon with owner Truvy (Samantha Moores) welcoming the newly arrived but troubled young beautician, Annelle (Katie Griffin) to work with her. But this is more than a hair salon, it is a place of refuge that forges those that need it into ‘steel magnolias’ and where a group of local women come to share their close bond of friendship. ...