Behind the scenes at St Peter’s Hill Players in Grantham ahead of Thrill of Love production at Guildhall Arts Centre
What do a former RAF serviceman, Baptist minister turned teaching assistant, radio breakfast show presenter, and a self-employed business owner have in common?
Not very much, you would think, but they all have one big thing in common that binds them together like family — a love of performing and the stage.
With not one, but two productions in the offing, we went behind the scenes with St Peter’s Hill Players in Grantham to see how preparations are going in their spring production of ‘The Thrill of Love’, and the one-act plays which are set to be performed two weeks after ‘Thrill’.
All the members have their own reasons for wanting to get on stage.
Lucy Kelley is a long-standing member of 13 years and her daughter Dorothy, 10, is appearing in A Dog’s Life, one of the one-act plays and was also acting as a stand-in for a fellow cast member who was away on holiday.
“I love to make people laugh,” Lucy said, “Seeing the audience laughing and having a good time is a big reason why I love doing this [amateur dramatics].”
“And it gives her time away from me!” Dorothy pipes up.
Margaret Glenn has been involved in amateur dramatics for more than 40 years since appearing in her all-girls school as Romeo in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
“I love meeting people, when I moved to London I didn’t know anyone and I joined a local theatre group and was made to feel so welcome,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re male or female, gay or straight, disabled or able-bodied, you’re accepted for who you are and I think that’s the best thing.”
”You get to be someone else for a while,” Verity Connor added, “No matter how bad your day has been you get to come here and have some escapism and have a laugh.”
Jackie Dowse is directing Thrill, and having also starred in dozens of productions all over the country — including most recently as Mrs Einsford-Hill in Pygmalion — she said she loves acting and directing in equal measure.
“Directing is the most creative part for me, taking something from the book and bringing it to life on stage is wonderful and seeing the characters emerge by the actors — it’s a big team effort.”
‘Books down’ — when the actors need to have fully learned their lines and stage directions — usually comes around six to eight weeks before opening night. Line learning is often the biggest worry for the cast and crew, with some people learning lines quickly and with ease — others not so much.
Suzie Stevens is no stranger to the spotlight, having starred in dozens of shows over the years and being a famous face in Grantham as ‘Suzie Sparkles’, Hive FM’s breakfast show presenter.
She freely admits that she is “every director’s worst nightmare” as she struggles to learn her lines until late on in the production process and thrives under the pressure of it, meaning the words finally sink in as opening night looms ever closer.
“I hate learning lines as they don’t sink in straight away and I panic when it’s books down,” she said, “It’s only during show week when I actually start enjoying it, then I absolutely love it.”
One member who is currently involved in both upcoming productions is aforementioned teaching assistant Andy Masters who is starring as Inspector Jack Gale in Thrill, and performing in and directing one-act play All By Myself which sees five strangers stranded on a desert island.
“It’s all about story telling,” he said, “That’s what attracted me to acting, and I don’t really get nervous anymore. If you know the story and the script well enough then either you or the prompt can get you out of any mishaps — whereas in music, it carries on without you!
“The teamwork involved in the project to get something done and the sense of accomplishment in the final moments on stage.”
The teamwork he mentions is the backstage team and other members of the society who work tirelessly to bring the production together off-stage — the costumes, props, set building, publicity, Front of House on performance nights, the list is endless.
During the rehearsal, we see the All By Myself characters attempting to build a raft out of whatever they can find — similar to the approach needed for the plays themselves.
In a period production — previous show Pygmalion is obviously set in the early 1900s and Thrill of Love is set in the 1950s — finding the correct costumes in the right size for the actors can be a minefield, not to mention the need for wigs, shoes, accessories, jewellery, and more.
The use of records by Billie Holliday in ‘Thrill’ for example, meant several members combing charity shops and online retailers to find the right LPs on a tight budget, and Jackie said that attempts to find the correct bar stools and drinks siphon for the time period had been somewhat arduous.
SPHP has a treasure trove of costumes from previous productions that can be reused and recycled, and some are also borrowed from fellow amdram group Grantham Dramatic Society, while others are sourced from charity shops and discount second-hand retailers.
Heather Butterworth has taken on the unenviable task of finding as many of the costumes as possible, and finding the right blonde wig for Ruth Ellis actress Briony Sparrow was not an easy task.
"I find sourcing, adapting and making costumes to suit a particular period a highly creative and satisfying process,” she said, “I want an audience to enjoy how the character appears on stage and so the effort involved is entirely worthwhile."
Tales are also regaled of on-stage mishaps during performances, including jumbled up lines which meant an off-stage character’s dramatic entrance was missed, another cast member cracking two ribs on opening night after falling to the floor, and Suzie remembers her production of ‘Calendar Girls’ where efforts to hide certain nude body parts were not entirely successful.
Margaret recalled audiences loudly providing a running commentary of a murder mystery, and in another play, opening an old-fashioned bureau and producing the letter inside was a key part of the plot, but it had been locked before the show began and she had to improvise!
All the members may come from different backgrounds and day jobs, but one thing everyone can agree on is the buzz they get from acting and the friendships made along the way.
Vice chairman Gus Sparrow said: “We like to think that we are a friendly group at SPHP and always welcome new members to come and join us.
“We aim to have fun at rehearsals as well as on stage.”
“We’re a family,” committee member Dawn Cadwallader agreed. That sums it up nicely.
The Thrill of Love will be performed at Guildhall Arts Centre at 7.30pm on Thursday, May 8, and Friday, May 9, with a 2.30pm matinee on Saturday, May 10. Tickets are available at https://www.guildhallartscentre.com/whats-on/all-shows/the-thrill-of-love-st-peters-hill-players
The one-act plays — ‘All By Myself’, ‘A Dog’s Life’, ‘Settling for Bronze’, and ‘Our Song’ — will be performed at Allington village hall on Friday May 23, and St Egelwin’s church, Scalford, near Melton Mowbray at 7.30pm on Saturday May 24. Tickets available on the door on both days.
