In the left hand photograph from the left:

• Robert Vaughan for Newcastle Players Cash on Delivery;
• Ian Wilson for Centre Stage, Leek Fifteen Streets by Catherine Cookson;
• Wyn Mason (NODA District Representative) and
• NODA National President Bert Lumsden

(Wyn Mason is holding the nomination for Audley Players The Cemetery Club by Ivan Menchell)
The event was held on 5th April 2009 at Sutton Coldfield Town Hall and was hosted by
NODA West Midlands Representative Tony Derbyshire

Players Renovate Listed Building

We are currently renovating the Grade II Listed Building in Stoke-on-Trent where we build and store scenery for our productions.
Originally built in the late 1850s by the Minton pottery family as a lecture hall and reading room for the company’s workers, the
building was subsequently handed over to the local church – also funded by a Minton – and it was derelict when The Newcastle
Players acquired it in 1969. Since then it has been known as The Newcastle Players Theatre Workshop.

In 1977 the area where it is located was designated a Conservation Area and in 1993 it became a Grade II Listed Building.
These moves have seriously restricted what we can do in the way of repairs and renovation. A bid for £100,000 of lottery funding
in 1997 was unsuccessful but, since then, we have had the roof repaired and the external woodwork painted professionally, and we
are now engaged in repainting the interior and relaying the floor.

This has been funded by the proceeds from our productions and other money-raising activities such as a fashion show, raffles, fees
from talks to other organisations about amateur theatre and so on.

In January of this year the building celebrated its 150th Anniversary and Newcastle Players member Geoff Price has marked the
occasion by publishing a 130-page book entitled 150 YEARS of a Hartshill Institution (ISBN 978-0-9560653-2-2). The book
describes the building’s three phases: as The Hartshill Workingmen’s Institution (until the 1890s), The Hartshill Church Institute and
The Newcastle Players Theatre Workshop (since 1969).

It contains pictures not only of its early years but also of Newcastle Players members at work on scenery and a selection of the sets,
which we have built, on the stage of the Mitchell Memorial Theatre in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent.

Proceeds from the sale of the book are going to the Newcastle Players Workshop Refurbishment Fund. It is obtainable by post –
like its predecessor Founded 1934: The Story of The Newcastle Players (ISBN 978-0-9560653-0-8) – from G. H. Price,
103 Paris Avenue, Newcastle, Staffs. ST5 2QP. The price – including packing and second class postage – is £9.00 for 150
YEARS and £11.45 for Founded 1934.

See ‘Coming Next’ for our current productions

MITCHELL THEATRE REVAMP

	News 2009 Award for Best Play NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) West Midlands – North Staffordshire District Cash on Delivery by Michael Cooney performed at the Mitchell Memorial Theatre November 2008   North Staffs District NODA West Midlands Nominees 2009 With Rob Vaughan holding the winner’s silver salver

Newcastle Players are now featured in the Staffordshire Film Archive with Ray
Johnson's film of our preparation for A Party to Murder, entitled This is Your Half Hour
Call. This film was made to record the typical pre-show activity of an amateur society and
this film has now been shown at the Film Theatre in Stoke. A DVD of this is available
(£9.99 + £1.25p+p), please contact the Society through newcastle.players@lineone.net if you
would like a copy.

NEWCASTLE PLAYERS STORY PUBLISHED

In 2007 Stoke-on-Trent’s Mitchell Memorial Theatre celebrated its 50th Anniversary and The Newcastle Players, the group that has used the theatre longer than any other, has published its own story. “Founded 1934 – The Story of the Newcastle Players” traces the history of the group right up to the present day from its beginnings over seventy years ago, performing first in church halls and later in the Municipal Hall in Newcastle-under-Lyme before moving to the Mitchell Memorial Theatre, Hanley in 1958.

There are two versions, both containing a wealth of information about productions, people and places that have played an important part in the story of the Newcastle Players through eight decades: - A 180-page illustrated book written by Geoff Price, who also took many of the photographs - A 4-CD audio version, mainly read by the author but also containing the recorded voices of other members.

Author Geoff Price says: “I have only been a member of the society since the mid-sixties,
but I have had access to the reminiscences of members, who were there at the beginning
or at least from the very early years, and also our archives which contain a great deal of
valuable information.”

Both versions of “Founded 1934 – The Story of the Newcastle Players” by Geoff Price are
available direct from the author at 103 Paris Avenue, Newcastle, Staffs. ST5 2QP at £9.95
– plus £1.50 (book) or £1.60 (CDs) to cover second class postage and packing. Cheques should
be payable to G. H. Price.

The proceeds from the sale of the book are going to the fund which we have set up to pay
for urgent repairs to our Theatre Workshop, a Grade II Listed Building in Hartshill, Stoke-on
-Trent where we build and store scenery for all our productions.

Save Our Workshop Appeal
Our workshop now has a new roof and the front woodwork re-painted. Now we need to raise a
considerable sum to repair the floor. All the sets for the Newcastle Players productions
are built on the premises and its use is essential so we can continue to produce quality sets.

This grade two listed building was built in 1858 by Colin Minton Campbell of Minton’s Pottery
as a reading room and recreational establishment for his workers. Despite it being a listed and
historical building, we are not eligible for any grants as we cannot open it for general public use.

We are therefore urgently looking for sponsors and donations to enable us to maintain this historic
building.