Founded in 1945, Adel Players is an amateur drama group with at present around 40 members. We put on three plays a year in our own theatre space at the Adel Memorial Hall in north Leeds as part of the Adel Sports and Social Club. Find out more at About Us. For our next production, please see below, or if not there just click here: Forthcoming Productions.

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Here at Adel Players we have a thriving membership of around 40 people. Nevertheless, we are always looking to extend a welcome to anyone who wants to enjoy the fun and fulfillment of providing first rate theatre experiences for our audiences here in North Leeds. Those interested in acting are always welcome, but so too is anyone who prefers to get involved with any of the backstage roles. For anyone thinking of that, we have put together a brief account of all the jobs that go to making up a successful show. You can access this at Join Adel Players and if that piques your interest, just get in touch!

Our latest show closed having attracted capacity audiences who were very appreciative of this powerful drama. Thanks as always to all those who supported us and also of course to Mike Andrews who directed with a great team behind him to make this the undoubted success it was. Audience reaction is represented by the following comment: "I thought it was an excellent play with several very strong performances...Also technically first rate with clever direction and set design. Well done all."

As usual, we will post further reaction as it comes in along with any reviews. Meanwhile please see below for some pictures from the show, with thanks to Liz Barker for contributing to this excellent record.

Set in the incident room of Millgarth Police Station between 1977 and 1981, this fast moving drama looks at the investigation into the series of murders carried out by the Yorkshire Ripper. With public and political pressure mounting, hundreds of officers worked around the clock and resorted to increasingly audacious attempts to identify the killer. The story centres around Megan Winterburn, the Detective Sergeant running the incident room, and George Oldfield, Assistant Chief Constable in charge of the investigation, as well as other characters from the time. 

Our thanks to Jenny Jones for her appreciative review of this show:

Those living in Yorkshire in the late 70s to early 80s will have strong memories of the murders carried out by Peter Sutcliffe, titled by the press as the Yorkshire Ripper, it was admittedly a very frightening time.  Theories as to who he was and how he did the murders without being seen, led people to question themselves, could it be someone they knew, a neighbour, a friend, that creepy man in the next street… no woman felt safe

There were urban myths flying around of people giving lifts to old ladies who were found to have hairy hands and a hammer in their handbag, and others, more plausible, of being spoken to by a man who sent cold shivers down their spine. But all the time, the police had mounted a huge investigation, yet they seemed to be constantly barking up the wrong tree. This play was centred round the Incident Room at the now demolished Millgarth Police station in central Leeds. The frustrations of those involved in the investigation, were played wonderfully by the whole cast, displaying the attitude of men to women in the workplace, as when the head of Manchester CID swept in, and as he was introduced to Sgt Megan Winterburn, barked out his order for a cup of tea “with three sugars!”. She to her credit answered “The kettle’s over there!” That captured the feeling of that era, women made the tea, men solved the crimes. 

As the play evolved, we heard the so-called “Ripper Tapes”, still guaranteed to shock nearly fifty years on. We heard the letters supposedly sent by the Ripper, red herrings which delayed the investigation greatly, and all the time we felt the frustration of Megan Winterburn and Andy Laptew, as they could see a different side to it, which was brushed aside by the senior officers. And all the time the boxes of files piled up, threatening to take over the office. There was quite a bit of humour too, which was appreciated by the audience, as the laughter rang out loud several times during the play.

Every single member of the cast played their parts to perfection, you could really believe in them, but especial mention must be made to Dianne Newby, as she portrayed both Sylvia Swanson and Maureen Long to perfection  The play was fast paced, with excellent lighting changes which added to the dramatic impact, and they made great use of technology with the screens showing footage from news reels of the times.  The backdrop and lighting enhanced what was already an amazing drama. Congratulations to all the cast and crew, it was a very slick and professional performance. 

Jenny Jones

Our April 2024 production completed its run with near-capacity audiences for all four nights of the play. Huge thanks to our loyal patrons once again, and to all those who made it happen, most of all our Director, Beth Duce, who worked tirelessly as she always does on every aspect of the show and whose passion and inspiration brought the whole thing to life. Please see below for some pictures that provide a record, along with reviews and audience reaction as they come in.

 Separate Tables by Terence Rattigan consists of two linked one-act plays, Table by the Window and Table Number Seven, both taking place in the rather shabby but quietly genteel “Beauregard Private Hotel” (which we are setting in Scarborough) where most of the guests are permanent residents.

The two plays follow the drama, humour and intrigue woven into the lives of various residents over an 18 month period. As a result, the otherwise lonely and dull existences of the majority of the elderly residents are enlivened, if not enriched, by the antics of some of the other guests.  

Our thanks to Anne Lightman for this thoughtful appreciation of our last show:

This Adel Players production was “in the round” (or maybe oblong!). This meant that the audience were close to the action - almost involved rather than observing. The large set was impressive – two “rooms” in a private hotel in Scarborough – the dining room and lounge, with a view into the back corridor to the office and an exit into the garden. The first half was set in 1954, an era remembered through the medium of TV at least. Congratulations to the set designers, sound effects and all involved as it was a convincing setting for the drama.  

The dining room was opening for dinner and as the guests took their places, we noted that they were mostly female with furs much in evidence, and all but two were elderly. Another guest was introduced – a middle-aged woman smartly dressed in fashionable clothes – no furs. We learn later she was a former model. The conversation in the dining room enabled their characters to emerge and showed how each coped with getting old, being lonely and in straitened circumstances.  These insightful observations on human behaviour could have been sad, but the pace and an unfolding dramatic storyline meant it wasn’t. We watched the effect of the new guest on the others, particularly on a male guest, who it transpired, was a former husband she had tracked. After an acrimonious and enlightening conversation, he disappeared and reappeared next morning in the lounge, exceedingly drunk. This led to further revelations and a dramatic turn of events – demonstrating the destructive power of love. 

For the second half we were back to the same hotel but eighteen months later. The warring couple were absent, the hotel staff were unchanged – a put-upon waitress and a very charming, wise, female hotelier and the two young people were now a married couple with baby (a very realistic, if quiet, one). Two other guests had appeared – an army Major and the daughter of one of the elderly female guests. Much of the action in this half took place in the lounge – and basically centred around the unmasking of the Major as a fraud and sexual predator and how it was dealt with. But there were other issues explored too – the effect of a dominant woman on her daughter was one. This doesn’t sound as if there was much room for humour, but there was plenty, which lightened the tension and relaxed the audience. 

I thought it a wonderful play – allowing us to observe and have a greater understanding of some aspects of human behaviour via a performance rather than life and suggesting we should not jump to conclusions and judgement. A valuable lesson!  The Adel Players did the play full justice, with superb performances from cast of twelve – quite some achievement.  Most parts required were demanding verbally (some physically) and it is testimony to their performances and production, that we were quite shocked when we realised that it had kept us engrossed for the best part of three hours (less the interval). 

Ann Lightman

Our latest production has finished its run and once again we are very grateful to our loyal supporters who came out despite the cold (and Storm Eowyn!) giving us capacity audiences on three out of the four nights. Thanks also to our director and assistant director, Alan Foale and Anne Mark, for the tremendous amount of work that went into this show and of course our three actors and the backstage crew whose labour of love yet again paid off to get this show ready for our audiences. The reaction of those who saw the production is typified by the following comment from our Facebook page: "Fabulous play, great performances from all three actors; fantastic scenery, not to forget the lighting, sound effects and front of house". See below for some photos, and as usual reviews will follow in due course.

Our January production was the comedy-drama A Fine Bright Day Today by Philip Goulding, directed by Alan Foale.  Set in a former fishing village on the North Yorkshire coast, it follows the lives of three people – a widow in her 50s, her grown-up daughter and a visiting American. They all carry baggage from their past but gradually find a way to break free from it and start new lives. 

As reviewed in The Guardian, this is an entirely beguiling play that “leaves you with an optimistic sense that everyone deserves a second chance at happiness, allied to a slight anxiety about whether you turned the gas off before you came out.”!

Our thanks to Alan Mark for capturing some of these images that provide a lovely reminder of this charming production.

Our thanks to Marjorie Cole for this appreciative review of the production which will appear in the magazine, Adel Bells:

Adel Players’ latest production ‘A Fine Bright Day’ written by Philip Goulding and skilfully directed by Alan Foale offered us a story which might at first sight have appeared banal and uninspiring but which turned out to be just the thing to lift our spirits after the hardships inflicted on us by the bitter cold weather of January. It showed us, through the opportunity of a new life being offered to Margaret, that things can get better if we are prepared to adapt.

The setting of a Yorkshire fishing village was bound to appeal to an audience who are very familiar with the Yorkshire coastline. Praise is due to Adel Players for taking on a play with only three actors; it could have been really challenging, but they took it all in their stride. Helen Law’s facial expressions conveyed much of Margaret’s torment as her argumentative daughter Rebecca, played proficiently by Hazel Walshaw, tried to persuade her that change is possible, with Margaret thinking that the mother and daughter roles have somehow strangely reversed. 

Meanwhile we all warmed to the charming enthusiasm of Milton, played by Mike Andrews, who gave us a convincing portrait of an apparently confident American  looking for more meaning to his life. The setting, with the powerful view of the Yorkshire coast, helped us to believe that we were actually there as Milton enthused about the lure of the sea and his wish to paint it. It was a nice touch on the part of the props team that the feeling of being in Yorkshire was enhanced by the appearance of Seabrook’s crisps at their picnic!  

There was much laughter throughout, our English preoccupation with the weather causing frequent chuckles from the audience, as well as seeing the effect on Margaret of a convivial evening with copious wine.

We laughed at Margaret’s obsession with ritual and routine but we could understand her reluctance to change. The happy ending with her eventually accepting Milton’s continuing presence in her life was no surprise and resulted in us all leaving  at the end having had a gentle and heart-warming reminder that there is always hope that things will get better.

Don’t miss their next production, 23-26 April 2025: 'Separate Tables' by Terence Rattigan, directed by Beth Duce.

Marjorie Cole

And more audience reaction for A Fine Bright Day Today:

"The play was most enjoyable, a subtle study of repressed and awakening desire and sympathetically performed by actors with deep rapport. I was very glad I came".

"I really enjoyed the evening.  This play had a rare elegance to it, which is unusual.  Well done..."

"I am in awe of the three (actors)- such huge parts, without much action, so all eyes on you to keep the audience's attention. You all achieved that with spades..."

Our April 2024 production of "Two" (see here for details) was our entry for the year's Wharfedale Festival of Theatre which celebrates achievement in amateur theatre throughout the region, and last night (20 July) was the formal awards evening. We are delighted to be able to say that in the category of "Best Stage Presentation" we were announced joint winners out of a very competitive field. In addition, we were awarded the Jack Pitts trophy as the third placed production in the overall category of Best Drama, adults. We also had nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Rob Colbeck) and Best Programme. A lot of work goes into getting such results, so thanks and hearty congratulations to all involved who contributed to this splendid production. Here's a picture of some members celebrating after the awards.

All of us involved with Adel Players were delighted to hear that our long-standing member, Ron Darby, had received the Bray Award from the Adel War Memorial Association. Presented annually, this award serves to recognise an outstanding contribution to the life of the Association, from any member of any of the sections. Here is the man himself, with the very sparkly trophy!

And here is an excerpt from his citation, which sums up why Ronnie is such a worthy recipient:

Ronnie is a consummate team player, is loved by everyone, and embodies in every way the spirit that makes associations like AWMA work...Not only a key member of the set construction team, he now fulfils the role of Stage Manager for almost all our productions. He is reliable, dedicated, nothing is too much trouble, and he is always there to support whether physically or emotionally. He makes sure everything backstage runs like clockwork whilst never losing his temper, his gentlemanliness, or his good humour, and his quirky sense of comedy quickly turns backstage nerves to laughter.

Thanks, Ronnie, for everything!

It was with great affection and admiration that we were able recently to mark Vivienne Bate clocking up her 70th anniversary of membership of Adel Players. A great stalwart and supporter of the group, Viv has acted extensively over the years as well as supporting us with all the "background" jobs that are needed to put on a perfomance. Among diverse other roles, this has included many years of patiently taking responsibility for the job of numbering the seating rows when we are setting up for a show. As our Chairman, Dianne Newby, pointed out it is quite remarkable that Viv can bend down to do so without making any noise whatsoever!

To mark the occasion, she was presented with a photo album featuring many of the shows she has acted in. Hearty congratulations to Viv and see below for a couple of pictures.

Following the Festival awards ceremony, our hearty congratulations to long-standing member, Mike Andrews, who was named Best Supporting Actor for his role as Solomon in our production of The Price. We also received the award for Best Programme, so congratulations and many thanks to Beth Duce and Jane Claire who led the work to pull that together. Here are Mike and Beth, proud award winners!

As many patrons are aware, Adel Players are frequent entrants in the Wharfedale Festival of Theatre. For the 2019-20 awards season we put forward our January 2020 play, How the Other Half Loves, and you may remember that we received nominations for awards in the following categories:

Best Supporting Actress: Pauline Ashworth

Best Programme: Shell Peart

At the Award Ceremony we are delighted to confirm that Pauline won in the Best Supporting Actress category. Our hearty congratulations to both Pauline and Shell, and for pictures and more on this great production, please see under Past Productions or by clicking here.

For more on the Festival itself, just visit their website here.

Watch highlights of our April 2014 production - click here for more clips and further information.

Read all about it in News and Notices!

For more pictures, reviews and notes of recent productions click here