The Militants

Venue : Woodrush High School

Date : October 1979

Genre : Period Play

Director

Val Archer

Val Archer
Director

Cast

Mike Beamish
Alderman Josiah Malin

Gerry Solomon
Reuben Randall

John Cope
PC Thomas Dougan

Jack Parramore
Inspector Nathan Arkwright

Ken Polton
Richard Ward

Ann Cope
Nelly Brown

Chris Avery
Minnie Brown

Diane Loder
Rachel Randall

Estelle Shutkever
Lilian Malin

Willa Hislop
Vivian Malin

Irene Price
Sophie Ormesby

Angela Smith
Lady Honoria Cumberleigh

Beryl Linforth
Eulalia Powle

Sybil Parr
Captain Ada Leyland

Rebecca Parr
Suffragette

Barbara Clulee
Suffragette

Kay Smith
Suffragette

Mabel Aldridge
Suffragette

Brenda Castle
Suffragette

Crew

Gerry Smith
Stage Manager

no profile image

Paul Jenkins
Assistant

Barbara Clulee
Assistant

Richard Davies
Assistant

Angela Smith
Properties

Beryl Linforth
Properties

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Walter Price
House Manager

Ken Gibbons
Set Design

Crew

Gerry Smith
Stage Manager

Paul Jenkins
Assistant

Barbara Clulee
Assistant

Richard Davies
Assistant

Angela Smith
Properties

Beryl Linforth
Properties

Walter Price
House Manager

Ken Gibbons
Set Design

Production Gallery

Production Reviews

Local Newspaper 1980

One of the major dramatic challenges facing this production of Norman Holland's play depicting the struggles of the Suffragette movement happened eve before the curtain went up.

Wythall Dramatic Society lost their leading man halfway through rehearsals when every member of the group had already been pressed into action either on stage or behind the scenes - or both.

Despite an appreciative audience, on the evidence of the first nitght it is questionable whether the players do justice to their undoubted effort and enthusiasm with the choice of such an indistinguished play.

To succed it requires subtle and at times rigid direction to cull the few embryo character parts from the mass of mediocrity often delivered at near breakneck speed.

It is an awesome task at such a level, but full marks for the well-dressed interior-exterior split set.

Chris Walder, Local Newspaper 1979


Somewhat Dull Militants

A WORK dedicated to the inventive and courageous who fought to obtain female franchise - this was the way in which Wythall Dramatic Society described its most recent production at Woodrush High school.

Entitled "The Militants" by Norman Holland and directed by Val Archer, it portrayed the conflict a dogmatic alderman and a group of suffragettes which, to his outrage, including members of his own family and staff.

The play is excellently dressed with costumes of the early 20th century being faithfully reproduced and the cast, as always being word-perfect in their roles but the action had some difficulty in getting off the ground.

The plot itself was a slender one and probably because of this the performers appeared to lack some spontaneity which is usually present in their work - indeed here and there was almost a measure of over-acting.

Timing also was, on occasion not quite perfect, particularly in the scene where the alderman's wife disclosed that she was the hitherto secret organisers of the suffragette group. This should have been a moment of high drama but somehow it got rather lost In the general babble of on-stage conversation and it took the audience a. little space of time to appreciate the full significance of this revelation.

However, apart from these minor failings, the production provided good entertainment with some thought-provoking dialogue well delivered.

Mike Beamish was specially impressive as the alderman, dominating each scene in which he appeared and in effective contrast was the quiet suavity of Ken Polton as the prospective Liberal MP who eventually gave up his candidature out of sympathy for the suffragettes.

Estelle Shutkever, as the women's leader, was forceful and convincing also was Willa Hislop as her daughter, and each member of a substantial cast worked hard bring life and reality to a difficult and slightly dull play.

Particular mention must be made of the set which had been designed cleverly by Ken Gibbons to show the exterior and, the interior of the alderman's house simultaneously and the latter with its Victorian furnishings and impedimenta could not have been bettered.

P.K.S., Local Newspaper 1979