Long Mountain Players Community Theatre Group

SELL-OUT SHOWS MARK THEATRE GROUP'S RETURN TO THE STAGE WORTHEN AND BROCKTON, SHROPSHIRE LONG MOUNTAIN PLAYERS 2024

A TIMELESS tale of a lost slipper and the search for the right foot may have rung in 2024 but it was a murderous sleight of hand that brought it to a close as one newly-revived theatre group returned to the stage with two productions in one year. Shropshire's Long Mountain Players, from Worthen and Brockton, presented Cinderella in four sell-out shows back in January. Nearly four months of rehearsals, overseen by director Georgina Evans and backed by a dedicated and hard-working backstage crew, earned the production warm praise from happy audiences. It was a relief for Georgina, who had been a key figure in finding the cast and navigating players’ work and study commitments to pull the pantomime together. She explains: “The theatre group used to be a big part of the community, but then we were hit by people moving away and then, of course, the effects of the Pandemic. It took a while to get villagers together again and to find the essential motivation for something so time-consuming. “But thanks to the cast and everyone behind the curtain - from makeup and hair, costumes and props to lighting, sound and front of house - we all had such fun and longed to do something again soon.” So almost as soon as Cinderella and the Prince had found each other, and the final bows taken by a cast of 18, ranging from primary school children to the long-retired, a new committee was formed and plans put into motion for fundraising and future productions. The result was a one-night only mystery Death by Radio, which, like Cinderella, was performed to a full house. A play within a play format, set in the 1940s, provided a juicy on-stage murder for the audience to solve, with the draw of prizes for correct answers, and best authentic costumes. The show, which featured music and additional entertainment by members of the eight-strong cast was performed last month, and once-again whetted villagers’ appetites for more. And the Long Mountain Players are looking forward to obliging, with an evening of song, sketches and silliness planned for the spring and a good old show to remember at the end of 2025