Here are some links to interviews with two much loved local men, who were involved with Blewbury Players from the early days.
Tributes
Peter Saunders
Peter Saunders, who died on July 25th, was, since its first production in 1976, at the epicentre of The Blewbury Players. Having participated in productions of the Stockwell Players in Aston Tirrold, he took the inspired and courageous decision to build a 260-seat amphitheatre in his own garden at Orchard Dene. His vision, charisma and powers of persuasion resulted in a thriving tradition of productions every year (missing only 2020 as a result of COVID restrictions), ranging from Shakespeare to Dickens, from Arthur Miller to Dylan Thomas. As one of the founding and longest serving trustees Peter encouraged young professional directors to come to Blewbury, and his knowledge, love and appreciation of plays and literature was boundless. His wisdom and kindness were an inspiration to trustees, cast members and the production teams over four decades. Peter acted in many productions and, as a gifted singer, took the lead parts in the operas that he instigated and which were commissioned for performance in St Michael’s Church. Even this year, with failing health, Peter provided the props for Romeo and Juliet, another contribution he made every year with his beloved wife Ann. After he moved to The Charity School House he continued with the same energy and good humour to promote and support The Blewbury Players, whether in the outdoor theatre, St Michael’s or the revues and other productions in The Village Hall. His legacy will be a thriving and highly successful organization and fellowship that engages, supports and inspires scores of people in and around Blewbury, who come together for plays, musicals, revues, workshops, readings and video projects. The Players and all Peter’s friends will miss him.
Ron Freeborn
The Blewbury Players were saddened to hear of the death of Ron Freeborn. Ron was an ever-present part of Players’ productions for over 40 years, filling a wide range of roles and playing an important part in the development of the Players. He was a longstanding Trustee, retiring in 2007, over a period when the Players’ reputation grew and their repertoire diversified. He directed Arthur Miller’s Crucible at Orchard Dene in 1979 and Death of a Salesman in the Village Hall in 1993. Many of the Players’ sets were designed by Ron, as the construction teams used to complain, ‘on the back of a fag packet’. What his designs lacked in engineering precision they more than made up for in imagination and inventiveness. His appearance in various cameo roles over the years always made people chuckle and his illustrations and paintings of productions appear on walls all over Blewbury and further afield and were often presented to Directors to remember their productions by. The Players’ logo is Ron’s work.
Even when he wasn’t directly involved, Ron would pop along to see what was going on, always supportive and ready with advice and suggestions, or he could be seen recording progress in his sketch book. More recently, he didn’t need much encouragement to write and film amusing pieces for shows and revues, portraying himself as a wry observer of the production and taking faux offence that he wasn’t being taken as seriously as his talents deserved.
Ron was an inspiration. The Players wouldn’t and won’t be the same without him. They are going to miss him but will continue to be inspired by his spirit.
Chris Lakeland
The Players were saddened to hear of the death of Chris Lakeland. Chris was a big friend and loyal supporter of the Players over many years and much loved by all who knew him.
Chris played many roles on stage and, with his strong Lancashire brogue, was a regular favourite with audiences, particularly in comedy roles. He was of the no nonsense school of acting – learn your lines and don’t bump into the furniture. He had little patience with the method actors or with directors asking him about his intentions and he would roll his eyes when asked to engage in some exercise designed to draw out some inner emotion, much preferring to pop outside for a quick fag.
For his role as the mayor in The Government Inspector (a part requiring him to learn 800 lines, he never tired of reminding us) a larger-than-life statue of him towered over the set, magnifying his already powerful impact. At the other end of the line-learning spectrum, he spent most of As You Like It whittling a stick; ‘never again’, he told us. As Magwitch in Great Expectations, he gave us one of his finest portrayals, terrifying us to at the start and bringing us to tears with his tenderness at the end. In one rehearsal as Magwitch, in a fight with his fellow convict Compeyson, he was interrupted by the local constabulary, who had been called to the village by someone thinking they were witnessing a real fight.
Chris was an hilarious contributor to revues and other shows, often writing sketches himself. He was proud to win the audience vote for his portrayal of Ghandi in one of the Blewbury Oscars – an uncanny resemblance, although some found it less than politically correct. As Baron Mean and Nasty, Chairman of the Parish Council, in Jack and the Beanstalk, he was the perfect pantomime villain, delighting us and delighting in our boos.
Chris was not a singer in the conventional sense but he could perform a song and some of his funniest and most memorable performances required Chris to sing. His Gold in Jack and the Beanstalk is still talked about and his Don’t Blame Me Blame My Mother, which he also wrote, in 2011’s Blewbury – A Song for Europe was sung at dinner parties in Blewbury for weeks afterwards. His last ever performance was as the Pogues’ Shane MacGowan in his BBC4 parody, Fairytale in Blewbury, complete with cigarette, beer and missing teeth.
Chris’s contribution to the Players extended far backstage. He directed Habeas Corpus in the village hall in 1995. He stage-managed and he helped with running the cables for lighting. He was no diva and, whether or not he was a member of the cast, he always turned up to help with setting up for a show or with striking the set afterwards. He was also Secretary to the Trustees through the 2000s.
Above all else, Chris was a lovely man. He was funny, with a self-deprecating sense of humour; he had a strong sense of duty and social responsibility; and he was always ready to support and encourage others. We will miss him.
A Tribute to Robin Sewell
Posted on June 26, 2012 by The Blewbury Players
We are sad to report the death of Robin Sewell, a founder trustee and a key figure in the early years of the Blewbury Players. Trained at RADA, he acted at the Old Vic in the early 1950s under the stage name Robert Welles, at which time he also became involved with the Stockwells Players at Aston Tirrold, whose remarkable tradition of 40 years of garden theatre productions, mostly Shakespeare, was the seed out of which the Blewbury Players grew.
It was through Robin that we inherited the lighting equipment from the Stockwells Players, as well as a significant contribution to our launching costs from the Trustees of Paulise Lugg, the owner of Stockwells and, with her director husband Herbie, the inspirer of the Stockwells Players. Most importantly in the early years, we also inherited their box office filing system and extensive mailing list, including the names of some who we are still delighted to welcome to our productions, nearly 40 years later!
But it was as a director and as a brilliant actor that he helped create the high production standards of which we are so proud. I have one splendid memory of an extended embrace in As You Like It between him as Touchstone and Meta Wiggins as Audrey. The audience thought they were seeing a bit of brilliant acting, but what was actually happening was a desperate discussion about what the next line was and who should speak it! Thank you, Robin, for everything you did for us and for so much fun.
Robin Sewell was a brilliant and hilarious Master Ford in our first ever production, the Merry Wives of Windsor, in 1976. His reaction to the smell of the buck-basket, when it did contain Falstaff, on his way to being tipped into the Thames, and his frustration when he failed to find him later, in the same buck-basket, having flung its contents all over the stage, are well captured in these earliest photos of Blewbury Players productions.
The cast and production team lists contain the names of many people still in the village or in touch: Diana France, Jonathan Page, Jim Blackie, Robert Long, Pres Wells, Jean Richards (Hollick), Meta Wiggins, Robert Saunders, Ron Freeborn, Richard Sewell, Michael Godley, Jamie Saunders, Jag Cook, Mike Allen, John Roylance, Juliette Seibold, Roy Wiggins, Jo Laugharne (Freeborn), Sian Long, Andrew Storer, Justin East, Caroline Storer, David Giles, Dorothy Blackie, William Topley, Joss Saunders, George Giles, David Hollick, Mark Vaughn, Joyce Gilbert, Ann Saunders, Freda Giles, Lyn Blackie, Jolyon Kay and Marjorie Sherwen, and many, as well as Robin, sadly only in our memories: Robin Baillie, Heather Godley, David Cobb, Stephen Whitwell, Sidney Hardwick, Peter Bartlett, John Ritchie, Stan Cole, Lionel Haynes, Mary Ritchie, Tom Saunders and, most recently, Tony Loy.