And who are the Concept Players?

We started 10 years ago when a few like-minded friends got fed up with doing the same shows over and over again. Not only the same shows, but with the same costumes, the same sets, in the same theatre, and (worst of all) in exactly the same way. We decided we wanted a change. We wanted to get away from the complacent, unimaginative regurgitation of the same old stereotypes, and do things that little bit differently. Not so much as to alienate everyone, but to make them sit up and take notice.

So we decided to start a new society. One where there were no politics, no cliques, no reserved seating for the chairman’s wife, no distinctions between principals and chorus, no prima donnas (of either sex), no remote committee making decisions in a vacuum. In fact, we wanted to avoid all the things we hated about other societies.

And that’s exactly what we succeeded in doing.

Little did we realise in those early days just how difficult it was to start from scratch. With no money, no name, and no history, it's very difficult to persuade theatre administrators to let you hire their facility for even a single evening. But somehow we managed to find some venues - but what to perform? How many shows can you think of which cost nothing to put on? We eventually settled on a version of HMS Pinafore, to be done with no set, no costumes, and no orchestra. How did we do it? We pretended not to have a full cast, and asked the audience if anyone out there knew any of the principal parts. As we had no band, we sang the overture in an arrangement in 8 parts, (it was at this point that the startled audience started to realise that perhaps there was a show going on after all). As to costumes, we started the show in our street clothes, and gradually added hints of costume that turned us into sailors. The style of the production owed more to Airplane, the Movie, than to traditional G&S - believe me, no opportunity for getting a laugh was left out. We even had a chorus of cardboard sailors to comment on the wooden performance of the gentlemen’s chorus! But we made sure that we didn't change a note of Sullivan's music, and once we got started, of Gilbert's libretto either.

We've continued to do (more or less) off-the-wall productions of G&S, and other shows such as Guys and Dolls, Man of La Mancha, Die Fledermaus, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. And as with most people, we have had our fair share of disasters – such as the night the electricity went in the middle of a production of Iolanthe.

And then there was the first performance of our original adaptation of A Christmas Carol. The work demands an off-stage chorus, and in rehearsal everything had worked fine, even though the chorus was required to sing soon after a quick costume change. When we came to do our first performance in the theatre, we found that the ladies’ dressing room was quite a long way from side stage. And so the quick change turned into a mad panic, and the sight of the ladies chorus stampeding down a badly lit corridor towards the off-stage microphone in advanced stages of undress is a sight none of us will ever forget. A semi-chorus is one thing, but a semi-naked semi-chorus is quite another!

And then there was the time – but you’ve all had audiences where the sheep outnumbered the people, haven’t you? Or performed in a Portakabin? Or had a show plunged into darkness because somebody turned on the tea urn

As well as musical shows, we also have something of a reputation for putting on plays such as Chorus of Disapproval, Lend Me a Tenor, Stepping Out, and Season’s Greetings. And everyone seems to enjoy our concerts, which range from Sondheim to Strauss, Bach to the Beatles and everything in between. We're very fortunate to have a talented bunch of people who enjoy being stretched artistically, if not financially.

But apart from shows and concerts, what else have we done that makes us different? Well, the truth is, we are far more egalitarian than most groups - we don't have a distinction between chorus and principals, for example. In fact, playing the lead in a show probably guarantees that you sweep the stage in the next. The chances are that if you couldn't handle that, you wouldn't fit with our way of doing things. We try very hard not to have prima donnas (of either sex), and we expect everyone to contribute with ideas during rehearsals, which tend to have lots of wild flights of fancy about how we should play a particular scene

And what are we up to right now? - Little Me in March, Sweeney Todd, next year.

So, if it sounds like fun, then you’d be right – we are. If it sounds like hard work – then you’d be right about that, too. But we wouldn’t have missed a minute if it. We hope you can come to see us sometime in our next ten years - or if you're near enough, we'd love to see you at our next rehearsal - but beware (as it says in our publicity blurb), insanity can be contagious!

Find out more at our website.

Left is the cast of the Concept Players’ particular version of ‘Iolanthe’

Little who?

Little Me!!

Never heard of it? Never heard of it!

But wait a minute – a couple of years ago, you’d probably have said the same about the record-breaking blockbuster, Chicago!

Trust us – you may not have heard of Little Me yet, but it’s a show like no other – recently revived on Broadway, and one you certainly won’t want to miss! You’ve seen the Concept Players, so you know how we love to do comedy. But you’ve never seen us like this! This is comedy at its best. Little Me is so outrageously hilarious that it could almost have been written for us!

No, you certainly don’t want to miss this opportunity to see the show that Bruce Forsyth called ‘ the best thing I ever did’. With a script by comic genius Neil Simon, choreography based on the original by Bob Fosse, Little Me is an evening of laughter, music and dancing you won’t ever forget.

The story of how a girl from the wrong side of the tracks pursues her destiny, and achieves fame, fortune and social position, and the series of men she meets on her way, is one of the funniest shows ever – it ranks alongside such greats as A Funny thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and even Mel Brooks’ The Producers in the comedy stakes.

So don’t miss out – get your tickets today, for this unforgettable evening of entertainment!

Little who?