Ninety years of the Kelvin Players

North Bristol’s excellent Kelvin Players celebrate their 90th birthday during April 2019 – and from April 23-27 they mark the occasion by revisiting a favourite play from their own back catalogue, at their home theatre on Gloucester Road.

The Kelvin Players first staged Jim Cartwright’s Road 20 years ago, back in 1999 – another anniversary in the company’s distinguished history. 

Here is director Simon Shorrock to tell us about Road and why he so wanted to direct it for this celebratory year.

Our artistic director Fran Lewis decided that we should mark our 90th anniversary by choosing a play from the extensive repertoire we have produced since 1929. Road was one of those shortlisted, and this immediately captured my interest.

Road is a play I know well, mainly because it is about my home county of Lancashire. Written in 1986, it is an episodic, at times disjointed piece, about the after-effects of the destruction of working-class communities by Margaret Thatcher’s government.

Rehearsals for Kelvin Players’ 2019 production of Jim Cartwright’s ‘Road’

But never, at any point, does Road ram politics down your throat. It is perhaps more poignant today, as these characters are ones we recognise in, for example, the forgotten people of Benefits Street. The timing of this production alongside Brexit is also significant.

I made a promise to Kelvin that, if my play was selected, I would cast everyone who auditioned. Road was written as a multi-role play, but as Kelvin has such an extensive membership, I felt it was important to give as many people in the group and opportunity to perform. So, I cast 22 actors in a variety of roles and with a small amount of doubling. I am really proud of each and every performer in the piece.

Staging at Kelvin always offers possibilities, as it is such a flexible space. What’s more, with the array of talent we have on the production side of things, anything is possible. I needed a second level because it is discussed in the text, and I had a sudden epiphany that a traverse stage creating a ‘Road’ was the way forward with a scaffold balcony at one end. This has been an interesting and challenging way to work, and a first for me as a director.

The Kelvins’ 1999 production of ‘Road’

I went through an emotional year in 2018 when I pitched Road, losing my mum, dad and my niece in a very difficult summer.  It meant that I spent much time in my home town of Blackburn. The pictures you see around the stage were ones I took whilst I was there, three of which are within minutes of my parents’ home and one of which was the view out of my bedroom window growing up.

What I really noticed is how the characters of Road are alive in Blackburn today. This really resonated with me. I hope this show is a reflection of life in Lancashire in the 1980s and, even more so, today.

Mary McCallum is the Kelvins’ longest-serving member, and also appeared in the company’s first production of Road in 1999. Here she looks back on 50 years with the company.

One of the most respected non-professional theatre companies in Bristol and the south-west, the Kelvin Players were founded in April 1929 by a small group of keen amateur actors. For many years they supported various local charities before becoming a charity in their own right in the late 1980s, when they moved from their increasingly dilapidated premises in an old mews property in Somerset Street, Kingsdown to their present Studio on Gloucester Road, Bishopston.

The original intention was to present plays ‘of a light character’, but they have  since expanded this aim to ‘To educate the public in the arts, in particular the art of drama by the presentation of dramatic productions.’ This is reflected in the wide variety of genres presented, from costume drama to 21st-century playwrights, and from broad comedy to serious drama.

Mary McCallum in the Kelvins’ original production of ‘Road’ in 1999…

They now present five productions a year, mainly in their own studio premises which they have expanded and improved since taking over half of the somewhat dilapidated Methodist church premises in November 1986. Many of Bristol’s most talented amateur actors have played for Kelvin over the years, some going on to gain professional status. However the over-riding ‘feel’ of the company has always been that of a welcoming family atmosphere.

Casting has always been done through an members’ open auditioning system which discourages directors from casting personal favourites and there has always been an ethos which encourages members to participate fully in sharing everything necessary to the running of a large company with the responsibility of owning their own premises.

… and in the same role in Kelvins’ 2019 production

I have been a member of Kelvin for over 50 years. As well as acting and directing, I have served in several offices including two stints as chair. The first of these covered the momentous period of our move from Somerset Street with all it entailed. I am proud now to be an Honorary Life Member and Vice President of the club.

Another image from the 1999 production

It’s a pleasure to be playing a cameo role in the Anniversary production of Road, especially as I played it in Kelvin’s original production of the play 20 years ago!

The Kelvin Players’ 90th anniversary production of Road continues at their home, Kelvin Studios on Gloucester Road, until Saturday, May 27. For more info, visit https://www.kelvinplayers.co.uk

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