amdram.co.uk

Group Details

• Type: plays, comedy, musicals, pantomimes
• Age Range: Junior section from 5 to 15. Adults 16 +
• Rehearsals: Monday and Thursday evenings

Location

• Town: Kirby Muxloe
• County: Leicestershire
• Region: East Midlands

Contact

• Email: tickets [at] kirbyplayers [dot] co [dot] uk
• Phone: 0116 239 0393
• Website: http://www.kirbyplayers.co.uk

Development – that’s what it’s all about at the Kirby Muxloe Players. Forming in 1944, the Players prided themselves on high quality shows, always believing that just because you are performing locally on an amateur stage, you should be professional in the performances you deliver. Over 60 years on and like many amateur groups, we fight for attention against Sky, Playstations and numerous other leisure activities that just weren’t around 6 decades ago.

That’s why our focus has adjusted to ensure that we continue to develop and it’s a theme that carries through from our people, to our stage, to our audience. As a non-profit organisation, we have to ensure that we exceed expectation to keep audiences coming back.

This range of shows we do has long included musicals, pantomimes and plays (lately The Bakers Wife, Little Shop of Horrors, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Little Red Riding Hood, Oh Yes It Is, My Friend Miss Flint). We perform four shows a year and try to vary our productions to rotate musicals against non-music shows. We are fortunate to have a strong cast and crew who can turn their hand to many genres.

Our focus of development comes in the form of productions authored by members of the Players. Several pantomimes have been produced and the third musical comedy in a trilogy of shows poking fun at historic royal figures is set to be performed in the autumn. Our next show in May is also a third for local scriptwriter, Julie Wilson, this time on a topic close to many of our hearts as she leads us through a year in the life of the “Crusader Players” as they plan their 60th Anniversary show with many twists and turns along the way.

As we rehearse and perform in the Kirby Muxloe Village Hall, we are sometimes limited by the space we have. We’ve worked on developing this though with some imaginative ideas. Our set builder extraordinaire, Colin Reynolds, has now produced towers for Dracula Spectacular, a stage extension for our Diamond Anniversary show with a large cast and ovens, complete with smoke, that witches completely disappear into for Hansel and Gretel.

With our audience’s viewing pleasure in mind, we invested in some tiered seating so we can offered an elevated view on the stage, installed a T loop system and are set this summer to purchased new lighting to complete this cycle of improvements.

With the future in mind, we established a Juniors Group five years ago. The group started with just a dozen members but rapidly grew to the 60 that are now on the books today. The juniors take active roles in pantomimes and are set to take up some of the roles in our summer production of Toad of Toad Hall.
The older Juniors have also written, cast, directed and produced their own soap opera “Moon Street” which was performed at the annual Christmas show for proud parents and family.

The Kirby Muxloe Players is always welcoming to new members whether you wish to tread the boards or help out backstage. You can find us at the Village Hall, Station Road, Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire from 7.30 on Monday and Thursday and find out more from our website.