Welcome to the Website of the Hoghton Players Gilbert and Sullivan Society.

It gives me the greatest of pleasure to be Chairman of the Hoghton Players for 2011 to 2012, not least because we celebrate our Diamond Jubilee in 2012, having been founded in 1952.  We began our celebrations of this happy event with our performance of that ever-popular opera, The Mikado, at the Richard Colmer Theatre in Southport College, which marked our 60th fully staged performance.

In October 2011, just after I became Chairman, we performed narrated concerts of The Gondoliers at venues in and around Southport.

Our jubilee celebrations continued in December with a concert of some of our favourite music from the Gilbert and Sullivan members, as voted by our entire membership.  We are particularly proud of the number of members who keep in regular contact with us despite not always taking an active role in currect productions and were delighted to see so many of them singing with us again.

In January, we look forward to our annual dinner which, to mark our jubilee, we are holding in a more formal manner than usual at the Southport Old Links Golf Club.  We look forward to seeing as many past and present members there as can make what we are sure will be a very happy occasion.

In March this year, we shall perform Patience, again at the Richard Colmer Theatre at Southport College.  We are eternally grateful to Southport College for the use of their theatre whilst our usual venue, the Southport Arts Centre, is undergoing refurbishment.

Those of you who attended last year's performance of The Mikado will doubtless know that we are lucky enough to have many very talented performers, several of whom will be returning to perform in Patience.  We are also delighted to welcome new performers amongst the cast and chorus this year for what I'm sure will prove to be another very successful production.  For those of you who do not know Patience very well, it is a delightful piece and our producer, Ian Mackley, has managed once again to update some of Gilbert's original dialogue to bring the characters into the 1960s, the original having been set during the aesthetic movement with characters fashioned after the likes of Oscar Wilde and James Abbott Whistler.  Those who already know Patience will doubtless recognise some of the passages that have been updated and appreciate, as I do, the skill with which Ian has altered the original where necessary but left Gilbert's original wit entact in the process.

We are delighted also to welcome back our Musical Director, Ceri Williams and to welcome as choreographer on of our loyal members, Adele Hodgson.  An excellent dancer, I look forward to what she and Ian will bring to this production of one of my favourite operas.

We are most fortunate to have a core of loyal and experienced cast members, but have been delighted that over the last few years we have been joined by a number of very talented and enthusiastic new faces.

Finally, we are always ready to welcome new members, so if you would like to join us, either on stage or helping out with one of the numerous behind the scenes tasks; please click New Members for more information.
We can guarantee you a warm and friendly welcome.