Belper Players present: ‘Daisy Pulls it Off’ by Denise Deegan

Belper Players have been producing high-quality plays, since 1936, most recently, sell-out runs of ‘A Bunch of Amateurs’ by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman and ‘Calendar Girls’ by Tim Firth.

Being the earliest amateur theatre group in Belper and still very much thriving, Belper Players place a sense of belonging at the heart of our plans. We welcome all ages and abilities. We are also very conscious of pitching our productions to appeal to the tastes of the diverse Belper community who loyally support and participate in Belper Players’ productions.

We recognise and appreciate the support of our audience members and plan carefully to produce a variety of high-quality experiences while keeping theatre affordable and accessible for local people. Each production is developed as a ‘work of heart’ where cast and crew help shape and grow the director’s vision and feel fully invested and valued for their contribution.

The Herbert Strutt school building was entrusted to the community in 2009 and Belper Players were one of the first groups to take up residency and support the aim to keep ‘Strutts’ available to the community and to maintain the heritage and legacy of the building.

When Belper Players were presented with the script for ‘Daisy Pulls it Off’ by one of our fabulous directors, Patricia Church, we knew it would be safe in her directorial hands and we couldn’t resist the thought of presenting this funny, fast-paced comedy, in the authentic and beautiful setting of ‘Strutts’ – the perfect way for art to imitate life and local history.

‘Daisy Pulls it Off’ by Denise Deegan, set in a 1920’s girl’s boarding school, is very much an ensemble piece and every actor has created a character to love (or in some cases loath!) The title character, ‘Daisy Meredith’ is a scholarship girl, something previously unheard of at ‘Grangewood School’ and faces trying to fit in and earn the respect of her peers, while solving the mystery of the hidden treasure, in order to save the school from ruin.

‘Daisy’ is played by Kat Fenton who brings her wealth of acting experience in local theatre to this part. The remaining cast of actors (some regular and some new to Belper Players) are Lou Jenkins, Kat Foxx-Booth, Sara Noble-Nesbitt, Tracey Wilkinson, Meg Russell, Diane Churchill, Jo Attenborough, Alyson Koe, Martin Drake, Martin Baker and Mik Horvath.