Past Projects & Productions
The Crucible
10th - 12th July 2025
Arthur Miller’s celebrated work The Crucible was written in 1953 and is set during the Salem witch trials of 1692. It is an American drama that delves deeply into the destructive power of hysteria and its devastating repercussions. Miller masterfully depicts the societal breakdown as fear and religious extremism spiral out of control. Ordinary citizens, driven by personal grudges and opportunism, weaponise the accusations for their own gain. The play vividly captures how fragile communities crumble under the weight of fabricated truths.
Scrooge The Panto
16th-25th January 2025
Our pantomime in January 2025 was a retelling of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, written and directed by our very own Dean Heslop. With one of the largest casts and crews we’ve ever worked with, the team worked for months to bring this show to life and showed the definition of “the show must go on” when illness struck several cast members. With a range of colourful characters, amazing dances, and a story of redemption like no other, our team and audiences all had a wonderful time visiting the past, present and future with Ebenezer.
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Bleak Expectations
23rd-26th October 2024
In October 2024, we stepped into Dickensian London for this hilarious spoof of all of Charles Dickens’ greatest stories. With non-stop comedy, an array of technical elements and beautiful costumes, our audiences left in stitches. This story of Pip Bin and his family is one that won’t be forgotten any time soon, featuring legal battles over inventions, a dour school house, and conniving villain and… swans? We say harrumble for this production!
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Blood Brothers
29th-31st August 2024
​Our 2024 youth production was Willy Russell’s modern classic play, enhanced by the addition of songs from 1960s. Our youth members worked hard together to tell this poignant story of love, loss and brotherhood with wonderful performances, beautiful music and a stunning set.
Songs of the West End
13th July 2024
In July 2024, the ‘53 stepped back into the world of musical theatre for an evening of all-singing, all-dancing entertainment. With hits from a range of musicals, such as My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, Heathers and Shrek the Musical, our cast of singers dazzled our jam-packed audience and left them tapping their toes as they left. Rehearsed over the space of just three weeks, the team involved worked tirelessly to get this show on the road, and brought the Razzle Dazzle to the stage
Beauty And The Beast
11th-2oth January 2025
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Our festive offering for January 2024 was a tale as old as time. Teamwork on and offstage brought this beautiful show to our audiences but with a ‘Barbie’ Twist. As you’d expect, vibrant costumes, toe-tapping tunes, and terrific performances transported our audience to France to visit this brilliant array of lively characters.Our festive offering for January 2024 was a tale as old as time. Teamwork on and offstage brought this beautiful show to our audiences but with a ‘Barbie’ Twist. As you’d expect, vibrant costumes, toe-tapping tunes, and terrific performances transported our audience to France to visit this brilliant array of lively characters.​
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
19th - 21st October 2023
Neil Bartlett’s adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella takes a long, hard and very theatrical look at the world of class and male privilege in 1899.
My approach has been to foreground and underline that you are being told a story. There is no pretence that you are eavesdropping on the events. It is an open, empty space. I have added characters to Neil Bartlett’s cast in the form of two Scene Announcers who describe what is about to happen and act like circus ringmasters, telling the story and moving the action along. Sometimes the story demands an extra character and a member of the cast will pick up a piece of costume and just step into the action - another reminder that we are being told a story.
In addition to inventing a strong female character in Dr Stevenson, Neil Bartlett has created a Chorus of Gentlemen who are Jekyll’s friends and colleagues They show us their power over the women and children of Victorian England.
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The 39 Steps
11th-13th May 2023
This hilarious comedy with laughter from start to finish from London to the Highlands as this frenetic farce careens from place to place and muddle to mess. The conclusion combines mishaps, mistaken identities, and tongue-in-cheek references to everything we like about murder mysteries and film noir detective movies!
The Pied Piper
12- 21st January 2023
Our last pantomime was three years ago, in 2020, and we have really missed bringing that special blend of magic, mirth and mayhem to the Saltburn stage. So here it is – The Pied Piper – at long last community panto is re-born!Our panto tells the well known story of the Pied Piper, who rids the town of Hamelin of its plague of rats, only to be double-crossed by the financially embarrassed Burgomeister. Add into the mix Sour-Kraut (the Witch) and Rat-Worst (the Chief Rat) who battle it out against Fairy Strudel and a host of comical characters, including Dame Helga Von Trump (the local sausage maker). And what happens to the young townsfolk, who are spirited away by the Piper in revenge for being tricked? Will there be a happy ending? Sit back and watch as the story unfolds….
The Hollow
19th - 22nd October 2022
The Hollow, a psychological murder mystery which has all the ingredients of a classic Christie – a country house setting and a weekend which brings together a group of people, all of whom have a motive and the opportunity for murder.
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Ashes to Ashes
14th July-16th July 2022
In a battle of control for the narrative ensures as the academic Devlin reacts to the discovery that Rebecca has had a Fascistic lover. Trying to manipulate language he rigidly excavates her past. Rebecca "remembers" things that have not happened to her and ultimately defeats all Devlin's demands.
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"...there are some things one remembers even though they never happened. There are things I remember which may never have happened, but as I recall them they take place."
- Anna in Pinter's Old Times
