A Very Special Night Celebrating 60 Years of The Globe Players!

On Saturday 5th September we celebrated our 60th birthday with a party at The Riverside Studios in Hammersmith. It was a wonderful event, with Globe Players from every decade of the company’s life represented. We displayed hundreds of photographs ranging from pictures of the very first show we performed in 1966 – Peter and the Enchanted Princesses – to the latest tour we completed in July, along with lots of backstage and rehearsal images, and pictures of social events with our actors over the years.

Sophie made a beautiful celebratory cake and amazing Globe Players cupcakes which were enjoyed with a toast to the last 60 years, and to the next!

There were speeches with heartfelt thanks to so many people who have been vital in keeping us going for all these years. We had music including a violin solo from our fabulous patron Aminata Kanneh-Mason, which was an absolute joy and a privilege. Michael and Joanna performed Ariel’s song from The Tempest beautifully, as well as a song from our Desperate Glory show, with all the crowd joining in. And Alan led us all in a farandole – the dance which used to end our A Midsummer Nights Dream show. A few of our actors wrote poems and performed them, which was really special (you can read them below). We also had a wonderful extract from the balcony scene performed by all the Romeos and Juliets who had played those parts with us over the years – 40 actors, ranging in age from 18 to 82!

 

It was such a joy to feel the love for the company, and the place it holds in the hearts of so many. Happy memories were shared and old friends reunited. But what was really lovely was the opportunity for the older actors who worked with us in the last century to meet and chat to the young actors who work with us now. Very little seems to have changed in the commitment and passion of these different generations of actors. It was a delight to see how wonderfully everyone got on and how much love they shared for this fantastic job we all do!

For so many actors over the years working with us was their very first professional acting job, and this has always been, and remains a key element in the success of the Globe Players. We love to give young actors their first experience of earning a living through acting, an intention we plan to  continue honouring into the future.

 

So many people talked about the family. We are a family business, we were set up in 1966 by the McEvoy family, and are still run by them, but it is more than that – all the actors who join us become part of the family. And it was an absolute delight to celebrate with so many of them on Saturday night.