Circle Players to celebrate 90 years with Hi-De-Hi! performances
One of the UK’s longest established non-professional drama groups is celebrating 90 years of entertaining West Midlands audiences this year.
Circle Players was formed by Bill and Connie Webb in 1934, as ‘The Perrystanding Players’ in the newly built Community Centre in Kingstanding, with just nine founding members.
The group was soon renamed as ‘The Kingstanding Community Players’, finally settling on Circle Players in 1965, named after the Birmingham suburb’s famous roundabout.
By the 1940s, the group was thriving, performing at least two plays a year.
Now, with weekly rehearsals in Great Barr, the group has a strong following for its three plays per year ranging from comedies to whodunnits, using Aldridge Youth Theatre as a performance space.
The society’s 2023 play, Alan Ayckbourn’s ‘Life and Beth’ was awarded Best Drama in the regional NODA (National Operatic and Dramatic Association) Awards last month, with a further finalist place for ‘The Boy Who Kicked Pigs’.
The next show, ‘Hi-De-Hi’ from June 12-15 is a joyous celebration of the much-loved 1980s TV show set in Maplin’s Holiday Camp in the 1950s.
The stage adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Carpe Jugulum follows in October.
Chair Gill Troman, who joined the group in 1976, said: “Our two longest serving members, and now Life Presidents, Margaret and Bob Jeffcoat have been Circle Players since 1956 and 1958 respectively and their unwavering commitment has continued to foster a sense of camaraderie and unity with the Circle Players family.
"The aim of the Circle Players is to entertain but the ethos is friendship and teamwork – may our milestone year lead on to many more!”
For tickets, visit to see Hi-De-Hi, visit thecircleplayers.co.uk
