PROMINENT in Keighley amateur theatricals before the war were the Rockfield Players, named after the residence of founder member Mrs Coward, where they used to rehearse.
Starting in 1931, they gave an annual play in the Municipal Hall, raising funds for such local causes at the Keighley and District Rescue Society.
Here is a scene from their 1932 production of And So To Bed, a comedy based on Pepys's diaries. The part of Samuel Pepys was played by Kenneth Preston, long-serving English teacher at the Keighley Boys' Grammar School, whose portrayal of "the varying moods of the old rascal, with his family squabbles, his love making and his self importance" was highly praised.
Miss Hylda Stell as Mrs Pepys "stamped herself as one of the leading amateur actresses in the town"; scenery and elaborate costumes were designed by Vernon S Fawcett of the Keighley School of Art and Crafts, and the string section of the Keighley Orchestral Society provided period music. The play was produced by local chartered accountant William Lambert.
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