It was a fabulous return for The Bench: A Tale from Paradise Heights at Crewe Lyceum on 16th of September as a packed audience sat mesmerised at the show before them, a real emotional roller coaster ride that lead to huge cheers and applause at the end of the show, but for one person in the cast it meant so, so much more.
Jeni Williams, this pic was taken mere seconds into her return to the stage after 7 years of hell. Welcome back Jeni. Pic by Darren McGinn
7 years ago Jeni Williams had a horrific accident that lead to a devastating spinal injury. She was told she might not walk again, in fact as events transpired she was lucky to even survive. Of course that ended a truly magnificent acting career up to that point, from powerful roles on TV and absolutely barn storming performances on stage - she is one of the very brightest Northern lights of stage and screen. I worked with her on a couple of projects - one in particular Rank: A Tale from Paradise Heights contained one of her stand out blistering lead roles on stage, just awe inspiring. All of that was gone. Imagine losing all of that.
But you can't keep someone like Jeni Williams down, those that know her know that, there's a fire in her, a fierce determination, the heart of Terminator but also the biggest, most generous and warmest of hearts. Love the bones of her.
We launched this show into the stratosphere in front of another amazing audience at Crewe Lyceum that hung on every word, laughed in all the right places, felt the trauma, the terror, the joys and the love of 16 characters played by 6 actors. There’s a real magic about this show, even the tech guy AJ said the audience were simply mesmerised by the story and performances so many moved to tears too, it’s a real roller coaster of a show.
More importantly it more than sealed Jeni Williams return to acting after 7 years - and another strange twist - 7 years to the day Jeni had that terrible accident that almost took her life and took her away from acting. Spooky Magic. She was amazing, faultless and colourful, riotously funny and poignantly tragic with everything in between. A towering performance.
And I’m taking nothing away from the rest of the magnificent cast, if you were there you know.
Thanks to techs AJ and Sarah and our own Justin Wetherill, Darren McGinn on photography and then front of house Debbie, Tara, Lisa Cruise, Leanne, Vicky and all at Crewe Lyceum, and finally a very special thank you to the wonderful audience who were so engaged and involved. You were brilliant - thanks to all involved.
Next up The Platform - Morecambe this Wednesday 20th
The Carnegie Theatre & Arts Centre Workington 25th September and
The Princess Theatre Hunstanton on Thursday 19th October
You’d be crazy to miss it, it’s an extraordinary production.
But you can't keep someone like Jeni Williams down, those that know her know that, there's a fire in her, a fierce determination, the heart of Terminator but also the biggest, most generous and warmest of hearts. Love the bones of her.
We launched this show into the stratosphere in front of another amazing audience at Crewe Lyceum that hung on every word, laughed in all the right places, felt the trauma, the terror, the joys and the love of 16 characters played by 6 actors. There’s a real magic about this show, even the tech guy AJ said the audience were simply mesmerised by the story and performances so many moved to tears too, it’s a real roller coaster of a show.
More importantly it more than sealed Jeni Williams return to acting after 7 years - and another strange twist - 7 years to the day Jeni had that terrible accident that almost took her life and took her away from acting. Spooky Magic. She was amazing, faultless and colourful, riotously funny and poignantly tragic with everything in between. A towering performance.
And I’m taking nothing away from the rest of the magnificent cast, if you were there you know.
Thanks to techs AJ and Sarah and our own Justin Wetherill, Darren McGinn on photography and then front of house Debbie, Tara, Lisa Cruise, Leanne, Vicky and all at Crewe Lyceum, and finally a very special thank you to the wonderful audience who were so engaged and involved. You were brilliant - thanks to all involved.
Next up The Platform - Morecambe this Wednesday 20th
The Carnegie Theatre & Arts Centre Workington 25th September and
The Princess Theatre Hunstanton on Thursday 19th October
You’d be crazy to miss it, it’s an extraordinary production.
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