THE HIGHTIMERS

Drama, singing, music and dance in Boroughbridge, North Yorkshire

A little History

Singing for their supper after a Harvest Festival in 1984 led a group of villagers from Roecliffe to lay the foundations of what is now a highly successful theatre group.  

The group, who were often invited to sing at homes for the elderly or  local celebrations, decided to put on a show on Burns Night, January 1985, at the Crown Inn, Roecliffe.

They recruited more volunteers, but, two days before the big night, the pianist was taken ill, and rushed into hospital. An urgent request went out to Mr. Arnold Boddy, the manager of a local bank who was known to tickle the ivories in his spare time. He proved to be more than good, he was superb, and the show was a huge success.

Mr. Boddy and Barbara Horner who devised and produced Burns Night discussed starting something in Boroughbridge. Arnold had already been involved with the Bradford Youth Theatre Players.

Ann and Scott Green organised an initial meeting at their home, and this was followed by an open meeting at Boroughbridge High School, which was attended by over 40 people.

A society was formed, and a steering committee agreed - they decided to call themselves "The Hightimers", because of the connection with the school.

The very first production was "Following the Forties", which portrayed the decades from the 1940's to the 1980's.

Songs from the wartime era were enjoyed by those who could remember them, as were the rock 'n' roll and skiffle for the 50's, performed by an enthusiastic home grown skiffle group.

A total of 86 people took part, and the ages ranged from 11 to 71 years!

Since that first show, the group has written and produced many of its productions, but, also, many shows have been staged using scripts from NODA.

Please visit their website at, http://www.noda.org.uk/ to find out more about them.

The group at present has over  35 adult members and 12 young people more during productions. However, we always welcome new members, so please visit the "Join Us"  page to fill in a membership form.