Friday 7 February 2020, 7pm

Come and join us, happily ever after, for an evening of fairy-tale-themed fundraising and magical mischief at Esquires Coffee, 75 Bedford Hill, Balham SW12 9HA.

Tickets are £10 (members and swans) and £12 (non-members), and include

Wednesday 19 - Saturday 22 February 2020

Shrek The Musical

Based on the 2001 DreamWorks film Shrek and William Steig's 1990 book Shrek!, Shrek: The Musical is set in a mythical 'once upon a time' sort of land, where a hulking green ogre lives in an ugly green swamp. When his life is disrupted by a gang of homeless fairytale characters in pursuit of getting their own homes back, he reluctantly agrees to help. In the process he meets, and rescues, Princess Fiona, who he likes ... a lot. But why does she always run off when the sun sets?

Tickets are on sale now from our box office.

Saturday 14 March:

Super Saturday

We are back at the Long Room in Tooting once again for the annual rugby all-dayer that gives all who love rugby, and even those who don't, a good excuse to go to the pub from midday to midnight!
Remember you can come for a bit or the whole day.

St Patrick's Day is the next day, so get your Guinness tolerance up while watching the final day of the Six Nations.

See our Facebook event to respond and find out more details.

"Aimee Parnell is to be congratulated as Director for this wonderful piece of theatre. Attention to detail was precise, the movement of props during the musical numbers was effortless and the overall pace was terrific."

"Kim Schenkelaars deserves huge credit as Choreographer and for including so much energy and variety into the dance routines.... the choreography was fabulous and really added to the show’s appeal."

"Glen Jordan portrayed Moritz ... with just the right amount of teenage angst Glen’s emotional acting of his songs showed a total understanding of what he was portraying."

"Josh Yard and Laura Harrison both did exceptionally well in playing every adult part and for delivering some chilling moments together with humour and even sensitivity. Their scenes as grieving parents were extremely well handled and all their various characters carefully reflected general attitudes of the time period."

Des Wilby
NODA Review

"I was impressed at the strength of the cast across the board. Matthew Wright played Melchior opposite Veronique Piercy’s Wendla. Wright’s self assurance contrasted nicely against Piercy’s youthful innocence. Piercy opened the show with ‘Mama Who Bore Me,’ and her assured clear tone set the bar high for the rest of the night."

"The music was also beautifully delivered with Harriet Oughton at the helm. They mastered the score from the rocky aggressive numbers which really packed a punch to the beautifully balanced and harmony rich numbers"

"It is shows like that that help blur the line between amateur and professional theatre."

Sarah McPartlan
Musical Theatre Musings Review

"Phoebe Fleetham must first and foremost be congratulated for her role as Director and ensuring this production was slick, highly polished and a resounding success."

"Keith Walters, Rosie Orchard, Joanne Frazer and Paul Nicholas Dyke provided the principal ‘line up’ for this show and it was impossible to fault their performances in anyway. Virtually on stage throughout the entire production, I was hugely impressed with the characterisation of each principal, their consistent accents and vocal ranges. They were nothing short of superb."

"Will Prescott (1st Man) and Russell Hughes (2nd Man) provided additional light relief and certainly worked well together. Carefully maintaining their accents and characters throughout, their standout moment came in their duet ‘Brush Up You Shakespeare’."

Des Wilby
NODA Review

"The highlight of the show for me had to be the opening of Act 2 with ‘Too Darn Hot.’ Vicki Rice, the choreographer had devised a number that all of the cast could execute with real flair and a huge amount of energy and had clearly drilled them repeatedly. This resulted in a real feast for the eyes and ears."

"I must congratulate Cygnet Players on a high standard of production; with a sizzling production number, leads that oozed their characters and a wonderful orchestra this is a great show to see if you love the golden age musicals."

Sarah McPartlan
Musical Theatre Musings

"Zoe Dobell brought her directing experience to this production and is to be congratulated for a hugely successful show. This was a classy performance delivered to a high standard by a quality cast. The attention to detail throughout ensured everything ran like clockwork." 

"The three leads were quite simply exemplary, and carried the show with great confidence. Andrew Overin, as Franklin Shepard, is both a great singer and a consummate actor.  Andrew was more than ably matched by Adam Walker-Galbraith as Charley Kringas and Olga-Marie Pratt as Mary Flynn. Most of the songs are narrative and required considerable acting skills as well as emotional delivery to get them across. It was soon apparent that in the hands of these three it was never going to be a problem. Together they owned the stage and held the audience’s attention perfectly."

"This show proved to be yet another excellent production.  I am quite certain that the entire audience, like me, left feeling hugely impressed with the quality of this cast and Cygnet Players in general."

Des Wilby
NODA Review

"I watched the show with a composer, arranger, conductor and sometime performer of Sondheim musicals. He and I were blown away."

"The show takes off with the television interview scene in which Charley Kringus lets rip at Franklin in the number named after him. The audience were close to a standing ovation as Adam Walker-Galbraith (and the orchestra) concluded this spectacularly complex piece of musical dexterity."

"Russell Bramley does an excellent job of building his Joe Josephson character backwards from a broken cuckolded man to confident impresario. Russell notes in the programme that he fell in love with this show when it played at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2013. I would be surprised if this Cygnet performance does not at least equal the 2013 show."

Frank Kaye
Sardines Review

"This was quite simply an exceptional show that oozed class and quality throughout."

"The quality of the band, and music produced, was of a very high class and never overshadowed those speaking or singing."

"Kim Findlay (Choreographer) ensured this show delivered what was expected – a truly stunning visual spectacle from a 17-strong tap dancing ensemble. The quality of dancing, precision and timing were nothing short of superb."

"The extremely versatile, and talented, Nick Moorhouse was perfectly cast in the lead male role of Jerry Travers. The sheer quality of dancing, whilst singing, was exceptional and appeared almost effortless."

Des Wilby
NODA Review

"Charlotte Donald, who I have seen tread the boards many times for Cygnet Players, was Dale Tremont. This is possibly my favourite role I have seen her in as it really showed off her dance ability and as that famous line goes, she did it all backwards and in heels!"

"Adam Walker-Galbraith verges on stealing the show as the hilarious Beddini. His attention to detail in his character ensured that he ensured every moment he was on stage was pure comedy."

"Top Hat is a show Cygnet Players should be proud of. With polished dance, strong principals and ensemble and an impressive set works together to create an enjoyable and impressive show."

Sarah McPartlan
Musical Theatre Musings Review

"Huge congratulations must go to Adam Walker-Galbraith on his musical directing debut and for delivering such a resounding success. The non-stop action, and overall pace, ensured the audience was immediately involved in, and remained enthralled throughout, the entire show. As musical directing debuts go, this was a fantastic achievement and something to look back on with pride."

"Congratulations must also be given to Lauren O’Mara who choreographed this show superbly."

"Jamie Miller-Hughes was truly fantastic in the hugely demanding role of Doralee. Not only did Jamie look, and act, the part of a country girl but she sang beautifully and had a terrific Southern accent."

"Kate Chesworth excelled as Violet, the long suffering supervisor who’d been repeatedly passed over for promotion in a male-dominated office environment. Kate’s acting and singing were both superb and I particularly enjoyed ‘Around Here’, where she introduced Judy to Consolidated Industries’ lengthy list of high expectations."

"This truly was an excellent performance, a very enjoyable afternoon’s entertainment, and most definitely ‘value for money’ in anyone’s eyes."

Des Wilby
Noda Review

"Cygnet Players is fortunate to have a formidable trio of women take on (the lead) roles. The moments where these 3 women were on stage fronting a number were consistently high standard and really stood out."

"Charlotte Donald ... had a nice vulnerability and awkwardness about her and knew how to time her comedy well. Her big number 'Get Out and Stay Out' deservedly drew cheers from the audience."

Sarah McPartlan
Musical Theatre Musings Review