Monday 31 August 2009

WHAT A LIBERTY!

Capel Soar (above, top) is a striking feature of Sisson Street and still in use as a Welsh Wesleyan Methodist place of worship. It opened in 1895, same year as Marine Lake. You would suspect no connection between the chapel and showbiz; nevertheless that’s where rehearsals of the amateur dramatic group Rhyl Liberty Players take place.

The group formed in 1942, in the middle of Second World War (Liberty was a buzz word at the time). Since then ‘The Libs’ have put on all kinds of stage plays. Occasionally they run drama workshops. The cast picture is from the 2002 production of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. It appears in the book ‘The Spirit Of Rhyl’ by Bill Ellis, published in 2004.

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SAT 5th DEC 2009 UPDATE: A reader has been in touch to say that prior to the opening of present premises in 1895, the chapel had been the other side of Sisson Street on the site where now stands the little Apostolic Church. Thank you, Jim.

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