Who's "us"? Mike and Jan Nolan? Who are we?

Well, Mike has been that name since 1938, Jan only since 1970.

Our interests are the theatre and our friends.

Our current theatre activities you can read about on the

St Neots Players

link.

We have been active in the amateur theatre field for many, many years. Mike is about to celebrate forty years in the amateur theatre and Jan first trod the boards ages two.

Both of us have been employed in the part of the business which pays money for your services. We hate the amateur tag. You don't have to be amateurish to be an amateur and professionalism can be painfully lacking in some professionals. That was true even in the days when you could not get an equity card just for the asking.

Mike is an actor and director, a former theatre and club manager, who has done just about everything from Shakespeare to farce, from melodrama to mystery, from Greek drama to pantomime, from acting and directing to making the tea.

That's what the amateur theatre is all about.

Jan started as a dancer in her native Scotland and often had to, literally, dance for her supper as a child in the highland games. She attended the Scottish School of Variety and performed in many summer shows and the London Palladium.

Her amateur experience is just as varied as Mike's, probably more so with her dancing which is the least of Mike's talents. She was asked to choreograph "Hello Dolly" for the Minsk Operetta (Muskomteatr) and brought the first western dancing to a Belorussian theatre. The musical was the theatre's showcase production for visiting dignitaries for about three years.

You can read more about Minsk/Belorus on our link page to that town/country and about our friends there too.