Mark’s career with Turnpike started many moons ago when he was a member of the Junior group. Since then, Mark has gone on to perform in numerous productions over the years, going on to study drama at college and also performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Mark is an enthusiastic member and has had numerous roles within the group, including being the group’s Secretary. Mark is still a dedicated Turnpiker and is on our Committee.

Since joining Turnpike, Alan has been involved in a large number of productions and he has also been responsible for leading the junior section in the recent years. Alan has also performed with a number of groups in the area and enjoys visiting the theatre whenever possible.

Carole is no stranger to the stage and has been involved in Turnpike productions year after year. Carole initially joined Turnpike to help out with Front of House but soon ended up on stage. Since then she has been the group’s first choice for a wide range of roles including the lovable Cow in Jack and the Beanstalk.

CHAIR OF TRUSTEES

Since Turnpike’s formation in 1984, Gill has worked tirelessly behind the scenes developing the group and guiding it through some difficult times, making Turnpike the group that it is today.

In 2010, she was awarded the Yorkshire Bank’s Spirit of Community Award but more recently in 2012, Gill’s work was acknowledged by the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Birthday Honours and was awarded the British Empire Medal for voluntary services to the arts of Wigan. Gill does her work selflessly and without the desire for any praise. Turnpike is very grateful for everything she does and the way she manages to keep everyone on track. Gill is truly deserving of her award and everyone at Turnpike is so very proud of her achievement. In 2017, Gill became the Chair of the Trustees for the charity and is still very much involved in the group.

CHAIR

As a Turnpike member since 1996, Neil has performed in a number of productions and has directed the group since 2002. Since joining Neil has been involved both on and off the stage with Junior and Adult Turnpike. Neil has also been involved in promoting the active participation in the arts throughout the borough as the Vice Chair of Wigan’s Art Exchange. In the past he has also travelled to Angers in France (Wigan and Leigh’s twin town) to develop the links between different art organisations on both sides of the English Channel. Neil was delighted to be appointed the role of Chair in 2017, taking over from Gill David BEM.

TREASURER

Lucie has been a member of Turnpike since the summer of 1997. She has been involved in a large number of performances and has also appeared in England’s first school production of Les Miserables. She has also appeared in the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival. Lucie is now a dedicated Committee Member and in 2014 was elected to be the Treasurer.

Georgia has been a valued member of the group since joining in 2018. She has come on strength by strength in each performance and last starred as our Princess in Jack & the Beanstalk.

Stuart is our Lead Technician and excels himself with every show he is involved in. Stuart has taught himself the ropes and now goes above and beyond at every performance to enhance the experience. He has won the Director’s award on an number of occasions for his commitment and the enthusiasm he demonstrates.

VICE CHAIR

Sarah joined Turnpike in 2011 and has since become a strong and committed member of the group. She has been involved and performed with local dance and drama groups for many years. She also performed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games Festival at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester. Since joining Turnpike Sarah has become in charge of marketing and social media for the group. She is also Turnpike’s very own Videographer. Sarah has become an all-round member of the group and has enjoyed acting on stage as well as being the Assistant Director and Producer to some of our shows. In 2016 Sarah commenced her role as the PR and Marketing Office for the group and became the group’s Vice Chair in 2018.

Sophie joined Turnpike in the summer of 2016 to perform in her very first production with the group of Cinderella. Sophie is however no stranger to the stage and has been performing with local groups since a very young age. Sophie has also been involved in the entertainment industry for some time and could recently be seen performing on cruise ships around the world.

TRUSTEE

Richard, known amongst Turnpike as ‘Dicky,’ has been a new addition to Turnpike originally joining to assist backstage and with set making. He is a great asset to the group with his set construction and props management. In true Turnpike style we even managed to get him onstage in 2012 as the ‘Dame’ in our Christmas production of Jack and the Beanstalk. He even surprised himself when he loved performing onstage as it was a lot less nerve-racking than making sure everything backstage and on the set was right! Dicky was welcomed onto the board of Trustees for the charity in 2018.

Stuart joined Turnpike in 2019 for the Christmas pantomime of Jack & the Beanstalk. He excelled as the Giant and Prime Minister. He even took to making our beloved Buttercup the cow from scratch so his artistic flare doesn’t stop at just being on stage!

Since joining Turnpike as a junior member, she has performed numerous times for Turnpike and other theatre groups. Kim took on the role of the ‘White Rabbit’ in 2012’s production of Alice in Wonderland which proved very challenging as she had to learn the art of puppetry. She has also done some professional work and appeared on TV soap, Hollyoaks. More recently, Kim has started at Wigan & Leigh College doing media make up and is now Turnpike’s resident Make Up Artist!

Sue is no stranger to the stage having performed from an early age in her local theatre group. She joined Turnpike back in 2003 and has performed in numerous productions. She has often found herself taking on the role of a baddie in many Christmas pantomimes. Although she plays these roles so well she is very different when not acting. Sue in an all-rounder and has co-directed as well as helped out as a light and sound technician with her husband, Steve.

Katherine answered our casting call in 2018 for chorus members in for our pantomime of Sleeping Beauty. Katherine excelled in her performance and even jointly won the Director’s award that year for her contributions both on and off stage.

Deborah joined Turnpike in the summer of 2016 after joining the cast for her first production of Cinderella. She will made her stage debut as the ‘Wicked Stepmother’ and we have not been able to keep her off the stage since! Deborah has performed many productions with the group including Cinderella, The Witches, Blood Brothers, Dick Whittington, The Twits, Sleeping Beauty and The Wizard of Oz.

Jeanette has been a member of Turnpike since 2019 when she joined to be a part of Jack & the Beanstalk. She soon roped her husband, Malcolm in to join the cast too and she enjoys performing onstage alongside him.

Malcolm joined Turnpike in 2019 when his wife auditioned for Jack & the Beanstalk. Malcolm was thrilled to be a part of the cast and has enjoyed being a valued member of the group ever since!