It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of IAN CARTWRIGHT on Saturday 8th August. Ian had the distinction of having the longest unbroken membership in the society having been “accepted for membership” of the “Thesps” on the 14th of January 1969. He made his acting debut in March of that year in the part of “Rev. Leslie Fox” in “HAUL FOR THE SHORE”. His talent was immediately recognised by the society and from then on he was a regular cast member. I first met Ian in person in 1981 when I joined the society but both my wife Linda and I had seen him in several plays after we moved to live in Wombwell in 1980. I never acted on-stage with him but was privileged to direct him in many plays over the years. He was an extremely versatile actor and was as comfortable playing broad comedy as he was “serious” dramatic roles. Looking back over the many plays I directed and in which he was cast, roles which stand out for me are as “Henry Horatio Hobson” in “Hobson’s Choice”, “Sgt Rough” in “Gaslight“, “Mr Burling” in “An Inspector Calls”, “Wilf Pearson” in “Beside the Seaside”, “Bill Brown” in “The Love Match” (a favourite play of his) – the list goes on! He was also regularly produced for the Thesps and, on the retirement of Mrs Ada Crowe, took on a new role as make-up artist, for which he went on a course run by NODA. It was to his regret and frustration that in later years, following a slight stroke, he had to relinquish acting roles due to a failing memory. He last “trod the boards” in May 2018 in our production of Patrick Barlow’s comedy/drama adaptation of John Buchan’s spy thriller “THE 39 STEPS” as “Inspector Albright”. It was only a small part – barely half a page – but by golly did he shine! Ian was also chairman and, later, vice-chairman of the society.

Ian was a stickler for “coming off the book” (i.e. having memorised all his lines) before stage rehearsals began. This was true for every play he was in. Another particular practice of his was, as he put it, “getting the feel of the set”. This meant that before each performance he was to be found sitting quietly on the stage behind the closed House Tabs, soaking in the atmosphere of the play. I have a particular memory of this during the run of “An Inspector Calls” in October 1991. Ian also possessed a fine resonant baritone voice and a great lover of what he described as “proper” musicals such as “The Merry Widow”, “White Horse Inn” and “The Student Prince”. Monday mornings in the theatre have not been the same without the banter between Ian and Alan Parker (who passed on in 2020) about the choice of music played during the work-session – Ian being an opera/operetta-lover (Richard Tauber being a favourite singer of his!) and Alan firmly a lover of rock’n’roll!

To my mind, Ian had the talent to be a professional actor and the Thespians, and our audiences, were extremely fortunate to have had the benefit of this talent for so many years. He was a dedicated and wise member of the group and involved himself any way he could, either onstage, backstage or “Front of House” in all our productions I am proud and honoured to have known him and, along with the other members of the “Thesps” family, will miss him greatly.

Our thoughts and sincere condolences go out to his family.