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In Memoriam - Joe Teasdale

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Last Post: Thursday 29th February 2024

From some longstanding members. Joe Teasdale joined the Rossendale Players in the early 1950s and has been involved with our stage sets ever since, until ill health meant he could not continue. He followed in the footsteps of his father who had also been Stage Manager. He has, we believe, designed and/or erected sets for all the venues which the Players have used since we were formed in 1936. His commitment was unrivalled and he was also involved in the conversion of the Bethel Baptist Leisure Hall from a sewing machine store to our much loved theatre. Jeff Heys worked with him on many productions and was his friend and near neighbour. Jeff has contributed the following tribute to Joe. "Joe and I spent many hours over a number of years transporting furniture, stage flats etc. from the storage garage at Cawl Terrace to various venues such as the College Theatre, Rawtenstall; the Mechanics Institute, Bacup; the Leisure Hall, Bacup, etc. Sometimes we had additional help but it was often just the two of us in all weathers. If it was dark we funtioned by headlights; if it was raining we simply got wet. He never complained and he never took a raincheck. Joe spoke his own version of Pitman’s Shorthand. He would issue one-word commands such as ‘right!’ ‘yours!’ ‘ready!’ and I always knew what he meant. We built entire stage sets without using sentences. And his demeanour was always positive. If he hammered his thumb his initial grimace would be followed by a smile. Nothing panicked him. When we presented Ladies In Retirement, the opening of Act II required the curtain to rise revealing the rest home to be on fire whilst one of the residents was playing the piano. We didn’t rehearse the smoke effects so when Joe turned up on the first night with a tube of 2p smoke pellets from a joke shop we struggled to light them. We all became very agitated and when we eventually achieved some smoke Joe calmly wafted it onto the stage with a sheet of hardboard signalling to the operator to open the curtains. This he did with such a jolt that the curtains stuck half-open revealing Marjorie Heys merrily plonking out a melody. The script called for her to be interrupted by one of the residents but Joe in the intensity of the moment had omitted to cue the resident. She was immediately summoned but upon appraising the situation said, “Oh, well, if you can manage without me I’ll stay here!” and she refused to make an entrance. The smoke lozenge soon fizzled out and so did Marjorie. Joe and I closed the curtains manually. A heated discussion ensued backstage and Act II did eventually resume but Joe was not happy that an extra smoke pellet was needed. He had only bought enough for the four-night run! Joe was also a neighbour of mine and in the days before car ownership he took me to work every morning without fail. No need to worry if it had snowed overnight. Joe took me to work. He had learned to drive as a conscript in Cyprus and I can’t count how many times I gripped the sides of my passenger seat as he negotiated Rawtenstall roundabout like the parade ground in Akrotiri. And he was often discovered waiting patiently to ferry me home again at the end of an unpredictable afternoon. Joe was my idea of a true Christian. I was raised in the Christian faith so I have some insight into its teachings and beliefs. Joe embodied all of them. R.I.P. Joe Teasdale",