Richard Sykes

Woodhouse Operatic Society (now Woodhouse Musical Theatre Company) gave me my first lead role at Lawrence Batley Theatre. They became my society and I wrote a musical for them. It was the first full musical I’d written and it went on the main stage.  

Lawrence Batley Theatre is incredibly close to my heart because it provided the happiest night of my life; that opening night when I heard people singing my songs on the way out of the theatre and also laughing at my jokes the moment they’d heard them. 

You don’t get many Yorkshire musicals and, for my next project, I wanted to do something based on a memory from my childhood here in Huddersfield. By George came about because I had a wonderful chip shop at the end of my road. I used that as the setting for the show.  

We were able to create a set. Lawrence Batley Theatre paid for that and it was extraordinary. To increase the realism we decided to add smell to it. We had someone frying chips in the backstage and had the aroma waft out. 

We have so much talent in Huddersfield. I wish there was more ethnic diversity within our societies. We encourage all people to come for casting but it’s so difficult; outreach is hard. We would love the community as a whole to be represented more broadly within what we have here. 

It’s important for the town because people should have access to a theatrical experience. Imagine a life without it.