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Joan became a member of The Questors during the war years, which means that she was one of that sadly ever-decreasing band of stalwarts known as 'The Tin
Hutters'.
And what a stalwart she was ! A perfectionist to her finger-tips, Joan, with her mass
of wonderful flame-coloured hair and fiery nature was always a force to be reckoned with. Although she had joined as an acting member, Joan's dressmaking expertise soon drew her to the Wardrobe where, together with a band of equally dedicated coworkers, she produced costumes of such excellent craftsmanship that many of them are still great stand-bys in use today. Shoddy work was anathema to her and she
expected the same degree of effort from others as she demanded of herself.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the wider theatre world should have claimed her
services, and for a period she worked professionally at Glyndebourne and with the
Welsh National Opera.
But Joan never severed her connection with The Questors and continued making the
occasional costume or playing small parts until the multiple sclerosis, which first
struck her down in the 1960's, denied her the capacity to exercise her great talent.
As an actress she never essayed very large roles, but I remember with particular
pleasure her performances in The Living Room in 1961 and Man and Superman in
1969.
Two things I shall long remember her for were her fierce pride in being Welsh, and her really wicked, deep-throated chuckle which many a time has stimulated a sticky
audience to laughter, to the great gratitude and enjoyment of her fellows on the stage.
KIT EMMET
JOAN PYLE AT THE QUESTORS
1945 But Now I Am Returned
1945 The Herald
1946 The Arbitration
1946 Children in Uniform
1946 Diary of a Scoundrel
1946 Drought
1946 Much Ado About Nothing
1946 The Old Ladies (excerpt)
1947 Final Dividend
1947 The Playboy of The Western World
1959 The Knight of The Burning Pestle
1959 Questrionics
1960 The Beggars' Opera
1960 The House of Cowards
1960 Misalliance
1961 The Living Room
1962 Going-Going
1962 Lysistrata
1962 Pygmalion
1962 Step-in-the-Hollow
1963 The Comical Lovers
1963 East Lynne
1963 Goodness Gracious! Is that Really Me?
1965 The Confidential Clerk
1966 Hecabe
1966 Macbeth
1967 An Italian Straw Hat
1967 Mary Stuart (schools tour)
1968 Hedda Gabler
1968 The Shaughraun
1969 Man and Superman
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