A Yorkshire Mixture is a bold showcase of original drama penned by local playwrights, and to have so much fresh creative talent on our own doorstep, both on and off stage, is truly cause for celebration. The first half of the evening featured a series of reflective monologues in the style of Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. Grassington writer Keith Bromley, like Bennett, presents his actors with a tough challenge. There's no ensemble safety net, no stagecraft hiding place - just the need to engage the audience with a singular depth of emotion. Without exception, all the performers pulled off their high wire act superbly.

The opening piece featured two of the brightest young talents to set foot on the Playhouse stage - Brenna Smith and Mia Hirst, who shone with confidence to produce a pitch perfect performance of My Best Friend. Their parallel monologues tracing the course of a friendship between disparate personalities was both humorous and poignant, and both had the natural ability to cope with the balance.

These two have star quality, no question, and it's heartening to see the younger generation coming up on the rails with such flair and commitment.

 Steve Hunt's Last Chance was a simmering study of loneliness, humiliation and fear - and by the end it was the audience who were spooked.

The eternal outsider, he coaxed you into his shy, bullied world so convincingly that the final sinister minutes drew an audible gasp of surprise from the house. 

From the dark side, we were then transported to the gentler, whimsical world of Strawberry Yoghurt  thanks to an endearing portrayal by Joyce Liggins as an abandoned wife. Of all the first half pieces, this was archetypal Bennett and Joyce showed complete mastery of the genre - wistful, quirky and funny but sad to the bone.

When the symbol of betrayal comes down to a yoghurt you need an actor you can trust. We were in good hands.

Nevin Ward rounded off the first half with an absolute tour de force as Welshman Mr Griffiths in The Basque. This monologue, which charts the exotic lure of a basque found in a chapel jumble sale, was a wonderful example of the richness and rhythm of language and the end result was the perfect match of actor to text.

Beautifully written and brilliantly spoken, this for me was the stand-out treat of the evening.

Pateley writer and director Keith Burton took over the second half with his one act play The Journey, the Society's entry for the Nidderdale Drama Festival. Though very different in tone, it shared one vital piece of common ground with the monologues - nothing is as it seems.

Ben Derrick as the Lad takes a bus journey with his Gran, played by Ruth Dodsworth, and both skilfully reveal it as a deeply troubled journey through life.

It was a compelling script and as the trauma unfolded line by line these two consummate actors unleashed a force-field of emotions so powerful that the shock in the auditorium was palpable.

This was a riveting piece of original theatre and would merit accolades at any festival, local or national.

[WebEditors note: This last, prescient comment was made before the results of the Nidderdal & District Drama Festial were known - click here to read about the 4 awards won by The Journey]

All in all, an impressive evening of absorbing and thought-provoking drama marred only by too many empty seats in this gem of a Playhouse.

Come on, Pateley, man up - the programme may not be familiar territory but the players are consistently excellent and deserve better support for pushing the boundaries.