Tributes to Sylvia Hennen

Two tributes to Sylvia Hennen, a founder member of the Beaufort Players, who passed away in January this year.

Sylvia Mildred Hennen
29th September 1929 – 24th January 2017

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by Elaine O’Sullivan

Sadly Sylvia Hennen, one of the founder members of Beaufort Players, died recently. Beaufort Players a successful drama group based in Ealing, West London was founded in 1962 and has been going strongly ever since, most ably aided and abetted by Sylvia from day one. On first meeting her you might have thought that she was a rather ‘Grande Dame’ but I can assure she was not, being quite down to earth and enormous fun.

Her great love was acting, and she was in the very first play that Beaufort Players ever put on – ‘The Charm School’. After that she played a wide variety of roles including one half of the ‘Odd Couple’, Medea in ‘Pygmalion and His Galatea’ (a rather different slant to ancient Greek mythology), and Gluttony (one of the seven deadly sins!!) in A Play Called Noah’s Flood, plus, of course, the obligatory ‘whodunnits’ as either villain or victim. She also appeared as various members of the aristocracy, as to the manner born, including Lady Windermere and on another occasion a Baroness. She played all the parts with great accomplishment and understanding.

For many years she was Treasurer and ruled our finances with a rod of iron. She always knew whether we could spend any money or not and told us in no uncertain terms if we were likely to overspend on a production or if we could afford to replace any of our equipment. She started off as a financial ‘whiz kid’ and ended up as our ‘financial guru’.

You may think that she was a dragon, but in fact she had a great sense of humour, a wicked laugh and enjoyed being part of everything going on. I well remember, as do the others present at the time, her raising two extremely gracious fingers to me when I told her that the stole she was arranging around her shoulders looked just like ‘a frame round a picture’. That was Sylvia – smart, funny and a great team member. She is greatly missed.

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by Diana Dishley

Born in London, Sylvia’s family moved to Ealing when she was three years old. She lived in this small corner of Ealing for the rest of her life.

Since the late 1950s, when a pre-Beaufort Players Drama Group was operating in a wooden hall, Sylvia was acting in the various plays and then joined the newly formed Beaufort Players in 1962.

She has been in so many Beaufort Productions over the years since, and her timing and delivery were always excellent; she was a highly accomplished actress. Who can forget her in her BP Treasurer mode — chasing us for annual subs, and keeping an eye on the chocolate biscuits.

She was a kind and loyal friend, full of fun and mischief. I will always smile when I think of Sylvia as she certainly had a wicked sense of humour. Although she could come over as rather sharp and formidable, this, when you got to know her, was definitely not her. She was much loved by many.

One of the joys of the Beaufort Players is that age is irrelevant – we are group of friends with a common interest. I would like to quote a few of our younger members views of Sylvia.

“I will always remember her greeting folks at the door on play nights, never ruffled, she was always as cool as a cucumber and as sharp as a tack.”

“An excellent actress , a real leading light at Beaufort and it was a privilege to have known her.”

We will all have fond memories of her, and I think we will all remember her with a smile and perhaps our own particular tale.

Even in her last week when Roger and I were just leaving after a long visit in the hospital, we saw the real Sylvia again. Roger put his hand on her arm and said we were just going and would see her the next day, I added ‘and don’t get up to any mischief’ – at which a hint of a smile passed over her lips and she very slowly raised one arm just off the bedclothes with a thumbs up sign.

That was Sylvia – the end of an Era and a real friend who will be missed by so many people.