The Committee

Chairman Vicky Burden

Treasurer Melanie Haydon

Secretary Vanessa Sharpe

Committee members

Nigel Coleman

Alan Glynne Jones

Sue Holligan

Rebecca Rickard

contact the committee on: somborneplayers@googlemail.com

Panto 2009

Yes indeed! It’s time to start planning for Panto 2009. Performance dates are likely to be Friday 20^th and Saturday 21^st February. The committee are currently reading potential scripts and looking for a director and a producer. Anyone interested (no commitment necessary at this stage) should let a committee member know – or phone Vicky with any questions if you’d like to know more. No experience necessary and lots of help and support on hand. Go on, give it a try!

The start up meeting for adults will be on Wednesday 8^th October at 7.45. Venue will be confirmed later.

Costume

Unfortunately, we are again looking for storage space for our costume. If anyone has any potential space available or knows of any possibilities for hiring space in or near the village, please let us know. It is likely that if we can not find storage by the end of the year, we will no longer be able to keep a large store of costumes for pantos and plays.

Upcoming Events:

· Sunday 14^th September - Pub Walk

Join the Players for a walk along the Test Way to the White Hart at Stockbridge. Meet at 11.30 outside the Church. Or join us in the pub at around 12.30. Open to all Players, friends and families. Please let Nigel know if you want to join us so a table can be booked for lunch.

· 11^th and 12^th October – Harvest Celebrations

As always, the Players will be contributing to the entertainment at this year’s Harvest Supper on Friday 11^th at 7pm in the Village Hall. Look out for more details in the Gauntlet. We are also entertaining the families at the Harvest Lunch the following day. If anyone wants to help out with any of these events, please get in touch with a committee member as soon as you can.

· Autumn Play 2008 – J.B. Priestley’s “Dangerous Corner”

Following our success last year with “An Inspector Calls”, the Players are staging another Priestley play, this one set in the 1930s and directed by David Haydon. The performances are on Friday 31^st October and Saturday 1^st November at 7.30pm in the Village Hall. The cast includes Andrew Flanagan, Harry Gandy, Alan Glynne Jones, Chris Hall, Sue Jackson and Vanessa Sharpe. Tickets will be on sale next month, so make a note of the date now as this is set to be another must-see production. If anyone is interested in producing the play or supporting David in any way, please get in touch.

· Proteus Theatre present The Snow Queen

This much loved fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson will be performed by a professional theatre company in the Village Hall on Saturday 13^th December at 6.30pm. There will also be a free post show talk from the company for those who are interested. Suitable for all ages. Put the date in your diary now so you don’t miss out on this fabulous production.

· Future events

In November we intend to put on some panto workshops for the cast of the 2009 panto and anyone else who wants to get involved. If anyone is interested in running any workshops or has any good ideas, please contact Vicky. We are also hoping to take part in Stockbridge’s Big Benefit Night at the end of November to help them raise money for their Town Hall. Finally for 2008 we will be inviting you to an evening of charades and mulled wine on 18^th December - more on this nearer the time.

Many more events are planned for 2009, details of which are on the website. If you have ideas for events you would like to see the Players organising, please let us know.

Past Events

· Panto 2008 - CINDERELLA

Last winter’s panto was a great success. Superbly directed by Vicky Burden with huge support from other members and friends both on and off stage, another hilarious production was achieved. As with last year, the excellent performances of the children were praised, and this year’s particular highlight was the dancing which gave the show even more energy and excitement.

· Players Meal

After all the stress of the panto, the Players had a much needed celebration in the form of a delicious meal at the Purbani in Stockbridge.

· April Fools

Everyone who joined in on this sing for your supper evening had a wonderful time. Such a mixture of entertainment was provided, along with lovely food. We had reminiscences of how the Players first began over 20 years ago, Australian songs, flute and guitar music, humorous poetry, traditional ballads, home-written plays, fire juggling and much more. A night so full of fun that we’re thinking of making it an annual event!

· Puppet Show at the Church Fete

A wonderful play, written and performed by 3 of our junior members using a variety of puppets, delighted the crowd at the Church Fete this summer. Huge thanks go to Thomas and Joseph Rickard and Christopher Waggott for the time and effort they spent creating such a spectacular show.

· Flower Festival

Our thanks also go to Cynthia Bloom and Audrey Gannaway for creating such a beautiful flower display on behalf of the Players at the Flower Festival in the Parish Church.

· Variety Show

The Players were delighted to be able to contribute to the high quality entertainment of the King’s Somborne Variety Show last July. Vicky Burden, Catherine Cartwright and Chris Hall acted out a hysterical melodrama directed by Audrey Gannaway and Vanessa Sharpe and Lesley Evans gave a poignant (and side-splitting) performance of The Highwayman. With our own multi-talented Alan Glynne Jones also presenting his own juggling act, and many other village groups contributing, the evening was definitely one of variety and great camaraderie as we all enjoyed helping raise money for the refurbishment of the Village Hall.

· Beetle Drive

Even those young sceptics among us who had never been to a beetle drive before, found this an amusing night of fast paced action which really brought out the competitive nature of some of the Players.

· A Play in a Week

What can we say? The Children’s Production was an astounding success, due to the excellent hard work of Sarah Litton, her two helpers from Peter Symonds in Winchester and a cast of 16 youngsters from King’s Somborne. They all toiled tirelessly for a week - doing workshops, auditions, learning lines, making costume and props, rehearsing and finally delivering a stonking performance to a crowd of proud family members, friends and Players. Massive thanks to Sarah for all the work she put into this, and huge congratulations to the children for such amazing performances.

Following the play, we all gathered for a much deserved and enjoyed barbecue in the evening sunshine in the company of many new faces. It was great to have so many members of the community joining us.

Subs

If you have not yet paid your subscription for membership to the Players 08-09, please get money to Melanie, or to any committee member. Subs are £15 family, £7.50 adults, £5 children.

Website

For more information and photos on past events and productions, or to keep up to date with what’s happening in the Players, visit our very own easy to access website.

You can find this on www.giraffeandtiger.plus.com/players or by going to the Sombornes website on www.thesombornes.org.uk and clicking on the link in the Players page. The website includes current and past information on productions, events, committee meetings, AGMs and newsletters and also has links to photos and a forum for discussion.

Don’t worry if you’re not online – all important information will be delivered by hand to members who don’t have email addresses.