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Newsletter Winter 2007 COMMITTEE CHAIR:
Jo Finch SECRETARY: Melanie Haydon TREASURER: Claire Bevan COMMITTEE: Lesley Evans Rebecca
Rickard Vanessa Sharpe Sue
Spurling Sue Holligan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PANTO ’07 As you read
this, all those who worked so hard to make this year’s panto the success it
was will, no doubt, be recovering from all the efforts of the last months. Congratulations must go to Vicky, Sue and
all the cast for a splendid production, but I am sure they would also wish
special mention to be made of all the people behind the scenes who
contributed so much effort and time to support their efforts. As usual we were fortunate to have a
talented technical team in the persons of Andrew Flanagan and Trevor Ryan on
lighting and Bill Sutton on sound, and what a difference it made having
pianist Bridget Coleman to accompany the songs. Keith Chapman’s set designs
ensured attractive backdrops for the action on stage, and Chris Hall’s
special effects were, as usual, both effective and ingenious. Several cast members contributed to the
making of costumes which were original and effective. Surely we had the most
stylishly dressed wolf ever seen on stage!
Everyone was word perfect but I’m sure that the cast appreciated the
support of Linda as prompt in the early days! During performances an army of
volunteers manned front of house, sold raffle tickets, served refreshments
and applied make up. The backstage crew worked so hard during the performance
as time during scene changes was in short supply, and yet the changes were
effected quietly and efficiently. Our thanks also to Cross Stores for
providing a central point in the village for ticket sales. From outside the village our thanks to
Stockbridge Co-op and the Hairy Pot Company. It was delightful to see so many
youngsters performing so well and clearly enjoying the experience and it was
particularly gratifying to see how those who have now been in several pantos
have really developed in both confidence and acting and speech skills. It is clear from their efforts that the
future of The Players is assured. Although the
panto has engaged much of our attention since November there have been other
activities since the AGM, a summary of which appears below. SHAKESPEARE EVENING For our first
post AGM meeting , the Society met in the Epworth Hall for a Shakespeare
evening organised and run by Vanessa Sharpe.
No doubt some amongst us may have less than comfortable memories of
struggling with Shakespeare at school, but Vanessa’s approach was
entertaining and varied, proving that Shakespeare really CAN by fun. The evening included role play, scene
re-enactments with minimal props and readings from ‘A Midsummer Night’s
Dream’ and ‘Macbeth’ Participants
clearly enjoyed the evening and proved that their talents extend far beyond
pantomime and farce, much as we enjoy performing these. IMPROVISATION EVENING In October
Vanessa Sharpe and Sue Holligan ran an evening of fun and spontaneity, again
in the Epworth Hall. Activities were
designed to make people ‘think on their feet’ really getting into character
and having a lot of fun on the way. At
one point participants as patients in the Doctor’s waiting room had various
ailments; there were domestic disputes involving mothers in law and members
who attended also had to introduce themselves many times over in different
guises. The evening was well attended
and everyone felt that the experience was both enjoyable and confidence
building. (Vanessa
Sharpe) CHRISTMAS GET-TOGETHER As always it
proved rather difficult to identify a suitable date and venue for a Christmas
get-together. In order not to disrupt
panto rehearsals or clash with other village seasonal activities it was
decided to have a short get-together after the rehearsal on 14 December which
Vicky very kindly finished early. It
was disappointing that more people were not able to attend, but those who
did, enjoyed the informal get-together. The committee
feels that it might be an idea to have some kind of social get-together after
the panto next year. What do you think
???? If you have any suggestions as to
what form this might take or suitable venues please let a member of the
committee know. MURDER MYSTERY EVENING No doubt you
will have read in The Gauntlet that on Friday 27 April the Somborne Players
are to stage a murder mystery as part of a Murder Mystery evening, being
organised by OCTOBER PRODUCTION We are planning
an October production, which is to be directed by Vanessa Sharpe and produced
by Jo Finch. A final decision on the
choice of script has yet to be made so if you have any suggestions please let
a member of the committee know asap, and preferably before the next committee
meeting which is on Thursday 29 march.
The performance dates will be Friday 5 and Saturday 6 of October. PANTO 2008 No! - your eyes
deceive you not !! We ARE beginning to
think about our next pantomime. We aim to have a script chosen and a Director
identified before the end of July. SO
- if you would like to have a go at directing please don’t be shy. We really do want to be ahead of ourselves
this year so that the preliminary meeting and auditions can be held and
rehearsals can commence as soon as possible after the October
production. It is always good to have
new ideas so please DO give it some thought.
If you fancy having a go but are a little unsure help is at hand from
those who have done it in the past. Obviously the Director needs to be
involved in the choice of script and so the sooner we have our Director the
sooner we can move ahead. If writing appeals rather than Directing, why not
have a go at writing a panto for us?
Twice in the past the Somborne Players have performed pantos written
by members - both with great success.
In order to judge the suitability the whole script needs to be read
and so it might not be a viability for 2008 - but there is always 2009 !! Dates for your Diary Monday 12 March
~ Murder Mystery Meeting in Epworth Hall Thursday 29
March ~ Committee Meeting Friday 27 April
~ Murder Mystery Evening Wednesday 2 May
~ AGM in the Epworth Hall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
