JANUARY 2019 NOTES - Oast Theatre, Tonbridge...January 2019 2 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY SUNDAY, 6TH...
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Adapted for the stage by Shaun McKenna Based on the film written and directed by Charles Dance From a short story by William J. Locke Ladies Lavender in An amateur production by arrangement with Samuel French 19 th - 26 th January 2019 8pm (Sunday 3pm) Tickets £11 (Sunday £10) members £7.50 www.oasttheatre.com tel: 01732 363849 Registered Charity Number 227035 January 2019
Transcript of JANUARY 2019 NOTES - Oast Theatre, Tonbridge...January 2019 2 DATES FOR YOUR DIARY SUNDAY, 6TH...
Adapted for the stage by Shaun McKennaBased on the film written and directed by Charles DanceFrom a short story by William J. Locke
LadiesLavenderin
An amateur productionby arrangement with Samuel French
19th - 26th January 20198pm (Sunday 3pm)Tickets £11 (Sunday £10) members £7.50www.oasttheatre.com tel: 01732 363849
Registered Charity Number 227035
January 2019
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
SUNDAY, 6TH JANUARY LAST DAY FOR COPY FORFEBRUARY OAST NOTES
Saturday, 19th –Saturday, 26th January incl.
Play of the Month:Ladies in Lavender
Friday, 1st FebruarySunday, 3rd February
Audition - “Nunsense”Audition - “Nunsense”
Sunday, 3rd February New Play Readings
Wednesday, 6th February Re-calls – “Nunsense”
Sunday, 17th February Performances of FestivalOne Act plays
NEXT MONTH’S PLAY – “Things I know to be True” byAndrew Bovell 9th – 16th February. The story of a family andmarriage as seen through the eyes of four grown siblings strugglingto define themselves beyond their parents’ love and expectations.
A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR READERS.LET’S HOPE THINGS SORT THEMSELVES OUT
‘BREXIT’ wise but don’t hold your breath!
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PLAY OF THE MONTH
“Ladies In Lavender”adapted by Shaun McKenna from a screenplayby Charles Dance – based on a short story by William J Locke
“Ladies in Lavender” is set in 1937 when the dreadful prospect ofanother great European war began to seem inevitable. Two sistershave lived their lives in an isolated cottage on the Cornish coast,one having lost her ‘Peter’ on the Western front and the other whonever had a ‘Peter’ to lose. Then like a Hans Christian Andersenfairy tale, a young man is rescued from the sea needing their love,care and attention while his broken body heals. Peppered withmany humorous asides, this play is an enjoyable and tender storyand is surely one of the must-see plays of the season.
Stuart McCreadieDirector
You will surely want to see this production so do BOOK EARLYas it is bound to be a sell-out. Tickets can be obtained from theBox Office website, www.oasttheatre.com, by telephone on 01732363849 or by post using an Advance Booking Form which you canpick up from the theatre foyer. Oh, and do bring some tissues justin case!
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AUDITIONS
“Nunsense” a musical comedy by Dan Goggin
Auditions: Friday, 1st February 2019 – 7.45pmJanet Young studioSunday, 3rd February 2019 – 7.00pmKens Place
Re-calls: Wednesday, 6th February 2019 – 7.45pmJanet Young studio
Please check on www.oasttheatre.com under auditions for a fulldescription of the play/characters and audition requirements, andpieces.
Performance dates: 18th – 25th May, 2019
Director: Helen [email protected]
The play is based in New York. 7 of 19 surviving Little Sisters ofHoboken discover their cook has accidentally killed the other 52residents of the convent. In order to raise funds for the burial ofthe last 4 of the deceased nuns they decide to stage a variety show.Fraught with hilarity we watch the nuns try to perform theirplanned performances amidst chaos and calamity.
CAST
Mother Superior, Sister Mary Regina – 40s-60s . Range mezzo/sopranobelter B3-.F5. A former circus performer who cannot resist thespotlight.
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“Nunsense” contd.
Sister Mary Hubert – 30s-60s. Range mezzo/alto belter G3-F5. Secondin command, competitive but dignified.
Sister Robert Anne – 20s-50s. Range mezzo belter G3-D5. Streetwisefrom Brooklyn and a constant source of aggravation for MotherSuperior.
Sister Mary Leo – 20s-30s. Range mezzo belter G#-G5. Novicedetermined to be the world’s first ballerina nun.
Sister Mary Amnesia – 20s-50s. Range soprano belter Db4-C6. Verysweet, lost her memory after a crucifix fell on her head.
Additional ensemble – jovial nuns with great personalities & singingvoices
Sister Mary Angelica of the Annunciation - A character of your ownchoosing. Involved in all the main scenes/numbers with a small bit ofscripted dialogue.
Sister Agnes Thomas Aquinas – A character of your own choosing.Involved with all the main scenes/numbers.
ALL CAST WILL NEED THE ABILITY TO LEARNCHOREOGRAPHY, INCLUDING A SMALL AMOUNT OF TAP(DOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT).
Feel free to email the Director with any questions.Read a sample from the musical athttp://www.samuelfrench.com/p/748/nunsense
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A NOTE ON THE YOUTHTHEATRE’S APRIL PRODUCTION
The Youth Theatre’s April production, currently titled in the Season’sprogramme – ‘The Oast Youth Theatre Perform a Show’, has beendecided! We will be performing “The School Film” by Patrick Marber,a play produced for the National Theatre Connections.
The play centres on a school assembled to watch the black and whiteversion of ‘Great Expectations’ from the 1940s. As the young viewersabsorb the adventures of the characters in the old story they begin todiscover what their own expectations might be.
In an exciting opportunity for the Youth Theatre, we will also beperforming the show at Trinity Theatre, Tunbridge Wells on Friday 15th
(evening) and Saturday 16th (matinée) March. Both at Trinity and theOast, the shows will be presented as a double bill of one act showsalongside “Variations” by Katie Hims, performed by Trinity YouthTheatre and also directed by me.
As a result of these extra performances at Trinity there will no longerbe a Wednesday performance on 3rd April at the Oast, and the doublebill will instead be performed here on Thursday, 4th - Saturday, 6th
April.
Both plays are exciting pieces of new writing and in performing at twotheatres both groups get to experience different environments, set upsand also get the opportunity to work with the different casts and learnfrom them.
I hope to see you at one of the five performances and that you enjoy theshows
Jason LowerOast Youth Theatre Director
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NEW MEMBERS
A warm welcome to the following people who have just joined us:
Mostly this month for the Youth Theatre
Oscar Carson Libby Hoey Bruno PageMaddie Sanderson Jacob Watson Phoebe Winter
You all join a very exciting and talented group of young people.
and the following old(er) folk:
Andrew & Shelley Cornish who join as Audience members.
Robert Grist who is interested in acting, directing, stage management,lighting & sound and helping in the bar.
Rachel Kerry is also interested in acting, directing and theatreworkshops.
AND A NOTE FROM THE PAST…FROM DRUMMOND ABRAMS
“I have recently moved to a care home and despite the rather ominousname ‘Care Home’, I am in very good health for an 85 year old. Thatcould make me the oldest past Chairman living, I guess. I value mymembership, even (though) getting to shows is now very difficult.
All the best to anyone who remembers me and good to receive a nicecheque from the 100 Club a short while back.
I gave up being Chairman after two years on the job. George Kirk wasChairman during the building from a drying Oast to Theatre Oast, andthen getting organised to pay back our loans. A lot of money in thosedays.”
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ONE POINT OF VIEW
Pat Barker’s “Regeneration” adapted by Nicholas Wright
As our nation marked the centenary of the end of WW1 there were manybeautiful and moving memorials to those who fought; many towns and citieshad elaborate poppy displays and silhouettes of soldiers. Here at The Oastthis anniversary was marked with this splendid production of“Regeneration” directed with care by Valerie Galbraith. It was a productionthat I enjoyed very much.
The play told the story of life at the Craiglockhart War Hospital, Scotland,1917 – and, in particular, the meeting between the poets Siegfried Sassoonand Wilfred Owen. Their relationship forms a deep, inspirational bond, onethat is perhaps the heart of this play – portrayed with care and sensitivity bySymon Hamer and Cameron Corcoran. Their physician, W H R Rivers,ably played by Neil Harris, worked tirelessly to support them, assisted byFiona Dunn as Sister Rogers – a sympathetic and very believableperformance. Alongside these a variety of other soldiers, all deeply affectedand shell-shocked by the horrors they had faced in battle, were played well,with conviction and clarity. There were some genuine affectingperformances amongst these men, and I was very impressed by MatthewKelly as Billy Prior who gave a performance rich with nuance and honesty.I must also say how much I enjoyed Chris Miall’s dark and energeticportrayal of Dr Yealland – an unethical physician with shades of SweeneyTodd! The ensemble all added interest and texture to the play.
There were times I felt that the acting needed more energy and spark,something Chris definitely brought to the stage. All cast members deliveredlines clearly and confidently, but at times I found myself wanting moredepth. All were well directed in movement and voice, but I personally feltdeeper character development or understanding would have enhanced theirperformances even further.
The set was an inventive and elaborate thing and congratulations must go toPeter Galbraith and the Playgroup for its design and construction. Itcaptured the essence of the hospital location well – with a sterile look,supported to good effect by appropriate projections and authentic set andprops. The fake wall that allowed large set items to be brought on quickly
was well thought out and generally worked very well. I would havepreferred it to have been used more consistently with some changesin blackout, and others fully lit. I suspect a constantly visibletransition would have been accepted by the audience, who had
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“Regeneration” contd.
quickly clocked what was happening there. There were points in the playwhere set changes took some time and this interrupted the flowparticularly in the early scenes which were often quite short with lengthyset changes between them. Once the show found its flow, however, itreally found its voice and its power. There was clearly a well-oiledmachine working very hard backstage!
Technical elements were all very good. Lighting and sound were used togood effect with music enhancing the play throughout and giving a senseof time, emotion and location.
Projections were excellent and really helped create a sense of place andatmosphere. They did not detract from the play but enhanced andsupported it.
Overall I think Valerie is to be applauded for bringing such a demandingand ambitious play to our stage so successfully. It was clearly a labourof love and one for which she has earned my utmost respect. Ensemblepieces, with multiple narrative strands and a complex and demandingvariety of sets are difficult to manage, and the success of “Regeneration”is testament to how hard she and her team worked. I know many of theaudience thoroughly enjoyed it, with one person telling me it was‘mesmerising’. The success of any production, ultimately, is in itsaudience – and they were clearly very pleased. My congratulations to allinvolved.
Ian Tucker-Bell
BOX OFFICE RESULTSA total of 835 tickets were sold for “Regeneration”, being 93% of the
capacity. There were 145 (18%) Season Ticket holders, 268 (32%)Members, 420 (50%) Non Members and 2 Associate Members. 648transactions were booked online, being 78% of the total bookings.
Brian Perryman
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DATES FOR YOUR DIARIESSunday, 3rd February – NEW PLAY READINGS – 2.00pm start in theJanet Young Studio.
Sunday, 17th February – We are performing on stage at 2.00pm the OneAct plays which are entered in the local festivals.
Please come and support us!
Sandra Barfield
AGM 2ND DECEMBERThank you to all who came to this year’s AGM.I have the pleasure to inform you of your new Management Committee.
Phil Porter – ChairmanValerie Galbraith – Vice ChairmanDavid Keith – Hon. TreasurerElizabeth Portlock – Hon. SecretarySandra Barfield – Drama DirectorMaggie Hoiles – PublicityJason Lower – Youth DirectorGordon Court – Art Group RepresentativeJo Pierce – Wardrobe RepresentativeCathryn Gahan – ChaperoningJohn PerryShirley BrowningPhil HoldenNick Blessley – A big welcome to Nick!
Geoff Daniels – co-opted on to the committee – Technical Director
The Management Committee would like to thank Brian Perryman forhis contribution to the committee. Although he has stood down he willstill be running the Oast Membership.
Elizabeth PortlockHon Secretary
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NOTES FROM THE WARDROBE
Last month we looked back 100 years, now in January, 2019 we goback only 50 years with a genuine Laura Ashley dress and cape ofthe 1970s.
Laura Ashley and her husband Bernard first began production withtea towels and neck-scarves which were hand printed on theirkitchen table. By 1970 they had a flourishing factory in Walesmaking what we would now call ‘retro’ clothes. The designs wereinfluenced by garments on display in various museums.
This dress and cape in heavy corduroy is inspired by a gentleman’scoat of the 1850s and is featured in Laura Ashley’s biographywritten by Martin Wood.
Jean Bruce
100 CLUB – NOVEMBER RESULTS
£25.00 Mrs C Gregory£10.00 Mr & Mrs G Abbott£10.00 Mrs L Kirk£10.00 Mrs L Moore£10.00 Mr & Mrs P Galbraith
You can join our fund raiser at any time. Ring Rita Carpenter on01732 358282 or email at [email protected]
It only costs £13.00 per year. For available numbers check withRita.
OFFICERSChairman PHIL PORTER 01732 835460
Honorary Treasurer DAVID KEITH 01732 [email protected]
Honorary Secretary ELIZABETH PORTLOCK 01732 [email protected]
Membership Secretary BRIAN PERRYMAN 01732 [email protected]
Editor ANNIE YOUNG 01732 352084editor@oasttheatre
Hirings and Rehearsals LYN PORTER 01732 835460Bookings [email protected]
Premises Manager PHIL PORTER 01732 835460
Publicity MAGGIE HOILES 01622 [email protected]
Security Manager DEREK ROSE 01732 [email protected]
Wardrobe JO PIERCE 01892 528166Representative [email protected]
Youth Theatre JASON [email protected] 07812061753
