Dear Friends and Members,

I hope you are well and have avoided any problems that Storm Ciaran may have brought.  I am relieved that this part of Surrey seems to have come off lightly compared with the terrible flooding on the coast.

I’ll start with the really good news that Molly’s Calling, written and directed by Pip Rolls, is to be performed at last. You may recall that it was due to make its debut before Covid lockdown three years ago, and despite other attempts to stage this funny but thought-provoking play, obstacles have prevented us from going ahead.  At last we shall be presenting the world première of Pip’s new play on Thursday, 23^rd, Friday, 24^th and Saturday, 25^th November, at 8pm at The Riddell Hall, Walton on the Hill.  Tickets are £12.50, box office number 01737 812 703.

This clever comedy takes place in a retirement home, with wonderfully resourceful residents who, despite their age, are surprisingly devious in their use of a phone and a computer – with unexpected results!  Please come along and enjoy an intriguing evening which will give you much to smile about, think about, and dwell upon afterwards.   The doors open at 7.30pm for the bar and raffle, with curtain-up at 8pm. 

Are you able to take minutes and type them up for circulation to the Gage committee?  If so, we would love to hear from you, as we really do need your help.  We are also looking for an unflappable person to be secretary, for general admin support, who need not be ‘theatrical’ or experienced in this field.  Help will be available from committee members to help you settle into the role – the Gage committee is very friendly, relaxed and supportive.  Please contact us on friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

Many folk have asked when we will be having our next Poetry and Prose evening – this has become a particularly popular event during winter when people are comfortably settled t home for the evening, but can tune into us via Zoom – there is no cost involved.  We will resume these regular meetings after Christmas, so please look for poems, short one-act plays, or snippets from a book that you have enjoyed.  The more variety we have the better our evening will be, and I promise it won’t be a dull one.  The date and time for this event will be given in our Christmas newsletter, so do make a diary note of it then.

Chris Slater is eager to direct our spring play next year – performance dates will be 25^th, 26^th and 27^th April, 2024.  Read-throughs/auditions will take place at Chris’s home in Bookham at 8pm on Thursday,11^th, Monday, 15^th and Wednesday, 17^th January 2024 – more details in the next newsletter.

Our regular September event is one that is always enjoyed – you bring your own picnic supper and drinks and after that we give a rehearsed reading of one or two short plays.  This is an informal evening for family and friends when you can relax over a bite to eat, a glass of something and a chat before the curtain goes up.  Probable date for 2024: 14^th September.   If you have a favourite short play with no scene changes that you’d like to see again, do let us know on friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

Looking further ahead, we are scheduling our 2024 winter play for 28^th, 29^th and 30^th November.  We have a play in mind, but are still looking for a director.  If you think you might like to direct with us, or perhaps already have a play in mind that you especially like, do get in touch with us on the link above. 

I hope you’ve all made a note of our up and coming play, Molly’s Calling, and I look forward to seeing you at the performance.

Diary dates

23^rd, 24^th and 25^th November 2023 – Molly’s Calling, 8pm at The Riddell Hall, Walton on the Hill.  Box office 01737 812 703, tickets £12.50.

After Christmas our next Prose and Poetry event, 8pm Zoom.

25^th, 26^th and 27^th April, 2024 – our spring play.

14^th September, 2024 – our rehearsed reading with supper 

28^th, 29^th and 30^th November, 2024 – our winter play. 

With best wishes to you all.

Gay

Gay Weeden, Chair

Gage Players Committee

Dear Friends and Members,

The Gage is happily celebrating the success of our first full-length play since the beginning of lockdown three years ago.  Covid nearly ended our 70-year record of productions, as our financial loss was so much – but we have survived!

Our Spring production, Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders, was performed last week at the Riddell Hall.  This play, written by Derek Webb and directed by Lesley Crowther-Smith, was a huge success.  The good audiences were receptive, obviously enjoying the quirky comedy from various characters.  It is always uplifting for the cast to hear laughter when the audience responds heartily to the humour.  Often we forget how funny the lines are, having rehearsed them again and again for many weeks.  From the actors’ point of view, it is the audience response that makes the effort of learning and remembering lines worthwhile.  So – thank you.

We were pleased to introduce new acting members to our company in this play, and hope you will see them on stage with us many times again.  Please remember that we are always ready to welcome new members to the Gage, whether acting, front of house, set-building or helping generally with running things.  The committee is looking for two new members, and we also need someone to fill the vital role of secretary.  Is there anyone among you readers with spare time and admin skills?  Please contact us at friends@thegageplayers.co.uk to learn more about these not too onerous roles.

We now have a payment card reader, so we no longer need rely on you to bring  cash to pay for tickets – in future you may pay by cash or card, as suits you best.

Our next project will be running the combined Gage Players/Bottle Tombola stall at the Walton May Pageant on Saturday, 20^th May to help raise money for our funds.  We are asking if you could please donate any bottles you can spare, from alcohol to cooking oil, fizzy drinks and squash to bubble bath or shampoo – anything you can think of that comes in a bottle.

Please ring Gill or Rod on 01737 812 703 if you wish to donate and deliver a bottle or bottles to them at Heather View, Dorking Road, Tadworth KT20 5SA.  The Pageant is a great day out, with amusements, various stalls, a May Queen, refreshments and entertainment for all the family, so please make a note of the date.  The Pageant Procession starts at Walton Pond at 2pm and walks through the village to the grounds at Howard Close.  We look forward to seeing you there.

On 16^th September we will be performing two rehearsed play readings, with your own drinks and snack supper, at the Riddell Hall.  The first of the evening will be the second of Terence Rattigan’s renowned plays from Separate Tables, to be directed by Chris Slater.  After the interval there will be a new short play written by our talented Gage member, Pip Rolls – his second draft text will be ready in July.  This will be his fourth original short for rehearsed reading with the Gage (not counting a Murder Mystery evening where the audience at the end had to decide whodunnit).  An audition call will be sent out, with auditions to be held in July – dates, times and places to be confirmed soon.  If you would like to take part or help backstage please let us know at friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

We hope to hold the Gage Invitational Quiz one Saturday evening in September at St Katherine’s Hall, Merstham, hosted by the current trophy holders, St Mark’s Players.  More information on this will be available around the end of May, but if any of you are keen quizzers please let us know, so that you can join our team or teams – all the teams come from local amdram groups: friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

It is lovely to announce that Molly’s Calling by Pip Rolls will be performed at last on 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th November.  You may recall that this will be our fourth attempt to stage Pip’s clever comedy, having been thwarted by Covid just one week before opening night.  Most of the original cast are able to continue in their parts, but there may be one or two roles still to fill.  Pip will direct for the last month of rehearsals, with original cast members revising their roles and guiding newcomers into the play up to that point.  It is such a good play, it deserves to been seen on stage!

Looking ahead to 2024, we have pencilled in two main productions for Spring and Winter: The Nightingales by Peter Quilter and Death and the Maiden by Georgina Reid.

I haven’t forgotten our informal Poetry and Prose Zoom evening – the next one, usually on a Wednesday, will be announced shortly after our next committee meeting later this month.

I hope you are enjoying these warmer Spring days.

Best wishes,

Gay

Gay Weeden,

Chair, Gage Committee

 

Dear Members and friends,

I hope you are well.  Although it is very cold the sun is shining as I write, bulbs are flowering and Spring is nearly here.

We are delighted that rehearsals are well under way for our Spring production.  Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders written by Derek Webb is directed by Lesley Crowther-Smith, and is due to play at 8pm on 27^th, 28^th and 29^th April 2023 at the Riddell Hall in Walton on the Hill – our first full-length production since Covid arrived early in 2020.  This play had been fully cast to stage in Spring 2022 and after another Covid delay most of the cast were still available this year to play their roles.  But the search was on for new actors where they were not, and we are proud to welcome five new and experienced players to the Gage for this production.  This is an hilarious comedy thriller, with such interesting country-life characters!  You will be guessing ‘whodunnit’ right till the end, and then you’ll be in for a surprise!

We are desperately looking for a new secretary on our committee.  Gill Gibbins has wonderfully fulfilled this role with the Gage for many years, but last autumn said she wished to stand down from the end of March.  We most urgently need someone to take the minutes at our committee meetings, and then type them up and circulate them to the committee members.  The meetings are held via Zoom about once a month and last about an hour.  Please help us if you can and contact us at friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

Would you like to join our committee, to bring fresh ideas and interests to our team?  No theatrical experience is needed, just enthusiasm!  After all, there’s no business like show business!  We are a friendly group and would welcome new faces at our Zoom meetings, so again do contact us about trying out at friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

The Walton May Pageant, with the theme ‘Music’ will be held on Saturday, 20^th May 2023 and the Gage will be running a bottle tombola stall.  We will be collecting bottles of every kind between now and 20^th May, and would also be grateful for donations, so please buy an extra bottle of something when you do your weekly shop and save it for our stall.  You would also be welcome to drop bottle donations off at the home of our treasurer, Rod Lucas, so when you’re ready to deliver, please let us know by leaving your preferred contact information at our address friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

Our stall will also have a large jar filled with wrapped sweets for a children’s competition to guess the number of sweets it contains.  We aim to raise as much money as we can for the Pageant and for the Gage.

Each September we like to hold a rehearsed reading evening with supper for Members, family and friends and we will be having this at 7pm for 8pm curtain-up on Saturday, 16^th September at the Riddell Hall.  These evenings are very sociable and popular – you bring your own drinks and snack supper, and we provide tea and coffee in the interval between readings; there’s also a raffle.  We already have a shortlist of plays to choose from, including one-acters by Noel Coward and Terrence Rattigan.  Chris Slater is scheduled to direct one of these,  as he has done for many a year, and there is also a very good chance that Pip Rolls will have written another of his mischievous sketches for us: he’s having a sneak peek at a committee meeting gathered to decide upon the future of evolution – that should be interesting!

The long-awaited production of Molly’s Calling by Pip Rolls is yet again under way and on course – we are determined that it’s going to happen at the fourth attempt, the previous three having been ‘kiboshed’ by Covid delays. The last time it was only a week from opening night and it was incredibly disappointing for us all.  Almost all the original cast are still available and willing to go ahead, and Pip will direct his play himself.  It is such a good play that it really does deserve to be seen – the première will be on 23^rd November, and two more performances after that on 24^th and 25^th.  Please make a note of the dates in your diary.  Thank you.

Looking ahead to 2024, we aim to give a rehearsed reading with supper in February.  For our Spring play in April we are planning a play by Peter Quilter. Then there will be a September rehearsed reading with supper, and we are planning a play by Georgina Reid in November.

Please check your diary now for our 2023 attractions:

Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders by Derek Webb – at 8pm on 27^th, 28^th and 29^th April 2023, at the Riddell Hall

The Walton May Pageant from around 2pm on Saturday, 20^th May, 2023

16^th September for an evening of rehearsed readings with supper at 7pm, at the Riddell Hall

Molly’s Calling by Pip Rolls – at 8pm on 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th November, 2023, at the Riddell Hall

I look forward to greeting you at our very own village hall for Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders . . .

Best wishes,

Gay

Gay Weeden,
Chair, Gage Committee

The AGM was held via zoom.

MINUTES OF THE 70^th (72^nd year) ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE GAGE PLAYERS, held at 7.30 pm on Tuesday 22^nd March, 2022 via Zoom.

1. Present
   Gay Weeden (in the chair) and 10 members of the company

2. Apologies for absence
   Received from Clive Elcome, Clare Smyl, Elayne Teague and Lorraine Wheeler-Smith.

3. Minutes of the 2018 AGM
   The minutes of the 2019 AGM minutes were accepted as a correct record.

4. Matters arising
   There were no matters arising.

5. Chairman’s report
   Gay Weeden read out her report for the year:‘Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Gage 2022 AGM, our first general meeting for two years.‘I took over the role of chairman in September 2020, after the end of our first, sunny, lockdown. Our spring 2020 production of Molly’s Calling written and directed by Pip Rolls had been postponed because of Covid – people were not allowed to mix freely in public or to visit loved ones in hospital and care homes, and it had become obvious that there would be no staged productions for The Gage. We should have been celebrating our 70^th anniversary, a rare and remarkable milestone for any amateur drama society, with a gala production in November 2020 directed by Gill Gibbins, but Covid and lockdown meant that this wonderful landmark occasion had to be missed, to our great sadness.‘In order to keep interest and contact going, we turned in September to Zoom for informal weekly meetings – reading poems, prose or short plays, anything from Shakespeare to Monty Python and Pam Ayres! These evenings were very successful, full of variety, fun and were a good way of maintaining the enthusiasm of Gage members who wished to take part or to listen in.

   ‘The second lockdown came suddenly at Christmas 2020 and was very different, with cold, grey days, and disappointments. Our hoped-for spring 2021 production of Molly’s Calling continued to be on hold. However, as the original cast were still available, it was hoped that we could recommence rehearsals and aim for a November 2021 production. Our usual September supper with rehearsed reading, to be directed by Chris Slater, was also postponed until less worrying times.

   ‘In planning ahead, we learned from our regular rehearsal hall that not only had the hire charges tripled but that without notice our regular Wednesday evening slot would not be available to us at the times we needed – and had always had – despite giving them very early notice of our production dates. We really felt that we were not being fairly treated, after so many years as a loyal hall user. We searched for other venues, and learned that we would have to pay increased hire charges, but very happily found that Walton Primary School Hall was available when we needed it, with excellent facilities and administration, and car parking.

   ‘Optimistically, rehearsals had got under way in our new venue in September 2021 but, just a week away from opening night in November, we had to make the devastating decision once again to cancel the show. Tickets sales were very slow, with people still afraid to mix in enclosed spaces, despite ventilation and our meeting all the Covid regulations, and we knew that the show would run at a very substantial loss if we went ahead, to say nothing of tiny audiences being demoralising for the cast. The cast and crew were all hugely disappointed but understood the importance of containing losses as much as possible, with the Gage already having to write off the rehearsal and other preparation charges, though we were able to save some of the Riddell Hall charges and a few front of house costs. Our sympathy went out to our playwright and director, Pip Rolls, who patiently accepted the situation on this third attempt to put his play on the stage.

   ‘The use of Walton Primary School has opened up other opportunities for the Gage. As our poetry evenings have been so successful it was suggested to the school that the children of the top two classes could have a competition to write or read a favourite poem, and join us for a matinee performance. The six winning children would read their poems on stage, and six Gage members would read our choices, with an interval for afternoon tea and a raffle, and a gift bag plus commemorative Gage certificate being presented to each child on stage at the end. We hope this will draw a good audience of parents, grandparents, friends and teachers. Well, this event should already have happened this March, but unfortunately so many children were going down with this wretched Covid that it was thought wiser to wait until the autumn, when we hope the virus will be better controlled for young ones.

   ‘The highlight of our year so far in 2022 has been the staging of Pip Rolls’ five short comedies, What Really Happened, a funny and irreverent take on some key moments in our history, in a rehearsed reading performance with supper. It was so good to be treading the boards again! The audience were very appreciative and really enjoyed the whole evening. Thank you, Pip, for ‘making it happen’. Following that success, we hope to put o at least one further rehearsed reading play with supper later in the year.

   ‘The 2021 Walton May Pageant had also been postponed, to 21^st May 2022, with its title ‘Our Precious Planet’. We shall have a Gage stall there, and will also run the bottle tombola stall, a reliable source of revenue, so we are looking forward to a popular, fun event – and good weather.

   ‘While it might seem as though nothing has been going on, behind the scenes many improvements were being made: the scenery storage shed had to be re-roofed, a new shed for wardrobe was paid for and installed, and all our wardrobe items were sorted (some discarded), washed, ironed and hung ready for future use – thank you to Eileen, Clare and Lorraine for their Trojan efforts.

   ‘In addition, two grant applications have been prepared and presented this month, to give our running costs a safety net until we have built up our reserves again – they are the monies we use to fund all the upfront expenditure for productions, and also to make improvements to the hall. Thanks go to Rod Lucas, our treasurer, and Gill Gibbins, our secretary, for putting together a bid direct to the National Lottery Community Fund, and to Pfizer, via the good offices of Walton Village Forum. We are awaiting their responses.

   ‘My personal thanks go to Gill Gibbins for all the work she quietly does in the background, and for the help and support she has given me. I couldn’t do this job without her, I just wouldn’t know where to start. So many people deserve mention and thanks for getting things done, but again, especially our treasurer, Rod Lucas, for working hard with our financial position – not an enviable task, with no opportunities to generate income for two years, but plenty of outgoings! I know you will explain our state of affairs in a moment.

   ‘Thank you to all who have kept enthusiasm for and belief in the Gage going in these dreadful times, and I look forward to being with you all again soon, in person.’

6. Treasurer’s report
   Rod Lucas’s financial account for the past two years had been circulated ahead of the meeting, which demonstrated the losses caused to the Gage by two years of being unable to generate income from tickets sales while having to pay running and production costs of shows which had to be cancelled after incurring upfront charges. His treasurer’s report was as follows:‘During the last two years the Gage has suffered a huge financial loss, particularly by the cancellation of Molly’s Calling by Pip Rolls, where we made a loss of £590.95, plus the associated profits we would have made on productions.‘However, the recent play reading evening boosted our finances quite a bit, so did also generous donations made by many members when they renewed their last year’s subs, which support our high annual insurance premium.‘I invite members to renew their subscriptions (£20 for full membership, £10 for juniors) by bank transfer if that is convenient, if not by a cheque or even cash at some time. Please include a reference on the bank transaction. Donations would of course be very welcome.

   Bank details:-
   Account name ‘The Gage Players’
   Sort code 20-29-90
   Account number 00396907’

   It was agreed that Lars Sawyer would circulate a request for the payment of subscriptions to the Gage membership, and would include a note to the effect that any extra donations would be gratefully received, if members found that possible.

   The matter of paying for cast copies of Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders by Derek Webb was discussed. Chris Slater confirmed that he had handed copies to Elayne Teague, Eileen Debski, Val Anscombe, Moya Weeks, Lars Sawyer and Debbie Nichols; Rod Lucas reported that payment (£7 per copy) had been received from some of them. Chris still has four copies for future cast members, and Gill Gibbins has three for prompt, for stage managers/wardrobe, and for sound/light, (which three are paid for by the Gage). If, when the play comes again to audition/casting, those already holding a copy cannot take part, they will return their copy to Chris and be refunded, and those who do take part and had not previously paid for their copy would do so at that point.The matter of levying a show charge to those taking part in a production on stage (as is done by some other amdram companies) was briefly discussed and it was agreed that the Gage would not do this.

   The accounts were accepted by all present.

7. Election of officers
   Gay Weeden, Rod Lucas and Gill Gibbins were willing to remain in their respective posts of chairman, treasurer and secretary, and were re-elected unanimously en bloc by those present.

8. Election of committee
   Debbie Nichols had been obliged by circumstances to resign from the committee in December 2021, to everyone’s regret.The current membership of the committee were all willing to serve another term, and were re-elected unanimously en bloc by those present.The committee comprises Gay Weeden as chairman, Gill Gibbins, Jon Laws, Gill Lucas, Rod Lucas, Martin Saul, Lars Sawyer, Clare Smyl and Beryl White. There is also an effective (unelected) sub-committee comprising Eileen Debski, Pip Rolls, Chris Slater and Lorraine Wheeler-Smith.

9. Election of auditor
   Rod Lucas undertook to contact Paul Spooner to verify that he would be willing to continue in his role as auditor.

10. Forward planning
    10.1 Two grant applications are in progress for funding to tide the Gage over until we have been able to build up our reserves again to finance upfront costs on main productions. Rod Lucas had made a grant bid to the National Lottery Community Fund but their rules appear to have changed since we last did so, as they now require the names of more than one Gage trustee in the application, as well as two separate committee members. Rod will review everything and see what may need to be done in order to comply with their requirements as soon as possible.Gill Gibbins had sent a grant application to Pfizer through to the Walton Village Forum, who had offered to put this through to Pfizer. After several weeks of not hearing back, Gill had heard yesterday from Grant Webster at the WVF that it seems Pfizer have now handed the management of their community fund to Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. He is hoping to find out who at the council should be approached, and how, and is going to ask his contact at Pfizer the same thing, so we hope we may be able to make progress with this before long.10.2 The Gage will have a stall, and will run the bottle tombola stall at the Walton May Pageant on 21^st May.We are also hoping to hold another rehearsed reading with supper on 24^th September, 2022, of Playgoers by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, directed by Chris Slater.

    We were planning to hold the delayed Pop-up Poetry event with Walton Primary School also in September, but on the advice of Anne Henderson it was agreed that this should most likely be held later in the year if possible. The Covid situation is very fluid, particularly among children and their families and teachers, in addition to which those in the school’s top two classes would be different following the start of a new school year, and a September date would not allow sufficient time for preparation. There is also still the possibility of a main production starting rehearsal in September for end-November performances, which might place undue pressure on Gage personnel.

11. Any other business
    There was no other business and the meeting was closed at 8.15pm, to be followed by a Gage committee meeting.