Our Winter 2018 production will be
PARTY PIECE
by Richard Harris
on

29th, 30th November & 1st December

at

The Lord Riddell Memorial Hall
Walton-on-the-Hill

Auditions will take place on 2nd and 4th July 2018 at 8pm,
Christchurch Hall, Walton-on-the-Hill

It is the night of Michael’s and Roma’s fancy dress house-warming party. The evening looks set to be a lively one until a string of hilarious disasters strike, including a distinct lack of guests, a burning garden shed, a marauding Zimmer frame and the prospect of an irate husband on the prowl. Michael’s and Roma’s patience is further tried by the arrival of their neighbours, the indomitable Mrs Hinson, who brings her own brand of party entertainment in the form of the domestic squabbles of her son and daughter-in-law. This is a fast-paced and very funny play packed with action and set in the back gardens of the feuding neighbours.

On Monday, 15th and Wednesday, 17th January, 2018 we shall be holding auditions for our Spring play, Vintage Hitchcock: a live radio play by Joe Landry, directed by Lars Sawyer.  These will take place at 8pm in Christchurch Hall, in Walton on the Hill.

There are three one-act plays in this production, which takes place c. 1946 in the US metropolitan broadcasting studio of WBFR’s radio station, and which showcases the build-up of archetypal Hitchcock thrillers.

In The Lodger there are 2M and 2F main roles and 6 minor roles (plus the main role of the Announcer, who is heard in each play – this could be M or F).

In Sabotage there are 27 minor speaking parts, many of which could be doubled up.

In The 39 Steps there are 2M and 2F main roles and 22 minor speaking parts, many of which could also be doubled up – not to say tripled or quadrupled up, as in Sabotage.

One of the joys of this triple bill is that, since the action takes place in a live, authentic radio broadcasting studio, the players will have the scripts in their hands throughout!   Not having to learn the lines absolutely by heart is an advantage, but players will still be expected to know the lines, the cues and the drama, in order to give an authentic performance as a radio actor or actress.   All characters have British accents except the Announcer and the stage manager (American), and the few parts where foreign accents are specified.

Rehearsals will begin with a read-through on Monday 12th February, continuing every Wednesday and Monday thereafter until Wednesday, 18th April, all at 8pm in Christchurch Hall.  The play will then transfer to The Lord Riddell Memorial Hall for set-up and performance week.  Performances will be held on 26th, 27th and 28th April.

ALL PLAYERS PLEASE NOTE:
In addition, the Gage has been honoured with an invitation by the Banstead Art Festival Committee to present a play during the Festival week.  The evening play date will be:

Wednesday, 2nd May, 2018, when two of the above plays will be staged in Banstead Community Hall either side of an interval.  Therefore, those auditioning should be aware that they are committing to this further performance if they are offered a part or parts in Vintage Hitchcock.

On Wednesday the 9th August, we are once more venturing to The Duke’s Head in Tadworth to pit our wits against the regular teams. Please feel free to come and give us a helping hand (or brain).

Arrive by 7:30 if you would like to eat first (the food at The Duke’s Head is very good).

OPEN AUDITIONS
FOR THE WINTER 2017 PLAY

On Monday, 3^rd and Monday 10^th July 2017 we shall be holding auditions for our Winter play, Waiting for the Train, written and directed by Pip Rolls.  These will take place at 8pm in Christchurch Hall, in Walton on the Hill.

There are 7F main speaking roles for adults, 4M main speaking roles for adults, and also parts for 3 girls and 1 boy. The play opens in 1937 and finishes in 1993 – some characters will need to be able to act the age of late twenty-year-olds through to middle age.

This new play, being given its premiere by The Gage, is set on a railway platform on the rural outskirts of London.  It tells of the lives of some of the people who pass through the station, many of whom are left to fill in time there while waiting for the train.  Jeanette, a motherly soul, looks after the station café and also looks after George, who hangs around the station hoping that his wife Jane will return on the next train . . .

Tom is a musician whom we first meet worrying about an audition.  In time he becomes the conductor of a major orchestra and marries Mary, whom he met at the station when she arrived as a teacher accompanying evacuee children.  Two of the evacuees, Miranda and Peter, we watch grow into adults; after an unlikely kind of courtship, Peter proposes to Miranda during a disastrous meal at the re-vamped station café.   

The play also has its serious moments, when the repercussions of a terrorist bombing in London reach some of our characters; and again when a newspaper reporter tries to put together a scandalous obituary for another of them, but is foiled . . .

Many lifetimes pass before your eyes in Waiting for the Train.

Rehearsals will begin with a read-through on Monday 18^th September, followed by a rehearsal on Wednesday, 20^th September, and thereafter on every Monday and Wednesday, all at 8pm at Christchurch Hall, so there will be plenty of time between audition and rehearsals to start getting your lines down!

Performances will be at 8pm on Thursday, 30^th November, Friday, 1^st December and Saturday, 2^nd December, at the Riddell Hall, Walton on the Hill.

So, please come along to the audition and try out for The Gage.  The Winter production begins our 67^th anniversary year, so you’d be joining a company with a strong tradition of putting on great entertainment.  Remember: auditions on Monday, 3^rd July and 10^th at 8pm, Christchurch Hall, Walton on the Hill.  For further information contact the director, Pip Rolls, on 01372 452 105 or pip.rolls@yahoo.co.uk .