Category Archives: Future Events

The Nightingales – April 2024

A comedy in 2 acts by Peter Quilter

It is the 1950s and this charming comedy introduces the Nightingales, members of a theatrical family who perform more at home than they do on the stage. Jack is a cabaret star, as in love with his piano as he is with his silk dressing gowns. His parents, Charlie and Beatrice, are old Music Hall stars, full of hilarious tales of life on the road. Maggie performs with Jack in the evenings and regularly visits his house to rehearse, drink tea, and tell the sorry tale of her latest romantic disaster. If only she and Jack realized that their true love was right in front of them. The sudden arrival of Charlie and Beatrice, asking to stay with Jack for a few days, throws his and Maggie’s lives into chaos. They promise to be gone by Christmas, but this provides little comfort given that it is only January 7th!
Jack’s housekeeper Geraldine copes masterfully with the ensuing disruption, but then Beatrice unexpectedly disappears. It seems that this was not a simple visit, but an opportunity for her to leave Charlie and run off to another liaison in France. The question is, will anyone find their true love? Are there such things as happy endings? And what do performers do once the spotlight goes out? This is a very funny, touching showbusiness comedy, bursting with one-liners and lovable characters.

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Newsletter January 2023

Dear members and friends,

I hope you managed to keep warm in the recent freezing frosty weather.

Have you made a note of the dates of our long-awaited spring production?  Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders written by Derek Webb will be directed by Lesley Crowther-Smith, due to play at 8pm on 27th, 28th and 29th April 2023 at the Riddell Hall in Walton on the Hill.  You will be intrigued by this comedy thriller which will keep you guessing ‘whodunnit’ right until the end!  Rehearsals will be starting very soon and we are excited to be back for a full-length production again, as Covid has prevented this for at least two years!

Our informal evenings of poetry and prose via Zoom, which started during lockdown, were reinstated on 18th January.  It was a fun time with a huge variety of poems, some of which were hilarious!  It was good to see everyone at this sociable little gathering, and a relief to be at home during the bitter weather.  These evenings will continue after our spring production.

We’re always looking to welcome anyone who is keen to act, or to help backstage or front of house.  Also, we are urgently needing someone who is willing to take the minutes at our committee meetings, which are held monthly via Zoom – please help us out!  We are a friendly group and would welcome new committee members who could bring fresh ideas, interest and enthusiasm to our team.  Do mention this to any friends you think might be interested and please get in touch via friends@thegageplayers.co.uk  We shall be holding our Annual General Meeting at 8pm via Zoom on Tuesday, 21st March – the link will be sent nearer the time.

It’s lovely to look ahead to May, when the Gage will be manning a bottle tombola at the Walton May Pageant on Saturday, 20th May.  So please save and donate a bottle(s) to help us make as much money as we can.  There will also be a guessing game to know how many sweeties are in the sweetie jar, which should be popular with the children!

We have now confirmed Saturday, 16th September for an evening of rehearsed readings.  This will begin at 7pm with a bring-your-own picnic supper plus drinks and snacks, followed by two one-act plays, with a coffee and raffle break between them.  It all makes for a friendly, relaxed evening which everyone enjoys.  These rehearsed readings are a good chance for anyone who’d like to get on-stage in a play, but is a bit nervous or shy about doing so, to take a small part with the script in their hand and see how they enjoy it.  I guarantee you will be hooked!  So keep an eye out for the auditions calls in the summer.

In November the Gage intends at last to produce Molly’s Calling written by Pip Rolls.  Covid has delayed it many times – on one occasion only a week before the first performance!  Many of the original cast are still keen to perform and I can confirm that the dates of the hoped-for production are 23rd, 24th and 25th November.  However, the play needs a caretaker director to refresh it and bring it back to performance level.  A first time for everything and a chance to direct a play – is there anyone out there who would like to take the plunge and direct Molly’s Calling?

Forward planning – we have two possible plays in mind as main productions in 2024: The Nightingales by Peter Quilter and Death and the Maiden by Georgina Reid.

Our respected and capable secretary, Gill Gibbins, is stepping down after many dedicated years and we are thankful for all she has done for us.  We need a successor as secretary as soon as possible.  You will find the outline job description on our web site: https://thegageplayers.co.uk – look in the banner headline at the top of the home page and click on ‘Wanted – secretary’.

I hope you’ve made a note of these dates:

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

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

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

More news next month, but meanwhile keep warm and stay well.

Best wishes,

Gay

Gay Weeden,

Chair, Gage Committee


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Newsletter – December 2022

Dear members and friends,

Seasons greetings to you all.  The snowy landscape has been beautiful, but back to rain is safer.  Maybe there will be no white Christmas, but we hope it will be less cold and easier to keep warm.

I’ll begin this newsletter with an important request.  We will be needing a secretary in April 2023 as our present much-respected secretary will be leaving us at the end of March after many years on the committee in this role.  The person we require would need good organisational and administrative skills and would be responsible for the agendas and minutes of our committee meetings.  We meet about once a month via Zoom.  It is not necessary to have a great deal of theatrical knowledge or experience, as committee members will be able to advise when needed.  The Gage committee are enthusiastic for our continued success and are a friendly group.  The Gage aim to put on two full-length plays and two rehearsed readings each year.  We would also like to add members to our committee, so that ideas and tasks can be efficiently shared.  If you are interested in joining, please email friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

Congratulations to all involved on a resounding success in our rehearsed play reading with supper on 10th December, A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, adapted and directed by Pip Rolls (also taking acting parts due to cast illness).  This play required many scene changes, costume changes and lighting and sound atmospherics for scene changes.  Altogether a huge challenge for cast, crew, front of house and all those involved in creating this performance.  The feedback from the audience was very satisfying – all thoroughly enjoyed the evening, with many wanting to know when the next event will be.  We made a good amount of much-needed money to add to our funds.  A heartfelt thank you to all involved!

It has been agreed to resume our very popular informal Zoom evenings for poetry and prose for Gage members, families and friends.  We choose to read poems, prose, extracts from plays, or one-act plays.  Anything that appeals at the time.  You are welcome to join in the meeting, bring something you would like to read or simply join the meeting and enjoy listening.  We cover a variety of comedy, drama or even short plays written by a member.  The next Zoom meeting will be on Wednesday, 18th January at 8pm.  Contact us via friends@thegageplayers.co.uk for the link.

Agatha Crusty and the Village Hall Murders written by Derek Webb and directed by Lesley Crowther-Smith is our next planned Spring production, due to play on 27th, 28th and 29th April 2023, a comedy whodunit that will appeal to you all and keep you guessing until the end!  Please make a note of the dates in your diary, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Lesley Crowther-Smith will also be leading a drama lesson/theatre workshop in March with Walton School, where we hold our rehearsals.  It is also hoped that we can liaise with Walton School over a matinee performance some time next year to present poems written and read by the children, alongside some of our own members reading their own choices.

Looking ahead to our Winter production in November – due to Covid restrictions, this will be our fourth attempt to perform Molly’s Calling, written by Pip Rolls.  Please note the dates in your diaries – 23rd, 24th and 25th November 2023.  We are again looking for a caretaker director, with most of the cast willing to remain in their roles after this three-year delay.  As the play was originally to be directed by the author and was at performance level, a caretaker director would just need to oversee the performers and bring the play back to life again.  Is anyone amongst you keen to volunteer and try your hand at directing with us?

It is hoped that we will perform a rehearsed reading with supper in September 2023.  Chris Slater usually finds the play and directs it – however we ask whether anyone knows a one-act play that they have enjoyed watching or performing in to please let us know.  It would be useful to have a few to choose from for rehearsed readings and also to use for our informal Zoom poetry and prose evenings.

Forward planning for Spring 2024 – possibly The Nightingales by Peter Quilter.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

Best wishes,

Gay

Gay Weeden,

Chair, Gage Committee


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Audition Notice – Agatha Crusty

Our play will be Agatha Crusty and The Village Hall Murders by Derek Webb; the play will be directed by Christopher Slater.   Auditions will take place at 8pm on Wednesday, 12th, Monday, 17th and Wednesday, 19th January, 2022 at Chris’s home: 12 Crabtree Lane, Great Bookham, Surrey KT23 4PF, with rehearsals starting on Monday, 7th February, 2022 at Walton School Hall,  Walton Street, Walton on the Hill, Surrey KT20 7RR.

Contact Chris on:
Telephone: 01372 454 963 or email christopherslater@ntlworld.com

COVID-19 SAFETY NOTICE FOR
ALL AUDITION ATTENDEES

We ask everyone intending to audition on any of these dates to:

  1. Bring with them evidence of a negative lateral flow test result taken on the day of audition
  2. Wear a face mask indoors
  3. Maintain social distancing indoors

This is to protect everyone’s safety.

If for any reason you cannot comply with any of the three above, please contact Chris to let him know of your interest in taking part in the play, so that he may be able to arrange a time to discuss a role or roles with you.

*

Agatha Crusty (pronounced Croosty) is a crime novelist who’s also pretty adept at solving crimes.  Lucky, because when her sister-in-law Alice invites her to spend a few days in the village of Chortelby, it’s not long before she gets caught up in a series of murders, which seem directed at members of the All Saints Village Hall committee.

 

From Toby the vicar and Eleanor, chair of the committee, to Harry Knott the hall caretaker and identical twins Olivia and Oliver Truscott-Pratt, there are plenty of suspects.  And with an investigating officer as incompetent as DI Twigg, there are plenty of laughs amid the mayhem even while the body count racks up.  Packed full of wit and very funny scenes, this is also a genuine murder mystery, with an ingenious plot which will certainly tax the little grey cells of the audience right up to the end.

*

Characters:
Harry, the hall caretaker – cynical, worldly-wise, down-to-earth (doubling with Lockett?)
Agatha, a crime novelist – unassuming but very on the ball
Alice, Agatha’s sister-in-law – pleasant, unpretentious
Olivia – upper-crust landed gentry with less land than she’d like (doubling with Oliver?)
Eleanor, chair of the hall committee – mother-superior style, but with a soft centre for some
Twigg – a detective inspector of extraordinary incompetence
Maisie, a cleaner – pleasant but not afraid to call a spade a spade
Toby, the vicar – generally genial and a little naïve, but can be forceful
PC Lockett, the village bobby – cousin to Harry (doubling with Harry?)
Isabella, the pub landlady – mumsy, with pretensions
Oliver – Olivia’s identical twin brother, but with shorter hair (doubling with Olivia?)
Mandy, a model – a streetwise girl 

 

Rehearsals will start on Monday, 7th February, 2022 at 8pm at Walton School Hall and every Monday and Wednesday thereafter until the production transfers to The Lord Riddell Memorial Hall in Deans Lane, Walton on the Hill, Surrey KT20 7UA for performance week from Sunday, 24th April.  There may be an extra Sunday rehearsal at the Riddell, tbc.

Performance dates there are 28th, 29th and 30th April, 2022    

For any further information please contact the director, Chris Slater, on 01372 454 963 or christopherslater@ntlworld.com


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