I hope you are managing to escape the winter colds and fill your dark winter evenings with some fun.
I think we certainly managed to bring some cheer with our production of Good Things. I have heard so many positives about this production and in particular how nice it was to have a different set based in a shop rather than the traditional front room set. I would like to thank our director, Debbie for her vision and energy in putting the play together. Also my thanks go to the cast who portrayed the colourful and likeable characters so well, the amazing technical support back stage and of course our front of house volunteers. Very well done to all involved with this successful production.

Our next production is Molly’s Calling by Pip Rolls. The play dates are 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th April and auditions are in the New Year, 6^th and 8^th of January. Look out for audition notices on the website and please come along to the audition, all are welcome, the more the merrier.

Our 12^th or technically 13^th Night Celebration Meal is at The Dukes Head on Tuesday 7^th January. If you would like to book a place please contact Jon Laws as soon as possible.

Quiz Night we hope to put together a team to continue our recent run of quiz success. Look out for dates in January and if you haven’t joined us before you are very welcome, we usually have a bite to eat first (about 7pm but that is optional) if you don’t want to eat the quiz starts at about 8pm at The Duke’s Head in Tadworth.   A booking notice will be set round shortly.

Could I also ask you to put Wednesday 18^th March in your diary, as this is when we will have our AGM. This is a brief meeting but important and precedes our rehearsal in the Christchurch Hall.

Did you learn a poem by heart when you were at school? The committee were reminiscing many favourite poems from our childhood or celebrated poems which we haven’t heard for years.  This led us to the idea of having a Pop Up Poetry evening on the 21^st of March, including supper. Perhaps you have a favourite poem you would like to read out or maybe there is a poem you could recite. If you have a few minutes to spare over the festive period look out a poetry book or google a poem you used to know but haven’t heard in ages. We will give more details of the evening venue and format in the New Year but in the meantime … do look out something you would like to share.

NewSPAL the new Surrey Performing Arts Library have started to produce their own newsletter with information and updates on this important facility. To enable a safe transition of all the books, music and resources, NewSPAL are continuing to fund raise. If you are interested in the progress so far or wish to make a donation you can find the details at www.thegivingmachine.co.uk/causes/new-arts-library
Finally I would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Anne Henderson     Chair – Gage Players

PUBLIC FORUM OCTOBER 2019

As we are passionate about local, affordable theatre, we have set up this newsletter feature providing information about shows by other amdram groups in our area – with their agreement, of course.  There will also be web links on The Gage Players’ website.

Please, as originally agreed, circulate this to your own members and put in on your own web site – thank you.   It’s important that we support each other. 

The Chipstead Players

www.chipsteadplayers.org

Member of The Little Theatre Guild and BRBAC

Our October production is The Nether by Jennifer Haley.  The Nether offers complete freedom – a new virtual wonderland, providing total sensory immersion.  Just log in, choose an identity and indulge your every desire. An intricate crime drama and a haunting thriller set in the year 2050, our play follows an investigation into the complicated, disturbing morality of identity in the digital world, and explores the consequences of making dreams a reality.

Contains adult sexual themes; parental guidance advised.  Although we are warning about adult sexual themes, these are only implied and discussed during the course of the play.

 

Performance dates: Monday, 21st to Saturday, 26th October inclusive, at 8pm with a matinee at 2.15pm on Saturday, 26th October.  Venue: The Courtyard Theatre, Longshaw, Hazelwood Lane, Chipstead, Surrey CR5 3QU (near The White Hart pub).

 

Tickets £10 all performances.  Box office 01737 555 680 and leave a message or email: boxoffice@chipsteadplayers.org or book online. 

 

 

The Gage Players

www.thegageplayers.co.uk; friends@thegageplayers.com

Our winter production 2019 will be Good Things by Liz Lochhead.  Set in a charity shop on three different days in one year – Twelfth Night in January, Valentine’s Day in February and Christmas Eve in December – Good Things is a poignant and funny play with a lot to say about finding love later in life. 

 

Performance dates at The Riddell Hall are 28th, 29th and 30th November, 2019.  Tickets £10. Box office 01737 812 703. 

Patrons intending to dine before the show at The Blue Ball pub near The Riddell Hall will be offered a discount on food if, when you come to pay the bill, you show your pre-bought ticket/s to the staff, or if you have not got your ticket/s, you mention the name Jon Laws, who arranged this with the manager.  

Gatton Community Theatre

www.gattoncommunitytheatre.org.uk

GCT operates as a fully inclusive organisation – anyone who would like to take part may join the cast or crew regardless of experience or age, although children must be over the age of eight.  There is no membership or production fee.  

 

We are taking a little break and planning for our next large-scale open-air production in July 2020.  There will be one or two smaller events before then, so stay in touch or check our website for more details on how to get involved or for more information.

 

Kingswood Amateur Drama and Dance Association (KADDS)

www.kingswoodvillage.org/kvca-amateur-drama-dance/

Our autumn production will be Murder in Play by Simon Brett, playing at 8pm on 30th October, 1st and 2nd November.  Tickets £10, children £5, available from Village Stores, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood; or from www.ticketsource.co.uk/kadds

 

In October we are also holding auditions for adults and children for our February 2020 show, The Snow Queen, being stages at half-term.  Rehearsals will be on Sunday afternoons for children and Thursday evening for adults. If you are interested in taking part, please contact Richard Palmer on richardpalmer@ntlworld.com or 01737 3633 355. 

 

Merstham Amateur Dramatic Society (MADS)

www.mersthamdrama.org.uk

Our October production will be Dinner by Moira Buffini, directed by Lisa-Jane Ray.

Take one deranged but elegant hostess and her long-suffering husband, mix with jilted, bohemian artist school friend (with a sprinkling of an affair), a foul-mouthed seductress, a jealous microbiologist and an uninvited misfit, finish off with a silent, mysterious waiter and what you have is a delicious feast of comedy at its most heartless and macabre.

 

Performance dates are 23rd, 24th and 25th October at 8pm at Merstham Village Hall, Station Road North, Merstham, Surrey RH1 3ED.  Box office 01883 742 708, email: madstickets@gmail.com or book online.

   

 

The Oxted Players

www.oxtedplayers.co.uk; www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk 

The Oxted Players are affiliated to NODA and are members of BRBAC.

Our autumn production will be The Safari Party by Tim Firth.

The play is set in rural Cheshire around the early part of the 21st century.  Three households have agreed to hold a ‘safari party’ – a dinner party where each course is served in a different house and the participants move from one to another.

 

Brothers Daniel and Adam, struggling to make a living on the dilapidated farm they have inherited from their recently deceased father, have undertaken to do the first course, but are entirely lacking in any culinary skills or, indeed, in any suitable furniture.  Lol and Esther, a vulgar, pretentious and snobbish upwardly mobile couple, recently moved to the countryside, will provide the main course in their converted barn, reluctantly assisted by their rebellious adult daughter, Bridget. Inga, an antiques dealer of dubious integrity specialising in ‘authentic’ rural artefacts, is to do the dessert.

 

The dinner party is a disaster.  Misunderstandings and conflicts mount as we move from location to location until this black comedy culminates in violent destruction, both of apparently valuable objects and of the pretensions and secrets that the characters carry with them.

 

Performance dates are Wednesday, 16th to Saturday, 19th October at 7.45pm.  Booking office telephone number 01883 724 852 for cheque and cash payments, and online at www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk or www.oxtedplayers.co.uk for all card payments.  Tickets £10.00 adults and £8.00 students.

 

Polesden Lacey Shakespeare

www.polesdenlaceyshakespeare.co.uk 

Undoubtedly one of Shakespeare’s best loved plays, our summer 2020 production of Romeo and Juliet explores the usual themes of thwarted young love and passion, youth, family status, violence and the inevitability of fate, with some interesting twists in both performance and setting.

 

Join us in the beautiful surroundings of the theatre lawn at Polesden Lacey on Saturday 27th, Sunday 28th June and Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th July, 2020. Performances at 2.30pm, with the Theatre Lawn open for picnicking from 1pm. Children under 16 go free. Group rates. Free parking with ticket. Tickets available online from January 2020.

 

We shall be holding open auditions on Sunday, 2nd February, 2020 at the Archway Theatre, Horley and on Sunday, 9th February at the Follett Hall, United Reformed Church Dorking, both from 3pm – 6pm.  We’d love to welcome anybody from the local community who would like to audition (also to provide backstage/ front of house help). 

 

We’re now in the run-up to 2021, our 70th anniversary year, when we shall be presenting A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the first play performed on the Open Air Stage at Polesden Lacey in 1951. There are also lots of other exciting plans for this 70th anniversary year. If you’d like to get involved, please go to the website and contact our Marketing Director, Franki Gray, via the press tab at the top of the page.

 

 

St Mark’s Players

www.stmarksplayers.co.uk

Our winter production will be a play entitled The Inaccurate Conception by Richard Ahsam and Geoff Saunders.  It’s a comedy about a school nativity play and will be performed on Thursday and Friday, 28th and 29th November at St Mark’s Church Centre, Alma Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 0DA.    

 

Tickets (likely to be priced at £16 to include fish and chip supper, or £10 if no food required) will be in due course be available through the website, www.stmarksplayers.co.uk and click the ‘book now’ button.  Do come to see it and get your Christmas festivities off to a fun start!

 

Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club (SADC)

www.sadc.co.uk

Our November production is We Happy Few by Imogen Stubbs, the story of an all-female theatre company touring Britain during the darkest days of the Second World War. 

 

Performance dates are 13th, 14th and 15th November at 7.45pm at The Adrian Mann Theatre, 54 Reigate Road, Epsom, Surrey KT17 3DR.   Tickets: £13 – www.ticketsource.co.uk/sadc

 

West Horsley Independent Players (WHIPS)

Website: www.horsleyamdram.org

Our October production will be Mind Over Matter by Stuart Tomkins, with performances on 16th, 17th 18th and 19th October at 8pm, West Horsley Village Hall, 95 The Street, West Horsley, Leatherhead, Surrey KT24 6DD.

 

Set in a care home, this poignant and gentle comedy explores relationships between young and old, with an unexpected ending.  

 

Tickets: £8 for 16th, with an 8pm start; £17.50 for a two-course supper on 17th, starting at 7pm; £12 for a bring your own supper on 18th, starting at 7pm; and £12 for 19th starting at 8pm.  Please book online at ticketsource.co.uk/horsleyamdram,

 

Woodmansterne Operatic and Dramatic Society (WODS) and Junior WODS

www.wods.org.uk

Our October production is MI5 to P45, a show in two halves – a one-act comedy with an interval for supper, followed by a one-act comic musical revue.  Performances dates are 9th, 10th, 11th and 12th October; doors open at 7pm for a 7.30 start.  St Peter’s Church Hall, Woodmansterne, Surrey SM7 3NR, carpark entrance on Chipstead Way.  

 

Tickets £16 for a fish and chip supper, of £11 for no food.  Please book online: wodsweb.co.uk/productions.  

Summer 2019 Newsletter

I hope you have all managed to have an enjoyable Summer break and are ready for a new season of Gage productions. At the time of writing we are preparing for the September show, our Rehearsed Reading with supper, ably directed by Chris Slater. The show is The Music Lovers by Reggie Oliver, adapted from the quick-moving comedy by Georges Feydeau,   playing at the Riddell Hall on Saturday, 14th September. These are always fun social events which family and friends can attend, but as food needs to be ordered in advance please make sure you have confirmed a space and ordered your supper (more details to follow).

Following the September show we are quickly into rehearsals for the November production of Good Things by Liz Lochhead, directed by Debbie Nichols. Please put the dates 28th, 29th and 30th November in your diary and we would love to see you in the audience if you are not already involved with the play. Now is a good time to drum up interest with neighbours, family and friends to see if we can all bring along a few new faces to see our production.

We have had a lot of success within the local community recently. Our last two outings at the Quiz Night at The Duke’s Head in Tadworth have put us into the top 3 places and we received a cash prize each time, always a welcome bonus for the Gage funds after a good evening out. We can’t fit Quiz Nights in alongside rehearsals but will resume them once the November show is over, so watch out for the next invitation – anyone can come along.

You may have seen that we had a Gage Players stall at the main field for the Walton May Pageant, to raise our profile within the community and to engage with people who might be interested in joining or supporting us. We were fortunate that the weather was good and I would like to thank everyone who gave up their time to help on the stall. We were recently delighted to receive a £200 donation from the Pageant Committee and this will go towards some refurb at the Riddell Hall (a new valence round the staging) and the purchase of much-needed new canvas for some of our flats.

The new Performing Arts Library will be up and running by spring 2020; there has already been one training day for trustees and volunteers to learn how to catalogue the theatre and music collections, with more training days to follow. If anyone is interested in taking part in that, and in finding out about other ways of supporting this invaluable community service, Gill Gibbins has more information or you can contact the New Performing Arts Library directly on their website.

Finally and sadly I wanted to mention the passing of two people you may know. Richard Pavy, with whom we liaised over all our Christchurch Hall bookings, had been ill for some time and recently died, as did Barbara Crawley, whom you may have acted alongside.  We send our deepest condolences to their families and friends.

On a happier note I hope the good weather continues and I look forward to seeing you with family and friends at our 14th September Rehearsed Reading.

Best Wishes

Anne Henderson

PUBLIC FORUM MAY 2019

As we are passionate about local, affordable theatre, we have set up this newsletter feature providing information about shows by other amdram groups in our area – with their agreement, of course.  There will also be web links on The Gage Players’ website.

THE NEW SURREY PERFORMING ARTS LIBRARY
As most of you will know, at the meeting of the Surrey County Council on 26^th February, 2019 agreement was given to transferring the management and eventual ownership of the library (currently within Ewell Library in Bourne Hall) to the new charity set up to take this on.  The charity’s managing committee acknowledge gratefully that this decision is due in large measure to the generous and vocal support given by the library’s users and supporters over a 15-month campaign.

They are now busy on agreeing a lease on a new library building in Woking, and setting it up; raising the remainder of the funds needed to finance the transition and provide a financial cushion; appointing library staff; buying and setting up the new custom-built IT system; and re-entering the stock catalogue in this.

The new library will have to be entirely self-financing as the SCC will not be providing any financial support, so there will be direct consultation with users about appropriate subscription levels and hire charges.

In the meantime, groups are being encouraged to renew their PAL membership whenever it falls due – income for any remaining period will be transferred pro rata to the new organisation when the transition from SCC is complete.

The new library committee would welcome questions from users at an early stage about any aspect of the library and its facilities, as this will help them to tailor-make their service.  If you have questions, please would you email the charity trustees at: nsperformingartslibrary@gmail.com

STOP PRESS
An appeal from NewSPAL’s trustees:

Exciting times!

The new charity trustees have already raised more than half of the £125,000 needed by the time the new library opens its doors, expected to be late this year.

As well as hoping for more donations, particularly those pledged in the early stages of the campaign to take over the library, NewSPAL are now also looking for help from volunteers in setting up and operating the service.  They have already appointed a project manager to oversee this stage in the library’s development, who will be starting work in early June.

They would be very grateful if you could spare just a few minutes to tell them, via the questionnaire link below, what interests and experience you have that you would be willing to share.

They are looking for professional skills and knowledge around acquiring and fitting out new premises (legal, financial, practical, fund-raising); also library experience, and a whole host of willing clerical volunteers who would be trained and led by these experts.

The questionnaire will genuinely take only a few minutes of your time [speaking as one who’s done it], but those few minutes could make an enormous difference to the work of the new PAL.  Please also ask your family and friends if they would be interested to take part in this new community undertaking: it could be an opportunity for them to develop an interest and to make new friends.

You, or they, may also know someone who would be prepared to make a donation if they cannot offer practical help.  The NewSPAL website is clear, informative and easy to navigate, so please go to www.newspal.org.uk  before you forget about it, click on the ‘support us’ heading and scroll to the foot of the page to click on the icons for volunteering and/or donating:

www.newspal.org.uk

The Chipstead Players

www.chipsteadplayers.org

Member of The Little Theatre Guild and BRBAC

More information next time.

The Gage Players

www.thegageplayers.co.uk; friends@thegageplayers.com

Open auditions for our Winter 2019 production

Our play will be Good Things by Liz Lochhead, written with one main male and one main female role. The remaining roles will be split between 2-4 actors.  One or two men and one or two ladies, giving at least 2 cast members the opportunity to double up in various roles. The play will be directed by Debbie Nichols.

Auditions will take place at 8pm on Monday 8^th and Wednesday, 10^th July, 2019 at  Christchurch Hall in Walton Street, Walton on the Hill, Surrey KT20 7RT, with rehearsals to start there from September.
*
Set in a charity shop on three different days in one year – Twelfth Night in January, Valentine’s Day in February and Christmas Eve in December – Good Things is a poignant and funny play with a lot to say about finding love later in life.
*
Characters:
Susan: a shop volunteer, nearing fifty and divorced, is kept busy by relationship difficulties with her daughter, her father – and her ex
David: in his fifties, widowed, is parting with some of his late wife’s possessions – and keeps coming back with more

Frazer : a dapper man in early middle age
Marjorie : a middle class matron type
Five other gents
Six other ladies

Rehearsals will start on Monday, 16^th September at 8pm at Christchurch 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, 24^th November.  There will be extra Sunday afternoon rehearsals at the Riddell on 3^rd and 17^th November.

Performance dates at The Riddell Hall are 28^th, 29^th and 30^th November, 2019. 

For any further information please contact the director, Debbie Nichols, on debbiemaynichols@hotmail.com

Gatton Community Theatre
www.gattoncommunitytheatre.org.uk
GCT operates as a fully inclusive organisation – anyone who would like to take part may join the cast or crew regardless of experience or age, although children must be over the age of eight.  There is no membership or production fee.

More information next time or on our web site.

The Heath Players

www.heathplayers.co.uk

Dear Players, Patrons and Friends: The Heath Players Need Your Continuing Support if they are to keep entertaining you.

Following the success of our last production, Inspector Drake and the Perfekt Crime by David Tristram, for which we were awarded a Certificate of Excellence by NODA (the National Operatic and Dramatic Association), The Heath Players are now facing a difficult and uncertain future.

The Heath Players came to Box Hill Village Hall in 1972 and have been performing to audiences from the local area ever since. The Players formed in 1963 when a group of Box Hill people joined the then drama group of Headley WI, and performed initially at Headley Village Hall, moving to Box Hill shortly after the new village hall was opened.

With the passage of time our number of members has sadly decreased to a level where it is now difficult, if not impossible to continue. We would very much like to keep going, but now we have so few regular members that our subscriptions and takings from shows do not cover our costs, even for the modestly budgeted productions.

If you would like to see more shows from The Heath Players, please get in touch and become a member. You could act or sing in our shows. You could help to build scenery or organise costumes or props. Help out ‘front of house’ assisting with: taking tickets at the door, selling programmes and raffle tickets, serving interval refreshments, and just generally helping us to put on a show. It would be great if you could get involved, and we think you will enjoy it.

We really do need some new members, and would welcome you to our regular Tuesday evening meetings at 8.00pm.  So please send your ideas to us or come to our AGM; we would love to hear your views.  Our AGM will be held on Tuesday, 28^th May at 7.30pm in St Andrew’s Church, Boxhill Road, Boxhill, near Tadworth, Surrey KT20 7JT.  However, only fully paid-up HP members may vote at the AGM.

Please phone or e-mail first, as we are taking our summer break:
send an e-mail to:  contacts@heathplayers.co.uk
telephone our Treasurer, Caroline Mellis, on 01737 218241,
telephone our Chairman, Ed Stonard, on 01737 762751.

We look forward to hearing from you.
If we do not get a sufficient response, we shall have little alternative but to close the group, and Box Hill Village Hall will ‘Go Dark’.

AND

The Heath Players are considering our next production, Haunted, by Eric Chappell.  A tale of intrigue and ghostly apparitions, part thriller, part comedy!  But we need your help – there is a cast of 6 (4 gents and 2 ladies) and we would like to audition aspiring cast members to join The Team.

To produce the show this year would mean performance dates of Thursday, 24^th and Friday, 25^th  October.   The cast would need to be available for that week from Sunday, 20^th October for technical and dress rehearsals.

The Heath Players meet on Tuesday evenings at Box Hill Village Hall, with extra read-through rehearsals as required.  Preparation script reading and rehearsals would commence in August.

If you are interested in taking part in this play, and are available on the dates suggested, please let us know.  If you are not available this year but would be interested in participating in Spring next year please let us know, so that we can consider alternative dates.

We would love to hear from you, so please contact Caroline Mellis to discuss by phone or email.

Email: cdsiggins39@outlook.com
Mobile: 07356 483808
Home:   01737 218241

Kingswood Amateur Drama and Dance Association (KADDS)
www.kingswoodvillage.org/kvca-amateur-drama-dance/

Our next production will be Rumours by Neil Simon, playing at 8pm on 30^th, 31^st May and 1^st June at Kingwood Village Hall, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood, Surrey KT20 6EB.

A fast-moving comedy, frenetic from start to finish.  A house-owner is about to celebrate his tenth wedding anniversary – guests begin to arrive, and found he has been shot.  Mayhem!

Tickets £10, children £5, available from Village Stores, Waterhouse Lane, Kingswood; or from www.ticketsource.co.uk/kadds

Merstham Amateur Dramatic Society (MADS)
www.mersthamdrama.org.uk
More information next time.

The Oxted Players
www.oxtedplayers.co.uk
www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk

The Oxted Players are affiliated to NODA and are members of BRBAC.
Booking office telephone number 01883 724 852 for cheque and cash payments, and online at www.barntheatreoxted.co.uk or www.oxtedplayers.co.uk for all card payments.  Tickets £10.00 adults and £9.00 students.
Our autumn production will be The Safari Party by Tim Firth.

Auditions will be held at The Barn Theatre from 7.30pm on Thursday, 23^rd May.  If you would like to have the audition pieces or borrow a script, please contact the director, Peter Shore, on either of the contacts below.  Anyone who has already borrowed a script but is not going to be at the auditions is asked to contact Peter to arrange the return of the script before then.  If you are interested in auditioning but cannot come on 23^rd May, please let Peter know, as it is likely that we will be arranging an additional date:

peter.shore01@gmail.com  or 07712 315 406.

The play is set in rural Cheshire around the early part of the 21^st century.  Three households have agreed to hold a ‘safari party’ – a dinner party where each course is served in a different house and the participants move from one to another.

Brothers Daniel and Adam (both mid-20s to mid-30s), struggling to make a living on the dilapidated farm they have inherited from their recently deceased father, have undertaken to do the first course, but are entirely lacking in any culinary skills or, indeed, in any suitable furniture.  Both Adam and Daniel have grown up on the family farm and will have ‘uneducated’ accents and modes of speech, but there is no necessity for them to have a Cheshire accent.

Lol and Esther (both mid-40s to mid-50s), a vulgar, pretentious and snobbish upwardly mobile couple, recently moved to the countryside, will provide the main course in their converted barn, reluctantly assisted by their rebellious adult daughter, Bridget (early 20s).

Inga (early 60s, but could be older or younger), an antiques dealer of dubious integrity, specialising in ‘authentic’ rural artefacts, is to do the dessert.

The dinner party is a disaster.  Misunderstandings and conflicts mount as we move from location to location until this black comedy culminates in violent destruction, both of apparently valuable objects and of the pretensions and secrets that the characters carry with them.

Audition pieces
Daniel – from p.57 ‘We didn’t have time . . .’ to p.58 ‘ . . .North Cheshire.’

Adam – from p.62 ‘He didn’t.’ to p.63 ‘But his last words were “Hahargh.  Dirty Harry”.’

Lol – from p.39 ‘Right!  Buttyball!’ to p.40 ‘Why the hell’s that come on now?’

Esther – from p.54 ‘I thought we’d be on coffee and mints.’ to p.55 ‘I’m in Almaney.’

Bridget – from p.70 ‘No, no, no.’ to p.71 ‘ . . . into that hole to score a point.’

Inga – from p.66 ‘Look inside.’ to p.66 ‘I liked Esther.’

Polesden Lacey Shakespeare
www.polesdenlaceyshakespeare.co.uk

Pop-up Shakespeare (in collaboration with The Cat’s Grin Theatre Company) continues this year from 1.30pm on 15^th June and 22^nd June, 2019 – short, family-friendly scenes from well-loved Shakespeare plays, performed at different places around the gardens, accompanied by strolling musicians playing authentic period music on authentic period instruments.  Free to all visitors to Polesden Lacey.

AND the main production is:

Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare at Polesden Lacey Open Air Theatre on Saturday, 29^th and Sunday, 30^th June and again on Saturday, 6^th and Sunday, 7^th July, 2019.

Love’s Labour’s Lost, a joyous comic masterpiece written early in Shakespeare’s career, is filled with romance, riotous fun, wit and humour.  Ferdinand, the young King of Navarre, and his three companions, have sworn an oath to dedicate themselves to study for three years, during which time no woman shall come within a mile of them.  They sign the oath, but almost immediately the Princess of France and her three ladies-in-waiting arrive to discuss her father’s debits to the King.  The men fall instantly in love, break the oath – and the fun begins.

Our production is set just before the outbreak of the First World War in the wisteria-clad gardens of a grand Edwardian country house – in fact, not unlike Polesden Lacey itself!  In this idyllic setting, the aristocratic lovers play out their romances, helped, but more often than not hindered, by flamboyant courtiers, eccentric village constables, schoolteachers, vicars, household and estate staff.  So why not come and join us for a sunny afternoon of Edwardian fun and frolics?

Tickets £12 per head, under-16s free and 10% discount on bookings of 10 or more people.  Box office 01306 881 717 or via website www.polesdenlaceyshakespeare.co.uk

Gates open 1.00pm, performance at 2.30pm, so why not bring a picnic lunch? Free parking with ticket.  For all further information, visit our website.

STOP PRESS
We are looking for maybe four to six people for walk-on parts, as members of the household of the King of Navarre.  These are non-speaking parts, but they are real characters, with plenty of important action on-stage.  There are roles for males and females.  You will need to attend some rehearsals, but not all.  A reminder that the production is set just before the First World War, so you will be costumed accordingly.

If you are interested in this lovely voluntary opportunity, in particular in taking part in open-air theatre in a truly beautiful setting, please look at our website: www.polesdenlaceyshakespeare.co.uk and get in touch, using the press table on the website.  We look forward to hearing from you!

St Mark’s Players
www.stmarksplayers.co.uk

Our next production, Midsummer Mirth, will take place at St Mark’s Church Centre, Alma Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 0DA on Thursday, 20^th and Friday, 21^st June.

It will be an evening of light-hearted entertainment comprising a number of short plays or sketches with a fish and chip supper (or other choice of food) served during the interval.  The ticket price of £16 includes supper, which needs to be booked in advance, or you can just pay £10 for a ticket without supper.  Please bring your own drinks, nibbles and also glasses, plates, cutlery (if required).

Tickets can be obtained from TicketSource.  Use the ‘contact box office’ tab on our website, www.stmarksplayers.co.uk and click on the ‘book now’ button.

Sutton Amateur Dramatic Club (SADC)
www.sadc.co.uk

Our next production is Hamlet by William Shakespeare, an abridged, modern-dress version directed by Dave Thompson, playing from Thursday, 27^th to Saturday, 29^th June, 2019 at St Mary’s Church, Beddington, Surrey SM6 7NJ.  Hamlet, the most famous play in all theatre.  Hamlet in a church? Ideal!

‘No place indeed should murder sanctuarise; revenge should have no bounds.’

Thus the unscrupulous King Claudius approves a young man’s reckless disregard of the time-honoured protection of a church against violence.

This opportunity of staging the tragedy in St Mary’s has been grasped with excited enthusiasm by its director, Dave Thompson, secure in the knowledge that theatrical killings in this sanctified and beautiful setting have met with fine and popular success over the past two years, as those who saw Murder in the Cathedral or Macbeth will verify.  Hamlet is not a religious play, but it asks ethical questions of the audience as much as the actors and the director.  What would we feel about being asked to kill someone?  Someone who deserves, it appears, to be killed?  Where do our sympathies lie? And, in both this question of vengeance and in the matter of love, all have serious choices to make, in which their very lives are at stake.

Tickets are available at www.ticketsource.co.uk/sadc

West Horsley Independent Players (WHIPS)
www.horsleyamdram.org
More information next time.

Woodmansterne Operatic and Dramatic Society (WODS) and Junior WODS
www.wods.org.uk
More information next time.

 

Dear All,
I hope you are managing to enjoy the Summer and to take a break from your usual routines. As I type the weather has become more unsettled but I am sure the gardens are grateful for the rain we have experienced recently.

Performing Arts Library
The library for the performing arts, which keeps the many sets of play scripts and music scores as well as literature on drama, dance and music, has now left its base at Denbies Vineyard and is in the process of moving to Bourne Hall in Ewell. I understand that it will take some time to transfer such a vast stock and to familiarise staff at Bourne Hall. We hope to see this valuable facility up and running again in mid-September.

Well Done, Gage!
Following the evening of The Gage production of the Vintage Hitchcock: a live radio play by Joe Landry at the Banstead Arts Festival, the Banstead U3A gave The Gage a £50 donation in recognition of their audience’s appreciation of the play and the enjoyable visible work done with props and sound effects.

Preparations for our 70th Anniversary Celebrations
We will celebrate our 70th Anniversary in 2020 and we have already started to discuss plans and ideas. The performance dates will be 26th , 27th and 28th of November.
The committee are keen to ensure this is a full Gala production and are hoping to have a special evening performance on the Saturday, with a meal and drinks.
This will of course need a lot of planning, preparation and support to ensure things run smoothly.
The committee are keen to hear from those of you who are able to offer your ideas, time and commitment to ensuring this is a production to remember.

Social Events
The Gage continue to put together a Quiz Team and regularly meet on Wednesdays at The Duke’s Head Pub in Dorking Road, Tadworth. We are always welcoming to any members who want to join us. Please keep a look out for emails with future Quiz dates if you are interested, or contact us through our website.

Winter 2018 production
This is in the final stages of planning, so please put the performance dates in your diary now: 29th and 30th November and 1st December. More information on our website soon.

Anne Vine
It is with great sadness that I have to report the recent death of Anne Vine. Many of you will have known Anne from the amazing backstage support she gave us as a prompt. She was also a member of Heath Players and joined them after chatting to someone at a stall at one of the Village Fetes, many years ago.
Anne rarely missed a Heath Players or Gage production and played her part to the full, making a valuable contribution, whether that was on stage as a well observed and performed character part, such as a housemaid or cook, or more frequently at the side of the stage, during rehearsals and performances, as prompt.
Anne served on the Heath Players committee for many years as secretary, only standing down at their last AGM, earlier this year, because of her failing eyesight. She was regularly involved in the social life of both Gage and Heath Players and was always keen to join in on trips to see plays by other local drama groups. Anne was warm hearted and generous and will be sincerely missed.

Don White
I would also like to express our deepest condolences to Committee member Beryl White. Beryl’s husband Don died quite recently.
I know that we all send our thoughts and best wishes to Beryl at this difficult time.

Anne Henderson
Chairman

From our New Chairman – Anne Henderson

Dear All,

I would like to thank you for welcoming me to my new role as Chair of The Gage Players, and I am looking forward to the year ahead.

Vintage Hitchcock: a live radio play – a resounding success
I am sure that those who attended our spring play, ably directed by Lars Sawyer, will agree that it was an excellent production and the write-up in the Surrey Mirror reinforced this. So, well done to all on stage and back stage, and also grateful thanks to those who supported front of house.  We wrapped the play with an extra, very well received, performance at the Banstead Arts Festival, the first time the Gage has been asked to take part in this.

Performing Arts Library, Dorking
As you may be aware, PAL has been under threat of closure and dispersal by Surrey County Council as a savings exercise.  The Gage committee has now heard that its current residence at Denbies Vineyard may also be under threat. The Gage has done a lot to garner support for PAL to prevent either its closure or the dispersal of the collection, and has also pledged some financial help and practical help; we have also recently written to the Surrey Country Council councillors most closely involved, urging them to work with the new charity, Newspal, and its board of trustees, to enable a sensible transfer of the library to new ownership.

Please may we ask you, if you have not already done so, to write in support of Newspal, by going to their website newSPAL.org.uk and completing a few minutes’ worth of input on their appeal site?  Thank you.

Quiz night
Our next social event will be the quiz at The Duke’s Head pub in Tadworth on Wednesday, 23rd May.  Timing is 7.30 sit down for an 8pm start; cost per head, £2.  Please let our social secretary, Jon Laws, know that you will be taking part, especially if you would like to eat at the pub before the quiz starts, so that he can book enough tables for us.  Everyone is welcome, especially those who can boost our general and modern music knowledge!!

Our winter production – open auditions
Our winter play will be a roaring comedy, Party Piece by Richard Harris, directed by Gill Lucas.  Gill will be holding auditions (3M, 4F) at 8pm on 2nd and 4th July at Christchurch Hall in Walton on the Hill, so do please come along to try out for this.

Rehearsals will begin on 17th September, every Monday and Wednesday evening at 8pm, also at Christchurch Hall, with performances at the Riddell Hall in Walton on 29th and 30th November and 1st December.

Please put all these dates in your diary now, and do come to the auditions – this will be a fun production!
You can keep up to date and see production photographs by visiting the Gage website (thegageplayers.co.uk) and our Facebook page.

I look forward to seeing you at the quiz, and at Gage and other local amdram productions.

Best wishes,

Anne

Anne Henderson

Hi, I am Jon Laws and am delighted to have been elected as chairman of the Gage at the March AGM. I have been a member of The Gage Players since 2003, when I was a “portly gentleman” in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, directed by the late Margaret Hunter.

For your records, here are my contact details should you need to be in touch with me: 20 Lyndhurst Avenue, Surbiton, Surrey KT5 9LL. Mobile 07565 962 453, Skype  jontlaws  and email  jon@cctvwithtlc.co.uk

My first task as chairman is to say a great big thank you to Franki Gray for all her work and for leaving The Gage Players in a great situation.

The highlights of Franki’s year in charge were Murder in Play by Simon Brett and Teahouse of the August Moon by John Patrick, based on the novel by Vern Sneider.  We also made three appearances at The Duke’s Head as a pub quiz team.  These have been enjoyable and have even netted £10 in prize money, which went to the Gage fund.  We have another date planned for Wednesday 11^th May. Please do see if you can come along to join the fun (especially if you are an expert at pop music) and have a meal there before we start.   I have booked a table for us for 19.15 (the quiz starts at 20.00), so if you are interested, please let me know and I shall book you in.

Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn was a success and we had good audiences, but the Saturday audience was exceptionally warm with their response.  We managed to start to take down the set on the Saturday evening and with all the people that turned up on the Sunday, we were completely finished by 11.00, an almost record time.  Many thanks to all of you who were involved in any way and especially those who helped with the “get-out”.  We were also happy to welcome some new faces with our front of house and backstage crew as well as one of the cast, we hope to see you all again for the next production (details below)

For the summer, the committee has been thinking of not proposing a barbeque this year, but to try a “get together” for a Sunday lunch at The Blue Anchor, Dorking Road, Tadworth, KT20 5SL on Sunday 26^th June.  If you would like to join in for this and get to know people in the Gage, please contact me as soon as possible (jon@cctvwithtlc.co.uk ) so that we can gauge numbers for a group booking.

We shall also be staging a rehearsed reading with supper in September at The Riddell Hall  – the arrangement is not to have a ticket price, but just charge the cost of food (and bring your own drinks).  Please let me know if you would like to come along to think – either as a possible actor (no learning of lines for this!) or as a member of our audience.

The play chosen for the autumn (24^th, 25^th and 26^th November) is Over My Dead Body by Derek Benfield, and it will be directed by Debbie Nichols with auditions in July – more details in the next newsletter and on our web site.

Don’t forget that we now have an agreement with the Manager of the Blue Ball, for anyone who books a meal on a show night who is coming to see the show can get a 15% discount on food, that night

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you at the Dukes Head for the Quiz Night.