Dear Members and Friends,

I hope you are all well and enjoying a glimpse of Summer during this rainy, inclement season!

In July we had a large gathering at The Duke’s Head in Tadworth for the Gage Summer lunch.  The food and service were excellent, but once seated the space was tight for so many people.  Another time we’ll need a bigger table so that we can move around in order to chat with everyone!

Last week’s Zoom poetry and prose event started off our round of social evenings, and is being followed by a flurry of auditions for our Autumn rehearsed readings.  For anyone who had difficulty in joining our Zoom link, a new link was quickly sent round and we were soon enjoying ourselves with readings from plays and a huge variety of poems.  Another social evening is planned for Bank Holiday Monday, 28^th August, at 8pm.  If you’d like to join in, to read or listen, here is our web link to click on and ask for the Zoom link:
https://thegageplayers.co.uk/mailing-list-signup/

Rehearsals will soon be under way for our two rehearsed play readings at 7pm on Saturday, 16^th September in the Riddell Hall.  This is always a popular evening when you bring your own picnic supper and choice of drinks to enjoy before the curtain goes up at 8pm.  Because seating is placed around tables, there are fewer places available, so it is advisable to book your seat/s early.
The first play reading, in two scenes, is Separate Tables (Table No 2), a classic by Terrence Rattigan, directed by Chris Slater.  It is set in the early 1950s in a shabby-genteel hotel on England’s south coast and has wonderful characters who have much to tell as the story unfolds . . .

After a coffee and raffle prize interval our second play will be Evolution, written and directed by Pip Rolls.  This is the latest in a series of comic plays in which Pip seeks to clarify aspects of history in a nonsensical manner, and you will be amazed!

We are hoping that the resumption of The Gage Invitational Trophy Quiz will go ahead as planned on Saturday, 30^th September, but it seems that more support is needed from other local drama groups and their supporters.  So far only Merstham Amateur Dramatic Society (MADS) has responded, and Christine from the current trophy holders, St Mark’s Players in Reigate, is chasing up other groups to form teams and join in the quiz.  We need at least one other team to make it a real competition and a good social event.  The planned venue is St Katharine’s Church Room, Church Hill, Merstham, Surrey RH1 3BH.  The cost is £5 a head and nibbles are included, but bring your own drinks of choice.  As usual, the event will generate a charitable donation to a local good cause.  A notification will be sent nearer the date to confirm.  Please support the return of our quiz after the prolonged Covid and aftermath interval.

The cast is now complete Molly’s Calling, written and directed by Pip Rolls, and playing at 8pm on 23^rd, 24^th and 25^th November at the Riddell Hall.  I think most of you know that due to lockdown our first attempted production of this had to be cancelled only a week before the first night, the start of years of financial losses for us.   We are so looking forward to seeing it on stage at last.  The play has a clever, intriguing storyline, lovely characters and plenty of laughs, and it really deserves to be seen and enjoyed.

We shall be looking for directors for both our Spring and Winter 2024 productions.  We have several good plays earmarked for one or other season, but if there is someone who wishes to direct their own choice of play, we would be interested to hear from you and to read the play.

This is an important request: we are still looking for a secretary for The Gage.  The person would need to be able to take notes at meetings and type them up for circulation and actions, but no theatrical experience is necessary.  Please, if you think you can help us, contact us to find out more on friends@thegageplayers.co.uk

Dates for your diary:
Monday, 28^th August at 8pm, poetry and prose Zoom; a further date will be set at our committee meeting on 7^th September
Saturday, 16^th September at 7pm, two rehearsed play readings after supper at the Riddell Hall
Saturday, 30^th September at 7.30om, The Gage Invitational Trophy Quiz at St Katharine’s Church Room, Church Hill, Merstham, Surrey RH1 3BH
Thursday 23^rd, Friday 24^th, Saturday 25^th November at 8pm, Molly’s Calling at the Riddell Hall

Best wishes to you all,
Gay

Gay Weeden
Chair, Gage Committee