Dear Members and Friends,
I hope you are all enjoying this cooler weather and making the most of our long-awaited freedom from lockdown.
The Gage is keen to get back to normality, and our future plans are now under way. However, firstly we had to find a different venue for our rehearsals, because of greatly increased charges not being able to have our usual evenings and timings. After contacting several possible halls, it was decided that Walton Primary School was the best choice. They are very welcoming and we have our usual Monday and Wednesday evenings at our preferred times, and use of their facilities. We can, in return, help them with their school productions, and it will feel good to be involved with the local community. The hall is next door to our previous venue, and offers off-road parking.
Because we are nevertheless paying triple the cost for hiring a rehearsal space we urgently need to raise funds. It has been decided to increase our ticket price to £12.50 – the first increase in six years. But greater production costs still need to be met, so we need other ways of raising money. Your suggestions and support would be very helpful, so thinking caps on, please, and do contact us via our website if you have ideas we might be able to use.
Our first event since November 2019 will be a rehearsed reading with supper for Gage members, their families and friends. The play is Playgoers by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero and will be directed by Chris Slater. The date is Saturday, 11th September, 2021 – 7pm supper followed by 8pm performance at The Riddell Hall. Information on how to book your places and your food will be circulated in good time.
For our winter 2021 play we are delighted at last to be performing Molly’s Calling, written and directed by Pip Rolls; this was originally scheduled for April 2020, then November 2020 and then April 2021, each time delayed because of Covid 19 restrictions. We now look forward to performing it on 25th, 26th and 27th November this year at 8pm each evening at The Riddell Hall. There have been no auditions this time as the original cast are still available, so please put the dates in your diary and give The Gage your valued support once again. Box office number is 01737 812 703.
For the first time there will be an early event in 2022, another evening of rehearsed readings: supper at 7pm, the performance to begin at 8pm, an interval around 8.30 followed by the second half. Pip Rolls has written some short comic plays for us, so it should be a very good evening. The date is Saturday, 5th February at The Riddell Hall, with an auditions notice expected to be circulated in early December.
Our spring 2022 production performance dates will be 28th, 29th and 30th April – the play is nearly chosen, so please put these dates in your next year’s diary, more information will follow next time. Until rehearsals start, we enthusiastically continue our weekly Zoom get-togethers on Wednesday evenings at 8pm, reading short plays and poetry, keeping the Gage alive, and enjoying the humour and company of good friends.
I wish you all a good summer and look forward to welcoming you on 11th September and at our winter play.
Gay Weeden
