This chore enables us to keep our records up to date so please help by returning your affiliation and handbook forms as soon as possible. Unfortunately, due to increased costs, this year the committee have, reluctantly had to increase the subscription to £18. This is the first time we have increased the fees since the 1998/99 season. We feel that this still remains very good value.

We intent to issue a new set of updates for the handbook soon. Unfortunately Ian had his laptop stolen along with the back up discs, so he has lost the handbook updates. He is in the process of recreating the handbook from the website information which is stored at the hosting company.

As those of you who came to our A.G.M. will know the adjudicator for 2004/05 is again Danny Flowers, who last season saw a record number of productions. Danny is an adjudicator who does not like to refuse any request, and for this reason already has a number of dates pencilled in for the new season! This enables Danny to fit in her own dates and holidays etc around you. So get your requests in early – even if you do not have a play selected at this stage – payment can be made nearer the time (although Margaret will accept payment for a full season in advance and refund if a production does not go ahead).

Adjudication request forms are included with this newsletter and again these remain at £25 (subsidised by the Cheshire Theatre Guild).

ADJUDICATOR – DAVID WOOD

The original question was – ‘What are you doing on June 19^th or June 20^th?’

Happily there were enough people who answered ‘Entering (or watching) the CTG One-Act Play Festival’ to mean that we could go ahead with eight participating teams. (There was a ninth team who wanted to enter as well, but unfortunately we could not accommodate them.)

The venue was delightful. Thank you very much Knutsford Little Theatre for hosting the Festival and making us feel so welcome. The entertainment was varied and enjoyable. Thank you to the teams and Societies for putting in so much time and effort. The adjudications were interesting and informative. Thank you to David Wood for his illuminating and informative comments. The results were:

BEST ACTOR
JOHN SMITH - as Eric in BOUNCERS by John Godber
for KNUTSFORD LITTLE THEATRE

BEST ACTRESS
LINDA EVANS – as Landlady/Lesley/Maudie in TWO by Jim Cartwright
for NANTWICH PLAYERS

BEST PRODUCTION
NANTWICH PLAYERS for TWO by Jim Cartwright

BEST YOUTH PRODUCTION
CLUB DRAMA for THE LAUNDRY GIRLS by Bill Owen

BEST YOUTH PERFORMANCE
MARK DAWSON – as Silas Snaker in HISS THE VILLAIN
by A R Taylor and W Ernest Cossons for CLUB DRAMA

ADJUDICATOR’S AWARD
KNUTSFORD LITTLE THEATRE
for excellent lighting in BOUNCERS by John Godber

The final question is ‘What are you doing on June 18^th 2005 – or June 19^th 2005?’

That’s when we are planning to hold our next One-Act Festival. Where it will be and who will be the Adjudicator we don’t know yet, but watch this space (or ring John Powell to offer your venue).

Meg Cooper

Anyone for Gaelic!

Over two years after his death the family of the late Spike Milligan have finally agreed on the wording for his gravestone. “I TOLD YOU I WAS ILL”. The final resting place is Winchelsea in East Sussex and unless you know Gaelic you won’t be able to ubderstand the words anyway.

Motivation

During rehearsals a young actor kept interrupting Noel Coward with questions about the motivation behind the character he was playing. Finally Coward snapped, “your motivation is your pat packet on Friday. Now get on with it”.

The Show Must Go On

It seemed like a good idea when we first thought of it – but it rather snowballed – and finally, on the night itself, the fates conspired against us!

We had a One-Act play which we entered in two of the local Festivals. But a lot of our members didn’t manage to see it and asked if we could put it on at the clubhouse. We found a free night and then thought that just one One-Act play wasn’t really a full evening’s entertainment. So we looked around for something else to present at the same time. One of our members had written a One-Act play, which he had also entered in the Hale Festival with his own group, Farrago Players. Yes, he was interested in repeating the performance. Then our Director told us of another entry at Hale that she particularly enjoyed – PADOS’s play. Yes, they were also interested, so - we had a full evening’s entertainment.

Tickets were first offered to the three teams. I know we only have a small venue, an intimate 72 seat studio theatre, into which we managed to squeeze another four seats (and cushions on the floor in front so that participating actors could watch the other two plays) but by the time the teams had ordered their tickets, there were about six left for our members. Sorry, Nomads, if you didn’t even know the evening was going on – there was no point in telling you in the end, and other clubhouse commitments meant we could only play on the Saturday night.

The plans were made, the details sorted, the teams arrived – or most of them! That was the evening of the bomb scare in central Manchester and one actor was stuck in the city, reliant on public transport to get to Sale. We re-arranged the running order to put them second rather than first and then soothed the lighting, sound and stage-management teams who were all set up for the first play first - not to mention the second team who were now going on first. That was all sorted, and then we realised that we were rather thin on audience. There had been a car crash at the bottom of the road which was causing major tailbacks towards Altrincham and the M60 was closed at Sale, causing major detours as well.

In the end it all sorted itself out and we had a very good night. Expenses were minimal, apart from Royalties, which we paid out of the ticket money, and the profits were shared between the three Societies. Thank you PADOS and Farrago Players for contributing to such an enjoyable event.

Would we do it again? Certainly – we are planning a couple of such events next season. If anyone wants to take part with us, contact me (881 8416). We might even suggest we organise one just before the Festivals next year, to give people an opportunity for a trial run before facing an Adjudicator. What we can’t promise are suspect parcels in the city centre, car crashes or motorway closures adding to the stress. But hey, we are actors, we can cope!!

Meg Cooper
Sale Nomads

The first of these was to the Lowry courtesy of Wilmslow Guild Players. This was a full tour of the building – The Galleries and exhibition areas – a very pleasant lunch followed by a matinee performance – excellent value at £22.50.

The design and colours of the Lowry may not be to every ones taste but following our guide’s explanation it all went into context. Next time you are in the Lowry be aware of the architects concept of a ship and docks. The sloping floors give the feel of a moving boat. The exterior tower a ships funnel – look out for the wave shapes where walls and ceilings meet. The circular wall lights suggest portholes. Look out for the names of areas – “The Upper Deck” and “The Promenade Deck”.

The orange and purple colour scheme is intended to welcome people and draw them in – hmmm? (like to make a comment on that Margaret T?).

We also had an all too brief look at the theatre spaces themselves.

The QUAYS is a versatile space for normal pros arch, thrust, catwalk or in the round presentation. All the centre seating can be quickly removed and stored under the floor to leave a large open area in the centre – for dancing possibly. For £3000 a day (£2000 for less thyan a day) the QUAYS can be hired and amateur groups do take the gamble - a recent production had been Fiddler on the Roof . Rates are negotiable for longer periods.

We then moved to the much larger Lyric theatre. Surprising although this is the largest stage outside London it does not have a revolve.

The two theatres QUAYS and Lyric back on to each other with a central loading area. The acoustics in the QUAYS are better as sound in the Lyric tends to go up into the fly tower – all this information was passed on by an enthusiastic young guide – herself involved in amateur theatre.

We then had an introduction to the Lowry Galleries and ample time to look around on our own. If you think Lowry was just about matchstick men and dogs be prepared to be surprised – his range of styles and subjects was large.

Lunch followed and well fed we took our seats in the Lyric stalls for “Full Circle” with La Collins. The set was splendid – the costumes stunning – the play passable but all we really wanted to know was how Joan Collins looked in the flesh – well not actually – but you get my drift! The ladies of Wilmslow Guild Players were no doubt looking for nips and tucks – signs of the botox injections etc. As to the men we just admired the view and from 10 rows back she looked pretty good for her age – I have no idea exactly what that may be but I’ll bet the ladies did!

Thank you Wilmslow Guild Players and organizer Maureen for a very enjoyable day with you.

Next time A visit to the Gladstone Theatre Port Sunlight.

Excuses (if Needed) for Some of Wild’s Wit

The one charm of marriage is that it makes a life of deception absolutely necessary for both parties. – The Picture of Dorian Grey.

The more one analyses people, the more all reasons for analysis disappear. Sooner or later one comes to that dreadful universal thing called human nature. - The Decay of Lying.

Morality is simply the attitude we adopt towards people we personally dislike. – An Ideal Husband.

John Powell
Chairman