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Notice is hereby given that the 39th Annual General Meeting of Cheshire Theatre Guild will be held on Wednesday 9th July 2003 at Winsford |Civic Hall commencing at 7.30pm prompt. Awards Evening This will follow the AGM and I will soon be contacting last years winners to arrange collection of cups and salvers etc. They should of course, be gleaming and on prominent – I suspect many will be tarnished and stuffed in a corner – please give them a polish before you return them! Poster Award The more the merrier as they say so please get these to me as soon as possible and no later than June 23rd. You can post or deliver to 93 Chester Road, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 9EU. One Act Play Festival You will already have received details from Gerry Card and this is merely a reminder of the dates June 21st & 22nd at Moulton Village Hall. This will not clash with the Guardian Rose bowl awards, who have in previous years pinched our dates and our festival has been going MUCH longer than their awards! As you are aware the success or otherwise of the one act festival this year will determine the future of the festival. – please support us if you can. Correction In the February newsletter the dialling code for Gill Ridley was incorrect – this should be 01928. Gill is the person to contact for Ashton Hayes Theatre Club wardrobe – offers of help etc. The full number is in your handbook i.e. 01928 724417. Quest for the Whooperdink- Ashton Hayes Theatre Club We did eventually stage this play on 24th 25th , 27th and 28th February, in a different school hall each evening. We had a few sticky moments on the way – at one stage it seemed that the cast list changed at every rehearsal! Indeed, I don’t think we actually got the whole cast together at once until the final dress rehearsal. Despite all this, we achieved an excellent play with a happy and enthusiastic cast, which was very well received in every place we visited. It was grand to see several new faces among our cast and we particularly hope that the younger members will be able to join us again as soon as another opportunity arises. A touring production is so dependent upon the work of an efficient team of “roadies” and we were indeed fortunate to have such a dedicated group of helpers on board. Our special thanks go to the staff of all the participating schools, who made us feel so welcome. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to adapt our techniques to a variety of situations and to reach a wider audience than our traditional one around Ashton Hayes. It was particularly thrilling to be able to take the production back to Horns Mill, where some of the original development work on the play was done in the early 1980’s. I do extend my sincere thanks to everyone who was involved in the production in whatever way – it was a great team effort. Paul Rigby-Jones P.S. Some actors are a Tour-de-Force others are Forced to Tour! I’ve forgotten who said that about a fellow actor – does anyone know? – A chucky biscuit to the person who comes up with the correct answer. Gift wrapped and presented at the AGM! J.R.Powell. First Aid Course Sunday 18th May. This is almost full, however, if you would still like a place please get in touch without delay. Full details were sent out some weeks ago. The importance of having a First Aider available is illustrated by the extract below! It’s the final week for that duo of dames Maggie Smith and Judi Dench, who have been appearing at London’s Theatre Royal in Breath of Life. This may come as a relief to the emergency services. Since the curtain first went up four months ago, the production has been interrupted no fewer than 20 times by medical dramas in the stalls. ‘The title of the play is very appropriate considering the number of times we have had to call an ambulance to revive patrons’, says a stagehand. ‘It might have something to do with the more mature nature of Maggie and Judi’s fans. Tudor Players Success ‘Kindertransport’ – Tudors entry in the Easter Festival of full length plays at the Gaiety Theatre, Douglas, Isle of Man won 4 awards and received 2 further nominations. Awards scooped were for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director (Jeff Brailsford) and First Runner Up. The 2 nominations were both for Best Actress. The play will also be presented on the opening night (May 25th – Sunday) of the Wakefield Festival where last year ‘Quartet’ won many awards. You can see the play at Sale Nomads Theatre from June 4th to 7th. Based on the advice to parents of Jewish families in Nazi Germany on 1938/39 – Get your children out of the country while you still can whatever the ultimate cost… Not your idea of a good night out? – prepare to be surprised! An April Birthday It was Shakespeare's 439th birthday in April. Voltaire may have dismissed him as ‘this enormous dunghill’ but nothing dents the bard’s blockbuster status. Among this years productions: The English Touring Theatre’s King Lear with Timothy West at the Old Vic until 19th April; Edward Hall directs an all-male cast in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (on tour, Bromley this month and then on to Cambridge, Salford Quays, Guilford, Reading, Newcastle, Richmond and Oxford). Next month there is Nicholas Hytner’s Henry V with Adrian Lester in the title role at the National and the Globe season starts with an all-male Richard II with Mark Rylance as the king. Fringe Benefits as she Beats a Professional Nantwich Players Committee member Margaret Boschi is to appear in a production at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe – and she beat a professional Shakespearean actress to the part. The role could mean an appearance in a film version of the production as such films are not cast with big star names. The film rights have been signed. Margaret auditioned for the part of Gran in a new play called ‘Guts’ by the producer Karlton Parris of Sandbach. This came about because Louisa Phillips of Wistatson, the musical director of the Youth Theatre’s production of ‘The Demon Headmaster’ , knew Karlton was auditioning for the production, and mentioned to Margaret – who is one of the team of three running the Youth Theatre – that he was looking for someone to play Gran. Margaret attended the audition, a professional audition which was advertised in The Stage, and attended by up to 80 hopefuls. Louisa said ‘There were about four people auditioning for the role of Gran, but Margaret was the obvious choice’. Louisa was involved in a Fringe production with Karlton Parris – a musical called ‘Tricks’ with Skint Productions. She was the composer and musical director in what was her first Fringe venture. Said Margaret: ‘It is all very exciting I have never seen a Fringe production before. We are appearing at the Bedlam Theatre and the performances start at 10.00pm. It is all at our own expense, and I shall be staying in a university hall of residence’. ‘My children, Anne, Alice and John and their families are talking about going to Edinburgh to see me. They are Hoping to see the Festival and Tattoo’, she said. Margaret who joined Nantwich Players in June 2001, has previously been a member of Sandbach Players. She is also Treasurer of Cheshire Theatre Guild and works with a youth theatre in Wistaston. The Fringe runs from August 3rd to 25th. Could her appearance at the Fringe mean the big time? Household names who were unknown when they appeared at the Fringe in previous years include: Rowan Atkinson, Angus Deayton, Hugh Grant, and Robin Williams (who played Tranio in the Taiming of the Shrew in 1971). Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Emma Thompson, Jude Law, Graham Norton and Jonathan Miller were all relatively unknown. Already in the fame spotlight when they appeared in recent years were Joan Rivers, Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon and Eddie Izzard. John Brough Global Applause 2003/04 Enclosed is a ‘freepost’ reply card for you to register your interest in the new Johjn Godber play. The May issue of ‘Amateur Stage’ gives more details (page 4) and the title ‘Fly me to the Moon’. Amateur Stage will be giving regular updates in the coming months. And Finally ‘Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?’ – HM Warner of Warner Brothers 1927. John R. Powell
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