One Act Play Festival 2003

This year the one act play festival suffered from lack of entries, particularly in the adult category, and had it not been for the support and enthusiasm of Club Theatre Juniors who fielded no less than three entries we would have had no festival this year.

So! what are we doing wrong? Your committee has discussed this and it is felt that maybe we should be looking at the format, and we have attempted to analyze the factors involved.

Timing  - The timing of the festival is designed to fall in line with other One Act Festivals which take place in the area i.e. Wilmslow Guild festival, GMDF festival and Hale festival. These all occur between the end of May and mid June and we pick our dates to avoid clashing with these events. After all some societies may wish to enter all three and do not want protracted rehearsals.

Duration – Up to now we have held our festival over a weekend i.e. Saturday afternoon and evening and Sunday afternoon and evening. It has been suggested that three evenings may be more appropriate. Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Venue – We rely on the generosity of affiliated societies to volunteer their premises for the mounting of the festival so! we have no control over this element.

We would like your opinions on the matter since it is you, the members of the Guild, whose festival it is.

This year we had 4 Junior and 1 Senior entry. Attached is a list of winners over the years since the festival was first mounted and we would like to see it continue in the spirit of competition, but it is up to member societies to give their support and enthusiasm to make the event a success. Please ask your members for their opinions ands let us know how you see the future of the Cheshire Theatre Guild One Act Play Festival.

Gerry Card

Courses

Acting / Directing – Nothing to report at present, the person we would like to run this workshop is very busy, but patience is a virtue and hopefully by the next newsletter there will be a positive development.

First Aid Course – We have one group very anxious for the Guild to get this off the ground. The providers of these courses do not come cheaply. We are researching to find the most suitable – watch this space!

Adjudications

Our adjudicator, Robert Meadows, is having a busy season – please be patient if your adjudication takes a little longer than usual to arrive.

Chairpersons / Secretaries Lunch

The date is Sunday February 2^nd 2003 and the venue is The Club Theatre Altrincham. Again we will have a speaker, please note the date and look out for further details.

AGM 2002

If you were a winner you will find a copy of the photograph taken by Jimmy Tait. All the photographs were on the Guild website quickly after the AGM. You can freely download any photographs published on the website to include in your newsletters etc, all we ask is that you give the website a mention when doing so.

AGM 2003

We had a very positive reaction to our ‘new look’ format at Winsford Civic Hall. It will come as no surprise, I suspect, that your committee has therefore decided to use this venue again, and the date is WEDNESDAY JULY 9^TH 2003. This is your AGM and if you have any ideas for making the evening more enjoyable we want to hear them!

Singing Workshop

We are thinking of holding a singing workshop. There are quite a few member societies who regularly put on Pantomimes or other musical events. We would like to gauge the numbers who would be interested in attending such a workshop. If you as an individual or as a group would be interested please will you let the us know either by contacting Gerry Card (01606 883128) or  John Powell (01606 833645) or by email to courses@ctguild.org.uk  Depending on the interest shown we will provide a course tailored to suit the responses.

Affiliations for 2002/03

There are still a number of these outstanding, further forms are enclosed if you fall into this category. To those who did respond promptly “Thank You”.

Manchester Airport Community Fund

And Finally

I make no excuses for AGAIN including a flyer for “Saving Ardley”. I have not heard of one group in the Guild taking up this play and yet nationwide it has met with considerable interest.

I have read parts of the script, it is easy to stage and should not present any casting headaches.

The reason I bring this to your attention once more is that performances are ROYALTY FREE. A substantial saving and I know of several groups in the Guild where funds are not in the best of health! There are also several other good reasons for including this play in your programme if you still have a slot to fill. These are outlined in the leaflet and the deadline to present the play is May 2003.

Reminder

You can have your flyer / leaflet sent out free of charge with our newsletter. This month Knutsford Little Theatre, Tudor Players and The Club Theatre take advantage of this service.