STOURPORT THREE ARTS GUILD

NEWSLETTER – August 2006

It’s been the hottest July since time began – and this newsletter is almost as hot!

We’ve got great news regarding our November Production, two theatre reviews and a mind-crunching brainteaser to make you think.

NOVEMBER PRODUCTION: THE CANTERVILLE GHOST

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 23^rd - 25^TH ~ ARELEY KINGS VILLAGE HALL

It is with great pleasure that we can now announce that our November Production will be a musical version of the Oscar Wilde short story The Canterville Ghost.

This is a superb script that will hopefully have our audiences enthralled and suitably entertained – the cast comprises a failed ghost, a family of dysfunctional Americans and a rather dotty old house-keeper, ably supported by a gruesome band of phantoms.

There is a wonderful musical score, some special effects to undertake and a long, long road ahead for the cast and crew!

• We have assembled a very strong cast who are all set for rehearsals, which will be starting in September;
• Chris Phillips has taken on the role of musical director and he has begun planning the music side of the show and seeking suitable band members
• if you fancy blowing or hitting something of a musical nature please contact Chris;
• Maria Bettridge and I are at the helm from a production and direction point of view and the two of us are currently putting together a set design and planning costume and scenery requirements.

We could still incorporate more people into the production: there is a chorus of phantoms who feature in the production – and though we have some members of the chorus we would really like to bolster the chorus with a few more people. If you - or anyone you know - would like to get involved please contact me on the usual numbers.

GUILD BARBEQUE

SATURDAY AUGUST 19^TH

Lynn and Andy are firing up the barbeque on Saturday August 19^th for what is fast becoming our annual barbeque.

This is always a fun evening with some very fine food, some trivial banter and usually a lot of rain – hopefully one of those three will change this year!

The barbeque is open to all members and family/friends – so dust off your wellies or flip-flops (weather dependant) and come along!

For those of you who have lost their menu – please see the attached!!

UNCLE VANYA BY ANTON CHEKHOV

SWAN THEATRE – JUNE 27^TH

Watching a play by Chekhov can be a masochistic exercise. As a member of the audience one needs to endure to enjoy.

I visited the Swan Theatre with six other members of the Guild to see Brenda Williams, one of our former stars, playing the role of the Grandmother. Her dignified and quiet performance together with the other older lady made a good foil for all of the emotive mayhem which surrounded them.

I don’t know much about the interior of 19^th Century Russian Country Houses but the set seemed convincing to me, allied to some excellent lighting which heightened the brooding atmosphere. I particularly liked the thunderstorm but I didn’t hear any rain – an ammunition box with dried peas and a pliable sheet of tin make excellent rain and thunder!

I enjoyed the performance of the Doctor and there were some good cameo roles; however Uncle Vanya, played by Matt Jones, gave a first rate performance. The intensity of emotion the role demands could be likened to the role of Abergail in The Crucible, where it is necessary to reach a high level of hysteria. The difficulty is sustaining it – he did!

I first saw Uncle Vanya at Chichester Festival Theatre about forty years ago, Laurence Olivier and Michael Redgrave played the Doctor and Vanya respectively; the Swan production compared very favourably. I cannot award any higher accolade than that.

Lionel Lench

PS: I am no theatre critic – but this is how I saw it.

THE TEMPEST BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

ROYAL SHAKESPEARE THEATRE – JULY 28^TH

The first thing to understand when one goes to The Royal Shakespeare Company is the expectation you carry in with you. This is “The Home of Shakespeare” … these walls have seen some of the greatest actors in the world … ever! So, as you can imagine, when the lights go out and the production starts you kind of get the feeling as though Shakespeare himself is on stage and we are all his aunts in the audience waiting to be impressed. Thankfully The Tempest as a script is one of the easiest of the Bard’s plays to follow and it is the last script he wrote – the play being written in 1612 and the great man himself dying in 1616. More of that later…

Anyway enough irrelevant waffle… on with the show!!

The production, directed by Rupert Goold, is a taught, fast moving affair in which not one beat is missed. The cast were obviously enjoying themselves onstage from the first to the last syllable. From the moment Patrick Stewart makes his first entrance you realise you are in the company of one of the greats. I do not use this word lightly, his performance, put simply, was a sublime lesson in how to wring every syllable for its meaning, emotion, everything.

By no means is this a one man show, the performance of Julian Bleech as Ariel is almost on a par with Stewart’s for his bold choices; suggesting that this could be a rising star in the RSC Company.

Other notable performances were the double act of Trinculo and Stephano, played to the hilt by Craig Gazey and Joseph Alessi, again wringing every laugh possible out of the script both verbally and physically.

The highlight of the play was Prospero’s final two soliloquies, the breaking of the staff and the request to the audience for his freedom brought such a silence from the audience the like of which I have never witnessed. The effect brought about by the knowledge mentioned earlier, suddenly you had the impression that the Bard himself was on stage saying his farewell to his spiritual home. As one of his ‘aunts’, I left immensely proud and so very, very happy that I had borne witness to this event.

The play runs until October – go and see it. You will not be sorry.

Aunty Taylor.

BRAINTEASER

A boxing match is scheduled to last for twelve rounds with each round lasting three minutes; however it ends during the sixth round – but no man has thrown a punch, no corner has ‘thrown in the towel’ and the referee’s only involvement was to count out one of the participants. This is regular boxing, not kick boxing, and there was no outside interference.

Can you explain how this occurred?

CONTACT DETAILS

GAMES EVENING

Saturday  September 23^rd

Day Centre, Stourport

Bring your board games and join in for a fun night of Mouse Trap, Buckaroo, Cluedo, Monopoly or whatever else we can all dig out of the attic.

More details to follow next month.

DIARY DATES

Saturday August 19^th  

Barbeque; Lynn and Andy’s; 6 pm

Monday September 11^th

Committee Meeting; the Hut; 7-30pm

Saturday September 23^rd  

Games Evening; Day Centre; 7 pm

As a final word, I thought I’d give you the cast details for The Canterville Ghost – complete with each person’s google (*) total:

(*) For the computer illiterate: google is an internet search site – a bit like an index at the back of an encyclopaedia…but it’s a huge index and an even bigger encyclopaedia!

Alan

BRAINTEASER ANSWER: The boxers are female