the newsletter of toads theatre...
TRANSCRIPT
the
R O A K C The newsletter of TOADS Theatre Company J
anuary
20
18
Casting & Production News
www.toadstheatre.co.uk
Any feedback and sugges ons about content and layout for future Croaks is always welcomed. However, the editor reserves the right to peruse such feedback at his leisure and then completely ignore it.
The Croak is edited and compiled by: Brenda (Bea) Hutchings
By Terence Frisby Directed by Stephanie Aus n 11th- 16th June 2018 Play Reading: Tues 27th February 7.30pm Audi on: Sun 4th March 2.30pm Role Ages
James Highwood……………………………………………………………..35-50 Margaret Casely QC , prosecutor……………………………………..40-60 Judge………………………………………………………………………………….50+ PC Ramsden………………………………………………………………..20-30ish Dr. Simon Kerr…………………………………………………………………...50’s Dr Hannah Radzinski…………………………………………………………..40+ Jeremy Ackroyd, solicitor…………………………………………………….40+ Jean Highwood…………………………………………………………………...30+
Ages are approximate. This is an intense courtroom drama. James Highwood is a charisma c TV presenter, accused of mur-dering his baby son, and conduc ng his own defence. This is a very large role. His wife, Jean, may be younger than him; in age she must be credible as the mother of young children. Anyone interested in audi oning is advised to a end the reading prior to audi on, to gain a proper perspec ve of the play. Scripts are available from the box office. They must be signed for and re-turned in me for the reading on 27th February. Any queries, contact Stephanie Aus n on Telephone 01803 361634
By Will Evans & Arthur Valen ne Revised by Alan Ayckbourn 14—19 May 2018 Directed by Andrew Bell Play reading & Audi ons: Sunday 14th January, 2.30pm Role Cas ng will depend on ages of people who audi on Sprules, a butler…………………………………………………………………………… Simpson, a parlourmaid………………………………………………………………. Miss Benita Mulle …………………………………………………………………….. Louise Allington………………………………………………………………………….. Aubrey Henry Maitland Allington……………………………………………….. Giles, a gardener………………………………………………………………………... James Chesterman, a Solicitor……………………………………………………… Jean Everard……………………………………………………………………………….. Henry………………………………………………………………………………………….. George Maitland…………………………………………………………………………. Plus a small crowd of suppor ng actors as creditors…………………… An unsuccessful inventor has inherited the life interest in a for-tune which reverts to his cousin George Maitland on his death. Unfortunately the inventor has accrued enormous debts and his cousin George is thought to be dead whilst abroad. The inventor has the idea of ‘dying’ so he can resurrect himself as his cousin thus avoiding his debts. Inevitably complica ons arise! Any queries, contact Andrew Bell on Telephone 07773 391026
Email: [email protected]
What to report from committee? Rather brief this month:
The defibrillator – this will be fixed in the public area stage right, in the foyer between backstage and the coffee shop – the idea being it will then be accessible to both general public and to backstage. Please be patient – there will be installation work re-quired before it is up and running, so this item might not be instantly available.
We are still hammering out the final details of season 18/19 – each committee member is currently limbering up their liter-ary excuses as to why we’re doing 12 Angry Men and Dad’s Army during the same week (I’m kidding!!).
Over coming months you should all notice general improvements to the staff car park and the area where the decking used to be (you hadn’t noticed had you?). These will, hopefully, mean that both areas look more in keeping with the rest of the premises and that members won’t have to continually step through puddles and sections of Florida-esque swamp, in order to access the stage door.
The minstrels’ gallery has been ti-died up considerably. Much has been culled
and we can see the floor again – thank you to all those who helped.
We have a quinquennial (great word huh?) report that various committee members and maintenance group will be perusing. This is a report into which areas of the theatre are recommended to need maintenance attention over the forthcoming five years.
I would also like to take this oppor-tunity to say a big “thank you” to all our set-build volunteers. I came into the theatre on 27th December for a couple of minor bits and bobs and there, to my slight surprise, were several volunteers ensuring the set for The Perfect Murder was being completed. Above and beyond the call of duty I say. I must add that the set looks fab! Sets are consistently good, well-built, solid, well-designed, paint-ed, etc. There was a time when a good set got applauded at a performance as the tabs with-drew; I’ve noticed this doesn’t happen so much anymore. I can only put this down to the fact that they are so consistently good that we all, including the audience, take them a little bit for granted. Sad in a way but keep up the good work chaps and chappesses!! (As bitchy as it sounds, if you want to understand how good our sets are, take a look at those of
other less well-resourced societies – the sets are definitely a feather in our proverbial cap.)
I hope all our members, and indeed patrons, had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was spent wondering the streets of Torbay until a Brixham family took me in, feeding me and generally keeping me coddled in fa-milial warmth – obviously whilst I was chained up in a corner with the rest of the animals. A lovely Xmas dinner was followed by Trivial Pursuit and much fixed grinning at some of the ridiculous answers (I didn’t win – they must have cheated!). At time of writ-ing New Year has not yet happened but, if you should hear a gentle tap tapping at your front door followed by the sound of finger-nails screeching down the entire length of your lounge window, don’t ignore me – I’ll need alcohol! With that image I wish you all a very happy New Year.
Finally, as Chairman, I wish to con-tinue reassuring all members that everything is still my fault!!
Jon Manley (Chairman/person/thing)
5-13th January, 2018. 7.30pm. ‘Treasure Island’ by Bradford / Webster. Dir. Paula Foxley. Dawlish Repertory. 01626 863061. [email protected]
FROM THE CHAIR
The New Year marks some changes to The Wednesday Club.... we will be hold-ing some Friday mee ngs too! This started in December with our first ‘Memory Cafe’ which I gather went down well. We will be con nuing with The Cafe on the first Friday of each month, so the next one is 5th January, star ng at 2.30pm. Our first ‘POETS Friday’ will be on 16th March, but more of that nearer the me. Meanwhile, back to Wednesdays....... Last month started with Suzy and me reading some of our more recent po-ems, including my ‘Duvets’ masterpiece, which some people thought they’d heard before, even join-ing in with the punch line... how strange. Then we held our Christmas Party which was going well un l Thea was taken ill. Sherry called an ambu-
lance, with Thea being kept in hospital overnight. She’s fine now, but was suffering from low blood pressure. Sev-eral Wednesday club members felt that we needed a refresher course in First Aid, which I’ll organise in the near fu-ture. We reviewed the mee ngs so far, this season, and a cheque for just over £150 was handed in to Alan ‘Scrooge’ Tan-ner. Our New Year starts on 5th January with ‘The Memory Cafe’, followed on the tenth by our review of ‘Li le Wom-en’. The following week we have a spe-cial showing of Les Veale’s musical ‘Daddy’s Le er’ star ng at 2.00pm. This is the recent filming of Les’ show, featuring many local actors, including Di Davies, Andy Killen and Gill Poore. The film lasts one hour and 40 minutes,
so we’ll start early. Next, we have our review of ‘The Perfect Murder’, with members of the cast. At a party the other night, Nigel Horne and Stella expressed an interest in tap water, even though a casual observer would conclude that wine might have a more universal appeal. Prompted by that, I will be explaining some basic water treatment systems under the cheeky tle of ‘My Waterworks’, in the hope that I can flush out any miscon-cep ons. And finally; now that Meg and Jean Strong are back from their whirlwind tour of China, I understand that Boris has been summoned to Beijing to sort out their diploma c faux pas........
“ John Miles
Wednesday Club
January Productions from other Societies 8-14th January, 2018. ‘Sinbad the Sailor’ by Alan Fryan. NADMCS. Alexandra Theatre, Newton Abbot. 01626 203570.
11-13th January 2018 ‘Babes in the Wood’ by Norman Robbins. Dir Sarah Jane Venn Dunn. Shiphay Am Dram. SADS. 07821 601 658 www.shiphayamdram.co.uk
Listed here are some essen al contact de-tails: Box Office 01803 299330 boxoffice@toadsli letheatre.co.uk if you’d like to get involved in front-of-house du es
Jon Manley* and/or 07815 323982 Jackie Tarney boxoffice@toadsli letheatre.co.uk if you’d like to help behind the bar
Jill Pe grew* 01803 525071 jillpe [email protected] if you’d like to join the wardrobe team
Anne Jordan 01626 330866 [email protected] if you’d like to join the props team
Joy Book 07704 584943 [email protected] If you’d like to help In the coffee shop Brenda Hutchings* 07800644508 [email protected] if you want to submit an ar cle for Croak John Miles 01803 858394 [email protected] for Wednesday Club
Andrew S dston 07976 364412 [email protected] If you’d like to help with set-building
Al Dunn 07880 734880 [email protected] If you’d like to get involved with techy Stuff
If you want to act, or get involved back-stage in any produc on, or as props or prompt, contact the director in each case, whose number will always be listed in The Croak with the audi on informa on. If you're s ll not sure who to call, any mem-ber of the commi ee will always help to point you to the right person. As well as those names marked with an asterisk above, the commi ee members are: Peter Burcher 07715 019762 [email protected] Alan Tanner 01803 613701 [email protected] Lisa Fletcher 01803 299330 Anna Reynolds 01803 553803 [email protected] Mar n Waddington 01803 290038 waddingtonmar [email protected]
Do you want to get more involved with TOADS? Not sure who to contact?
Announcements HAPPY NEW YEAR! SET BUILDING VOLUNTEERS REQUIRED ! Fancy a new challenge for 2018? Why not add set build-ing to your New Year’s Resolu ons List. Sa sfac on (plus coffee and biscuits!) guaranteed! (Rolling up sleeves is an op onal requirement! ed) Contact: Andrew S dston 07976 364412 [email protected] (S ll) FOR SALE: Subject to surplus requirements - TOADS has a petrol lawn mower for sale. Good condi-
on. All enquires to Alan Tanner at : [email protected] Telephone : 01803 613701
Devon Air Ambulance HELIPAD Winter 17 magazine— Brilliant Toads/Theatre ar cle on pages 26-27 (woman sat in the chair looks a tad scary…!) ed. h ps://issuu.com/helipad
Please send all content for inclusion in the Croak to Bea at: [email protected]
Last Orders for the Post-Christmas Meal at Amici’s !
BOOK NOW!! Deadline 10th January (cash or cheque to the box office please asap) The commi ee has organised a post-Christmas meal at Amici’s on Sunday 28th January 2018, 7pm for 7.30pm, for members and partners. Please see the menu (link emailed with Croak link) for which we have nego ated a good discount on the usual prices. House wine will also be discounted to £10 a bo le. Please reply to Peter Burcher at:
[email protected] with your menu choices for each person using the codes allocated for each course. Please then send cash or a cheque (payable to: TOADS Theatre Company) for the appropriate amount to the theatre box office in an envelope labelled Amici Meal by the deadline of 10th January 2018. Please ensure names of those a ending are detailed inside the envelope. Numbers are limited to 65 so please sign up as soon as possible.
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Church Event.
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Dates for Your Diary January 2018
Little Women
The Perfect Murder 7.30pm
The Perfect Murder 2.30 pm & 7.30pm
The Perfect Murder 7.30pm
The Perfect Murder 7.30pm
The Perfect Murder 7.30pm
The Perfect Murder (charity)
7.30pm
Wednesday Club
Wednesday Club
The Perfect Murder 7.30pm
Wednesday Club 2.30pm
Wednesday Club
Coward At Sea 7.30pm
TONS OF MONEY Read through/Auditions
2.30pm
Memory Café
Tadpoles re-starts 6.30pm
December 11th-16th 2017