The Minutes of this years’ AGM are available Here

We held our 2015 AGM last night. Once again it was well attended and it was a real pleasure seeing a few people that I hadn’t seen for a while.
The whole committee stood for re-election and were voted back in as a block. In addition four new people were also elected to join the committee. I’m very happy to announce that Graeme Bussey, Joanna Roskilly, Claire Hogan and Tracy Rudeforth have now joined us. With this bigger committee, I am sure that we will be able to accomplish a great deal.
We also voted to adopt an on-line ticketing system. We are now going to set up a Box Office page on this website and we will be selling tickets for our productions. It was also decided that we shall charge a 50p administration charge for people using this facility to cover our costs. We hope to have this system up and running in time for the November production.
There were reports from the Chairman, The Treasurer and the Theatre Club Secretary. Despite slightly low attendance at our performances it was another good year.

Joanna Roskilly has now announced the cast for the September open evening. Because the auditions were so well attended, Jo has decided to do three short plays from Duets instead of the two she originally planned to do.

Blind Date
Wendy – Georgina White
Jonathan – James Barnard
The Holiday
Shelley – Samantha Powell
Bobby – Cliff Francis
Bride to Be
Angela – Claire Hogan
Toby – Graeme Bussey

Four of our best loved actors and two newcomers to the Settlement. I was lucky enough to be at the reading where Georgina and James read and I’m looking forward to seeing them on our stage.

Well, David Smith has held his auditions for the November productions and the cast for Ladies of Spirit is as follows:

Sally Burgess – Abigail Sage
Jane Cox – Helen Faulkner
Mrs Thorpe – Nicole Ashbrook
May Danvers – Alison Muir
Miss Maudsley – Val Barber
Miss Rowe – Claire Hogan
Mrs Emmett – Crystal Anderson
Miss Harriet Pye – Diane Morrad
Miss Matilda Pye – Hazel Jacobs

A very strong cast I’m sure you’ll agree and I, for one, am looking forward very much to seeing this one.

On Saturday 13th June 2015, after the final performance of The Ladykillers, Douglas Harding was given an award by the Settlement Players to celebrate the fact that this was Douglas’ 100th role with the players in the 40 years that he has been with us.

On Saturday 30th May we spent the day filming a video insert for the June Production, The Ladykillers.

Cast and Crew wanted for the September Members Evening

Performance Date:         5 September 2015

Rehearsals:                     Monday and Wednesday evenings from 20 July 2, plus the two Sunday afternoons before the show

Cast auditions:                Mon 6 and Wed 8 July 2015

Plays:                               Two of the four acts from ‘Duets’ by Peter Quilter

                                          “A warm and funny exploration of love and other bruises”

Duet I Blind Date

Jonathan and Wendy meet through a magazine lonely hearts column and arrange to go on a blind date with a difference: it takes place in Jonathan’s living room. Neither of them has particularly high hopes, having had bad romantic experiences in the past, but gradually they overcome their nerves and awkwardness and agree to make it a proper date over dinner.

Duet IV Bride to Be

Angela is about to get married for the third time. Her brother Toby is on hand to escort her to the church when she gets a serious case of cold feet. On top of this, he has to contend with spilt coffee, a ripped dress and a thunderstorm which ruins her hairdo. With some ingenuity Toby manages to overcome these ‘bad omens’ and persuades Angela to take a chance on Husband Number Three.

Cast:                     

(Ages have purposely not been given as this is less important than a good pairing for each play)

Wendy:                     Plain, awkward. Wary after a failed marriage and several bad experiences with men but hopeful that she might still find happiness. Direct and practical with a quick, often self-effacing, wit.

Jonathan:                  Harmless and hopeless. Trying too hard to impress. Still resentful after his fiancée left him for their Concierge on holiday. Still proud of his second prize trophy from a ballroom dancing competition 30 years ago (although he coveted first prize of course).

Angela:                      Vivacious, brave, optimistic. She’s been through some hard times but always comes back fighting. She’s got the big dress and has arranged a lavish wedding but faced with the reality of a third marriage she is suddenly full of doubt and she’s looking for reassurance or a ‘sign’ that she’s doing the right thing.

Toby:                          Angela’s big brother. They are close, especially since they lost both their parents. He always has a smart reply and speaks his mind about other people’s faults. Playing the cynical bachelor he’s actually terrified of commitment and in awe of his sister who is willing to risk it all for the chance of happiness.

Crew:   

Please email me if you are interested/available for the following roles. Although this is not a main production there are several challenges we will need to get our heads together about!

Stage Manager

Props

Costume

Set designer

Set construction

Lighting

Sound

Prompt

My email address is jocarver76@googlemail.com

Jo Roskilly

Audition Notice for the November production 12-14^th November 2015.

Ladies of Spirit by Georgina Reid, Directed by David Smith

The synopsis of the play

Gibraltar School was founded as a school for young ladies by the two dear old Misses Pye, now deceased.  The long-suffering teachers now have their lives made miserable not only by their pupils but also by the present headmistress, Miss Rowe, known universally as “Hard Rowe”.  Since Gibraltar is a private school, they resign themselves to the fact that there is little they can do about it, but they find help coming from a very unexpected quarter indeed.

The period of the play is the 1960’s, and is set in the staff room at Gibraltar School, Hartmouth.

The cast is as follows:-

Miss Rowe – headmistress – 45+ – not a nice lady.

Miss Maudesley – sweet-faced gentle person of 61

Miss Hattie Pye – previous Headmistress (deceased)

Miss Mattie Pye – previous Headmistress (deceased)   Hattie and Mattie Pye are sisters – no specific age but probably around 50-60 – one sister slightly bossier than the other, but both rather fun

Mrs Emmett – mother of one of the pupils – common and truculent – no specific age – 40+

Sally (the Secretary) – slightly simple – head always in a dictionary – young – mid-20’s upwards

Jane Cox – cares for colleagues / pupils – youngish – up to mid 30’s

May Danvers – a few years younger than Miss Rowe – elegantly dressed and inclined to gush to Miss Rowe when not actively unpleasant.

Mrs Thorpe – shabby matron type of around 40ish

I am happy to be flexible with the age of the characters, so as not to exclude anyone from auditioning for a specific role; however, that flexibility may naturally require a minimum / maximum age limit dependant on the character being portrayed.

There may be some reading this who are new(ish) or a long-standing member and would like to assist me in a backstage role (a lack of experience or confidence would not exclude you as we can muddle through together J), so please have a think and let me know if you would be interested in being the Stage Manager, Assistant Stage Manager, Lighting, Sound, Costumes, Set Design, etc.

I have purchased 10 copies (9 now, 1 to follow) of the script, which I will leave at the Settlement dressing room, so people can sign that they have taken a copy away before the auditions. (Please return them, so others may have a chance to look at the script.)

I intend to have a workshop style audition, where people will be moving about and interacting with each other using small scenes from the book – so each character has the chance to shine (as can you).

I am looking to hold 3 auditions on: Sunday 28^th June 3pm, Monday 29^th June 8pm and Wednesday 1^st July 8pm. If anyone cannot make those dates, but would like to audition for a role, or more than one role, then we can try and set up a date / time when that can be done. (I will be performing “Much Ado About Nothing” at the Queen Mother Theatre – so will be busy for the two weeks before the auditions, but I’ll endeavour to find time.)

If you need to talk to me about any aspect of the production or characters, then please call me on 01462 672922 or 07903 197922, or e-mail me on david.smith@cpa.uk.net

I hope that you will be able to make the audition.

Kind regards,

David Smith

I am pleased to announce the Settlements production of ‘After Midnight Before Dawn’ was very well received at the Sawston drama festival.
Nominated for the following awards:
Technical Excellence
Best supporting actor/actress  – Abigail Sage for Girl
Best Actress – Sonia Weston for Calm Women
Best Actor – Graeme Bussey for Man

And finally, I am very happy to announce that
‘After Midnight Before Dawn’ won the 2nd place trophy for overall best play.

Congratulations to everyone.