Hi

I will be holding auditions for the 2015 Festival Play in the Settlement Green room at 11.00am on Sunday 11 January 2015.

The play is called After Midnight, Before Dawn by David Campton and is set in a 16th century prison cell and is about the last night before execution of 6 witches. It needs 6 persons, ideally 4 women & 2 men. It invloves the anxieties of each on their last night, and accelerates when the central character declares that she will not be hanged in the morning. It develops as each explores how this one person is so assured she can beat the gallows and the rest want to know how and can they do so too. It builds from a slow start to a shocking and stunning climax.

The play will require period costume, manacles for all, no set other than blacks and 2 benches, very little light but lots of character driven atmosphere. An interesting and different piece that will be both a challenge and hugely satisfying.

The Sawston Festival is on 19-21 March 2015, plus you need to be available for the April one act play evening at The Settlement,11th April, and a date in late April at the Bedford Festival.

Happy new year to you all

Cliff Francis

We are pleased to annouce the cast for our February production
19-21st February 2015 at The Little Theatre, Letchworth Settlement

My Own Show a comedy by Lesley Bruce

Directed by Pat Baskerville

Fay                Hazel Jacobs

Jude              Jo Roskilly

Gillian            Alison Muir

Bollards         Valerie Barber

Karen             Amy Walker

Fay, hostess of the TV chat show “Frankly Fay”.  is worried that her career is on the wane and is mortified to be reunited, on the set of This is Your Life, with an old school friends she’s been avoiding for years.  Fay attempts to turn this meeting to her advantage with surprising results.   Themes on the fickle nature of fame, the difficulties faced by women in the media and the vagaries of friendship are dissected hilariously in this sly and witty comedy.

Please find the December newsletter link as below

NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2014

Please find the latest Theatre Club Newsletter at the link below

2014 August renewal letter

Please find the August newsletter link as below

NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2014

We are pleased to announce the cast for our November production, The Taming of the Shrew

Katherine – Samantha Powell
Bianca – Crystal Anderson
Baptista Minola – Rymer Rigby
Hortensio – Ivan Phillips
Gremio – Douglas Harding
Lucentio – Stephen Charles
Tranio – David Smith
Biondello – Any Walker
Vincentio – Vince Cook
Grumio – Stuart Cocks
Curtis – Jo Roskilly
Widow – Pat Phillips
Pedant – Jim Anderson
Tailor/Haberdasher – Alison Muir
Entourage – Alison Muir, Jo Roskilly, Jen Groves, Jim Anderson, Hazel Stride, Cliff Francis, Pat Baskerville

We are pleased to announce the cast for our September production, Tis Folly To Be Wise

Martine Dobson – Amy Walker
Colin Wilder – David Smith
Rebecca Porter – Jo Roskilly
Steve Porter – Douglas Harding

The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

Directed by Cliff Francis

This classic Shakespearean comedy will require lots of men so get your merry selves down to the audition – although there are some great parts for women too. This promises not to disappoint audience and cast alike as the action is bawdy and irreverent – just as Shakespeare would have liked it!

Synopsis: Baptista Minola has two daughters, both of which he wants married, both of whom come with sizeable dowry’s.  However, the youngest daughter Bianca, fair and chaste but much pursured cannot be married until her older sister, the foul mouthed, foul tempered elder sister, Katherina (the Shrew) is married. The problem, no one wants to marry her.

Enter Petruchio, who on hearing of Katherina and mostly importantly her dowry, immediately decides to marry her and tame her.

This then opens up the pursuit of Bianca and her 3 suitors. It will be staged as “play within a play”, once Shakespeare got an idea, he tends to run with it.

This is laugh out loud and often play, full of plotting and intrigue, lies and subterfuge.

The plan, is to set the play in period, late 16^th Century Italy, so lots of fabulous costumes. It is a very fast moving, comic piece, with some physicality needed for some of the roles. It will be staged, not so much as “a play” as “an event”.

We will be auditioning each role, below I have listed details of the parts and an idea of playing age. The vast majority of the principal parts are in several scenes, with good amounts of dialogue.

If you are new to Shakespeare, this is one of the most readable of the plays, but a simple tip, read it naturally and follow the punctuation.

The Characters:

Baptista Minola (M – 50’s+) – A wealthy Pauduan, father to Katherina & Bianca

Katherina (F – 20’s – 40’s) – The Shrew, Baptista’s elder daughter

Bianca (F – 20’s – 30’s (has to be younger than Kate) Baptista’s youngest daughter, fair and beautiful (but actually a right bitch)

Petruchio (M – 20’s – 40’s)Suitor to Katherina, big, loud and dominating

Grumio (M – 40’s – 50’s) Petruchio’s servant/lackey (a very comic role)

Curtis (M any age, can also be played by F) Head of Petruchio’s household

Gremio (M 40’s +) An older suitor to Bianca

Hortensio (M 30’s – 40’s) – A suitor to Bianca, friend of Petruchio

Lucentio (M – Teens to 30’s) A Suitor to Bianca

Tranio (M – Teens to 30’s)Lucentio’s valet

Biondello (M Teens to 20’s, could also be F, but played as a boy) – servant to Lucentio

Vincentio (M 40’s +) – Lucentio’s father

Widow (F 40’s +) – Wife (ultimately) to Hortensio (also scope to double in other roles

There are other roles for servants, townsfolk, a tailor and an officer, many of which can be doubled.

I am looking to cast as many people as possible, and give you all as much stage time as possible. All of the roles listed in bold have sizable amounts of dialogue.

Samantha Powell has kindly agreed to assist with the Directing of the piece. She, and at least one other, will form a casting committee to help with the casting of the play.

Audition Dates: Sunday 29th June at 7pm & Wednesday 2nd July at 8pm

Performance Dates: Thursday 13th -Saturday 15th November 2014 at 7.45pm

Venue: The Little Theatre,

Letchworth Settlement

Nevells Road

Letchworth Garden City

SG6 4UB