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OAST NOTESOAST THEATRE
TONBRIDGE May 2017
2
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
SATURDAY, 6TH MAY LAST DAY FOR COPY FOR
JUNE OAST NOTES
Monday, 8th May Reservations taken for outing to
Chichester Theatre on 20th July
Tuesday 9th May Meet the Directors!
Tuesday 9th May Oast’s entry “The Donor” in
Leatherhead 1 Act Festival
Friday 12th May Oast’s entry “Tough Cookies” in
Leatherhead 1 Act Festival
Saturday, 20th to
Saturday 27th May
Play of the Month
“Going Green”
Monday 3rd July “One Dog & His Man”
Sunday 13th August Oast Summer Lunch
NEXT MONTH’S PLAYS – The Hoppers’ Summer Show – 10th & 11th
June (matinées only).
“Murder, Margaret & Me” by Philip Meeks – 24th June – 1st July. To the
annoyance of Agatha (Christie), Margaret (Rutherford), whom she
considers too large & exuberant a character, is to play Miss Marple.
However both ladies have secrets and are not what they seem.
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PLAY OF THE MONTH
“Going Green” by David Tristram
A tragic comedy.
The people had lost faith in the political establishment – expense
scandals, cash for questions, fat-cat bankers – the whole country was
crying out for a new direction, a fresh start.
Step forward John Brown, a future leader of the Green Party. A man
with vision. A man with charisma. But a man with a problem.
Forced by a mystery illness to quit his beloved politics, John decides
to give one last blistering farewell speech at the annual conference.
The party faithful rise as one to greet their hero. The press cameras
flash. And John stands to deliver his final, stark message to the
waiting world. “Go Green…or die!”
David Tristram’s writing is always touched with a comic genius.
“Going Green” combines this genius with moving shades of tragedy.
Pamela Murphy
Director
Well, how topical is that scenario! Definitely worth a visit this play.
Make sure you get in early to book your seats for this one. Book
online at www.oasttheatre.com or by ‘phone on 01732 363849 or
even by post using an Advance Booking Form available at the theatre.
4
MEMBERS’ EVENING Tuesday, 9th May - 7.30pm for 8.00pm
MEET THE DIRECTORS!
For the next great season – 2017/2018
This time your Drama Committee have gone through so many hoops
to finalise this season, you would not believe it! We would like you
all to come – actors, backstage crews and audience members to hear
about our next season. Join us in the Bar where the directors will talk
about the play they have chosen to direct.
You’ll hear about our fantastic Youth play that is to open our
season.
A real heartfelt message. Don’t dismiss a play because you
haven’t heard of it, or you don’t know the author. That is the
wonder of theatre.
Once again our December production will straddle the ages so
don’t be late in booking this, it does sell out quickly and once
you know what it is you’ll understand why!
Please let us all know if you are interested in being part of a
backstage team, Stage Manager, lighting, sound, props, costume
– we are always looking for help in these areas.
Don’t miss our Festival plays, they are well received and we
need your support.
Please come and join in with all the exciting things that are happening
in your Oast Theatre.
As usual, backstage tours are available and the bar and coffee bar will
be open. If possible please come at 7.30pm if you would like a tour.
Look forward to seeing you there!
Sandra Barfield & Jo Pierce
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OUTING TO CHICHESTER FESTIVAL THEATRE
“Fiddler On The Roof” Thursday, 20th July
From day one of booking, this production has been proving very popular with
Chichester theatre audiences, but we have managed to obtain our quota. Omid
Djalili stars in the lead role of Tevye, and will sing the show stopping “If I
were a Rich Man”.
The cost of the outing, to include ticket, coach and driver’s tip, is £32.50, and
the coach will leave the Oast theatre at 9.00am. Members only to book to start
with.
To reserve your place, please ‘phone Carol Wickham 01732 851139 from
9.00am on Monday, 8th May. This gives everyone a fair chance to read Oast
Notes.
Carol Wickham
BOX OFFICE – TICKET EXCHANGE POLICY
Oast Theatre box office policy, in common with many theatres, has been that
tickets once purchased cannot be exchanged. Most customers who find they
cannot use tickets return them to the theatre for resale for the benefit of the
Oast. But from time to time an exchange of tickets for another performance is
requested. It has now been decided to amend the policy to allow exchanges
provided:
1. the exchange is for another performance of the same show
2. there is no monetary detriment to the Oast Theatre
3. the request to exchange is made at least 3 days before the date of the
show for which the tickets were purchased.
It is hoped customers will appreciate this more flexible approach to ticket
exchanges.
Ian Burns
Box Office Team
Please note and use my new email address [email protected]
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LEATHERHEAD ONE ACT PLAY FESTIVAL 9th/12th MAY
The Oast has two entries in this year’s festival at the Leatherhead
Theatre.
On Tuesday, 9th May –
“The Donor”
by Branko Ruzic
Directed by Andy Taylor
Cast
Anna – Karen Dix
Andrey – Steve Hemsley
On Friday, 12th May
“Tough Cookies”
by Edward Crosby Wells
Directed by Sandra Barfield
Cast
Jo – Elizabeth McCreadie
Billie – Cathryn Gahan
Mammaw – Annie Young
Performances start at 7.30 p.m. and tickets (£9.00 for adults & £3 for
under 19s) are available at the theatre Box Office – 01372 365141
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UPDATE ON OUR MAD MARCH HATTER EVENT
Hats, Hats, Hats!
Remember all those beautiful hats and fascinators, all styles and
colours, which we had been given? 9th March saw the Oast
Lounge put on its glamorous face to display them, and members
and friends spent a sociable afternoon browsing, trying on (the
best bit) and even buying – such wonderful value for such
brilliant hats.
Two prospective Mothers of the Bride bought more than one hat
each, which would cover all eventualities of weather and outfits;
at least one was intended to be seen while its wearer read the
lesson in church; one lady bought no less than six hats on behalf
of her daughter (who is apparently always going to weddings!);
some were bought just for fun – no good reason, just for fun. Why
not?
Thanks to all those who worked so hard to make it happen,
including Chris Miall for the original introduction, and we made
a nice little profit of £260.00 for the Oast. Some of the hats were
also sold on behalf of the Lady Taverners charity, working for
young people with special needs – much appreciated.
A few lovely hats are left – about 15 out of the original 60 or 70
– and can be seen when the Wardrobe is open on Sunday
mornings.
Valerie Armstrong
8
ONE POINT OF VIEW
“The Country Wife”
by William Wycherley
“The Country Wife”, written in 1675 by William Wycherley, is a satirical
comedy about the follies, vices and hypocrisies of Restoration London. It
is full of double-entendres and sex jokes. The prose is colloquial and the
plot is a tangle of desires and intrigues. It turns, essentially, on two plot
devices: a rake’s trick of pretending impotence so as to safely engage in
clandestine affairs with married women, and the arrival in London of an
inexperienced country wife out to discover the sexual joys of town life.
The production began well, with an interesting freeze-frame of the cast
behind the gauze that covered the windows in an impressively tall,
columned set. It gave the impression of being a drawing room or any other
spacious place beloved of the wealthy. The walls were set far back, leaving
considerable stage space for the large cast: a good decision when so much
movement was required by so many people. I liked the idea of the up-stage
doors being opened by ‘servants’: it gave the impression of automatic doors
through which the cast could effortlessly glide. The only furniture was a
table, a bench, a very small screen, used for comic effect when pretending
to hide a character, and three stage blocks on wheels. I confess to being
irritated by the frequent, minor, adjustments to these blocks. It did not seem
to alter or affect things a great deal, although the changes were slickly
handled. Also annoying was the persistent left-right swinging of the hand-
held lantern: as each of the two characters spoke, so a third party swung the
lantern in his direction. The joke seemed to go on for ever as the exchanges
were mainly one-liners.
Occasionally, key scenes were set way upstage and pushed into a corner, so
close to the walls at times that movement became restricted and
cumbersome. The letter-writing scenes were typical of this: Pinchwife was
forced to move clumsily between the walls and a table at which his wife was
seated whilst writing the letter. Such positioning tended to isolate the action
from the watcher, especially when seated on the opposite side at the back of
the auditorium. The same isolation occurred when two performers
were both positioned so close to the proscenium arch that it felt as
if they were having private conversations.
9
“The Country Wife” contd.
While on the subject of speaking, I felt that a little more work should have
gone into how to deliver the lines. In the longer, more convoluted
exchanges, the thought patterns were at times either lost or hazily
understood, so the meaning became dulled: at times the cue bite needed to
be sharper: because of this the play occasionally lost its rhythm.
A large cast worked tirelessly to bring a long, involved play to life. I would
have liked more variety in the pace and staging. More comic invention
would have livened things up: for example more rudery during the China
making scene and placing the pretend sex act centre stage. To me the
production needed to be much naughtier. The words were rude but the
actions weren’t. Neither did it quite catch the cruelty inherent in the self-
centredness of some of the characters.
While agreeing that all the cast were good, for me, the stand-out
performance was that of Frankie Gahan as Sparkish. This was an
impressive and totally convincing performance of a monumental dolt of a
fop. Gary Warner, Pinchwife, was equally entertaining as the neurotic, put-
upon husband. His comment about writing ‘whore’ with his penknife in his
wife’s face was vicious and shocking. Vivienne Pattison, Mrs. Pinchwife,
was entertaining as the innocent abroad, but needed to be lust let off the
leash when desiring Horner. Andy Leggatt’s Sir Jasper had considerable
Restoration swagger, his feet planted firmly centre stage and always in
control. Elizabeth McCreadie, Lizzie Goodall and Anna Wood were
entertainingly flirtatious while needing to be voracious in their desires.
Zacchary Falconer-Barfield made an impressive effort at being Horner. He
caught the surface charms and the manufactured indifference very well, but
did not quite convey his irresistibility to women.
As is usual at The Oast, the play looked fantastic. The Restoration costumes
were a joy to behold and lighting was sophisticated and atmospheric. So,
well done to all concerned. Despite my reservations, I did enjoy the evening
and thank everyone for being so dedicated to the production.
Phil Porter
10
ONE POINT OF VIEW BUT TWO PLAYS
“Stolen Secrets” by Fin Kennedy
“OAST MADE: AFTER SHOW” by THE OAST YOUTH
THEATRE
Where were you all? These were two excellent productions by the very
talented Oast Youth Theatre who deserve better audiences than they had
all week. We rely on their sound grounding and development of skills for
future adult productions.
Both plays were directed by Jason Lower, with the help from budding and
very able producers, Daniel Holden and Robbie Rickard. They played on
a stage with a set constructed by the Playgroup but adapted by Jenni
Everett for the second play. Jenni, and Edward Winnifrith were
responsible for the sound and lighting design throughout, with Sam Baker
in the box. With Daniel Holden, Edward and Jenni also did the superb
videos which were an integral part of “After the Show”.
The acting in both plays was that of a team, working together, in some
instances speaking as the Greek style chorus, addressing the audience
rather than talking to one another on stage, which was very effective.
“Stolen Secrets” was slick, showing character development and with
moments of real pathos, especially in the scenes with Mrs. Jones. The
cast in both plays were actually playing themselves, not necessarily the
easiest thing to do, and the situations were credible. Many of us I am sure
could identify with the reactions of individual members, (even if it was a
voice from the past!). I am not going to pick out individual performances
as all gave insight into the pains and joys of becoming adult and preparing
to leave home and close friends. I was vividly reminded that what one
actually sees in teenagers’ behaviour often has deep-seated reasons and
emotions behind it with which they have to cope.
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“Stolen Secrets” and “OAST MADE: AFTER SHOW”
contd.
Thank you so much, Youth Theatre, for a most enjoyable evening
which reflected hours of work and effort on everyone’s part, giving
us two plays with real insight into the minds of young people. We
look forward to your next production
Barbara Winter
BOX OFFICE RESULTS
There were 4 full houses for “The Country Wife” with a total of 840
tickets sold, being 94% of the capacity. In addition 3 tip-up seats
were sold. The audiences consisted of 164 (20%) Season Ticket
holders; 296 (35%) Members; 375 (45%) Non Members and 5
Associate Members. 595 tickets were booked online being 71% of
the bookings made.
A total of 300 seats were booked for “Oast Made…” & “Stolen
Secrets” being 67% of the capacity. There were 99 (33%) Season
Ticket holders, 58 (20%) Members, 102 (34%) Non Members, 40
(13%) Students and 1 Associate Member.
218 bookings were made online, being 73% of the bookings.
Brian Perryman
12
A VERY SPECIAL DATE FOR YOUR DIARY –
3rd JULY
“One Dog And His Man”
A fun evening in the company of Charles Garland and his lovable
Labrador, Alfie.
Following on from the extremely popular evening with Roy Hudd,
we have another truly fun and entertaining evening for you on 3rd July
at 8.00 p.m.
Charles Garland, who has a wealth of experience working for the
BBC, is a writer and composer, television producer and director. He
will be entertaining you with some behind the scenes stories from
some of the programmes he contributed towards in one role or
another.
His first assignment with the BBC was assistant to Sir Jonathan
Miller for a new production of ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’. Following that, he
worked on every type of programme – children’s shows such as ‘Blue
Peter’, three Royal Variety shows, sketch and variety shows,
including three years with ‘The Paul Daniels Magic Show’, as well
as drama, educational programmes and a stint as director of ‘Top of
the Pops’. Sitcom became a large part of his working life, with ‘Terry
and June’; ‘Joint Account’; and ‘The Last of the Summer Wine’ as
assistant producer, although most of his time was spent with David
Croft OBE, on such shows as ‘Hi-De-Hi’; ‘Allo Allo’; ‘You Rang,
M’Lord?’ and ‘Oh, Dr. Beeching!’ as producer. Next, over a three
year period, Charles re-edited most of the classic comedy archive for
the BBC, including ‘Dad’s Army’; ‘Are You Being Served?’;
‘Steptoe and Son’; ‘Porridge’; ‘The Good Life’ and many others.
13
“One Dog And His Man” contd.
Charles will also be including in the evening some of the poems from
his book of whimsical verse entitled ‘My Labrador Eats Poo’ (not as
disgusting as it sounds!).
His co-star for the evening will be his beautiful golden Labrador
called Alfie.
The show is a cross between an informal three-way conversation
between Charles, the audience and Alfie, and ‘An Audience With…’
type of event, so you will have plenty of opportunity to ask him
questions.
This promises to be a delightful and fun evening’s entertainment and
an opportunity to find out at first-hand what goes on behind the
scenes at the BBC!
Tickets for the evening are £6.00 payable on the door and to book a
seat (which will not be allocated) just email me on
[email protected] or telephone 01622 813573.
Maggie Hoiles
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NEW MEMBERS
First we are pleased to welcome another Associate Member. A name well
known to us:
Laura Collins at ALL STAR SPEAKERS
Thank you Laura for your continued support wearing ‘your other hat’!
And we also welcome two new senior members.
Zacchary Falconer-Barfield who just wants to act.
Pauline Till who is willing to do prompting, help in the Wardrobe and the
Coffee Bar.
Thank you for joining us. We do hope you enjoy your membership.
100 CLUB – MARCH RESULTS
£50.00 - Mr & Mrs G Watts
£25.00 - Mr & Mrs C Edwards
£10.00 - Miss B Fermor
£10.00 - Mrs S Williams
£10.00 - Mr & Mrs M Adams
£10.00 - Mrs M Metcalfe
You can join this fund raiser at any time. It only costs £13.00 a year.
Contact Rita Carpenter on 01732 358282 or email on
Check with her to see which numbers are available – good luck!
Welcome to those who have recently joined.
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OAST YOUTH THEATRE
WORKSHOPS
Thursday, 4th May
Thursday, 18th May
Thursday, 25th May
“OUR COUNTRY’S GOOD”
We have our audition for “Our Country’s Good” on 27th. April
(hopefully you will be reading this in time). Our read-through
will be in early May and performances in September. It is going
to be great fun! It’s on the school syllabus, so please advertise it
at your schools and see if we can have another sell-out.
CALENDAR
All of our upcoming dates can be found in the OYT calendar:
http://oastyouth.co.uk/oyt-calendar
Jason
OAST THEATRE
TONBRIDGE
THE OAST THEATRETonbridge Theatre & Arts Club
OFFICERS
Box Office: (01732) 363849 [email protected] ROAD TONBRIDGE KENT TN10 3AN TEL: (01732) 350261
www.oastheatre.com
Tonbridge Theatre & Arts Club Registered Charity No. 227035
PHIL PORTER [email protected]
DAVID KEITH [email protected]
ELIZABETH PORTLOCK [email protected]
BRIAN PERRYMAN [email protected]
ANNIE YOUNG [email protected]
PHIL PORTER
LYN PORTER [email protected]
MAGGIE HOILES [email protected]
JO PIERCE [email protected]
JASON LOWER [email protected]
Chairman
Honorary Treasurer
Honorary Secretary
Membership Secretary
Editor
Premises Manager
Hirings and Rehearsal Bookings
Publicity
Wardrobe Representative
Youth Theatre
01732 835460
01732 458876
01732 300551
01732 354368
01732 352084
01732 835460
01622 813573
01892 528166
07812061753
01732 835460
