TRINITY PLAYERS NEWSLETTER
Monday 10th August 2015
Dale’s House, BARNSLEY
The August 10th meeting of Trinity Players’ committee saw newly-elected Joe Battye, Jane Laverack and John Parker join with Ruth Willerton (Vice Chairman), Dale Rivers (Sec), Jim Parkinson (Treas), Neil Barham, Ian Harley and Barbara Parkinson for the first time.
In the absence of chairman, Paul Taylor, the meeting, held at Dale’s home, saw Ruth chair the proceedings. Joe and Jane soon found themselves in the thick of things with Joe agreeing to take over Andrew Crossland’s former role as social secretary and Jane taking over responsibilities for publicity from Anne Prew. Anne, however, has kindly agreed to continue her library/script responsibilities at least for the time being.
Other specialist fields of operation remain unchanged.
SEE HOW THEY RUN
Wednesday 14th October to Saturday 17th October 7.15 p.m. start
Director John Parker announced that rehearsals for SHTR are well under way with Sophie Goddard taking the role of Penelope, Michael Cutts as Lionel, Jane Laverack as Ida, Joe Battye as Miss Skillon, Bob Willerton as the Bishop, Andrew Crossland as Clive, Peter Horner as the ‘man’, Hugh Jones as Humphrey and John, himself, as the sergeant. Similarly the set is already taking shape thanks to the efforts of Neil while Jim Parkinson and John Ryal are already reporting success in the acquisition of music and props respectively.
Rozi Afferson, already gainfully employed in reading-in duties for rehearsals, has volunteered her services as prompt and producer, Paul Taylor, has meticulously planned rehearsal schedules now being rigorously followed by John, on occasions.
Also commendable is Bob Willerton’s offer to take responsibilty for the Box Office phone.
One possible problem centres around the need for contemporary British currency for this Philip King wartime romp later adapted to the immediate post-war years. So if your sleep is still being disturbed by those large white five-pound and brown ten-shilling notes, half-crowns and florins secreted in that ageing mattress, you know where to bring them!
Last but not least, publicity material has been prepared with the help of Phil Johnson. Tickets should also be bookable via the website to be collected on the night.
BITZ AND BOBZ
Neil reported that the Trinity clear-out operation had now been extended into the cellar. With items removed, it is hoped the area will quickly dry out and permit the fitting of storage shelving.
Members agreed that the notification of those successful and unsuccessful in auditions – and perhaps the staging of them – should be placed on the agenda of the next meeting.
Also to be considered is whether to engage with audience members as they leave the premises at the end of shows.
Joe Batttye said that as the closing night of SHTR coincides with her birthday, she was prepared to supply some light refreshments to facilitate a joint celebration.
Committee member Barbara Parkinson is also a birthday celebrant.
Joe also suggested looking at alternative means of funding our activities. One suggestion could be the running of classes in such areas as performance skills and set-building during school holiday periods. Members agreed to consider this at a future meeting. If you have ideas, please make them known.
A junior membership card design submitted by Jim Parkinson was approved by the committee. The cost of junior membership was previously set at £1 a year.
PANTOMIME 2016
The meeting agreed a modest increase in admission charges for our 2016 pantomime offering, Jack And The Beanstalk, being directed by Dale. Prices will rise from the current £6 (£5 concessions) to £6.50 (£5.50 concessions). It is, of course, our first price increase in recent years and consideration is to be given at a later date to the proposal of again offering discounts on the opening night.
The show is to open at Trinity on Friday, January 15th. The full list of performance dates and curtain-up times is:
Fridays January 15th and January 22nd 7pm
Saturdays January 16th and January 23rd 2.30pm and 6pm
Sunday January 17th 4pm
SOCIAL
After some discussion it was decided not to accept Barnsley FC’s invitation to rebook their function rooms for this year’s Trinity Christmas celebration. Joe Batty has consequently undertaken to look at what’s on offer at other venues and report back to a future meeting. Among the venues being considered are the Holiday Inn at Dodworth and the Talbot Inn at Mapplewell. If you have any recommendations, please let Joe know.
The decision to leave Barnsley FC for this year at least was taken following reports that last year’s event had resulted in fewer Trinity attendees. The was also criticism from some with regard the standard of the meal, loudness of music and darkness of the room.
Ian Harley reported that former social secretary Peter Horner and, of course, Jeff, had again offered their home as a base to attend Langsett’s famous Hunters’ Moon event on Saturday, October 24th. Names and numbers are not required at this stage but now might be a good idea to note it in your diary?
While no firm arrangements have been made, hopes remain that we may host a ceilidh at Trinity in the near future.
Members heard that two of Trinity’s three weddings – that of Andrew Crossland and Leanne Sherriff on July 11th and Alice Willerton and Dean Love on July 31st – had been spectacularly successful. Jeremy Cutts and Wendy Hartley hope their big day will be similarly splendid on August 23. We wish them all the best!
NEXT MEETING
Thursday September 29th – the venue to be arranged.
Comments etc. to: committee@trinityplayersbarnsley.com