The Miners Arms, BARNSLEY
Hi Everyone,
The best news of the period is that Trinity Players’ stalwart and committee member, Barbara Parkinson, is making good progress following her knee replacement surgery and is looking forward to treading the boards with us again in the near future.
Barbara received flowers and a card, sent by the committee, at her Dodworth home and reported that she was delighted with her treatment at BDGH. She was home in two days and now – four weeks on – is able to get about the house without crutch or walking stick. She has had a lot of difficulty in sleeping and faces challenging physiotherapy and exercise sessions but, thanks to husband Clive’s dedicated nursing, is confident of taking it all ‘in her stride’.
Barbara is delighted that the play proposed for staging in the Autumn is the Agatha Christie whodunnit ‘A Murder Is Announced’. The play is known to both her and Clive and has a large cast so Barbara is more than hopeful of securing a challenging role.
COMMITTEE MEETING
The April 8th meeting, held at the Miners’ Rest, Old Town, was chaired by Paul Taylor and attended by secretary Dale Rivers, treasurer Jim Parkinson, Ruth Willerton (vice) and John Parker, Neil Barham, Ian Harley and Jane Laverack with apologies received from Joe Battye as well as Barbara.
They heard that last month’s appeals for a musical director/pianist and costume supremo had achieved rather limited success although Jane was hopeful of recruiting a long and valued friend as piano accompanist and Dale similarly hopes to gain the services of a sewing teacher for special projects. Ruth and Jane expressed their satisfaction with Neil’s work in creating a costume room and said they intend to start work on a costume inventory in the near future with the help of Lynne Almand. The committee decided that both appeals, stressing the social delights of working with the group, should be repeated in this newsletter. And at Neil’s suggestion, it was also agreed to make the opportunities known to volunteer section of the local ‘Love Where You Live’ newsletter.
ABIGAIL’S PARTY
In the absence of director, Mike Rosse, Paul Taylor reported that rehearsals for the Mike Leigh comedy, Abigail’s Party, are progressing favourably despite holiday absences and Mike’s recent illness. And anyone attending Wednesday evening rehearsals club night could not help but be impressed with the transformation of the stage into a suburban garden. With posters and flyers already available and further radio and newspaper publicity planned, the main task now is the sale of tickets and, for that, we rely heavily on our members.
Remember, the show opens at Trinity on Wednesday May 18th and runs until Saturday the 21st.. Anyone away for those dates, however, has the chance to see Alice Willerton, Sally Moxon, Callum Clarke, Joe Battye and Paul Taylor in action on the big stage of Wakefield’s Theatre Royal and Opera House on Wednesday, June 1s
FUTURE PRODUCTIONS
The committee recommended that Opposite Sex, the comedy being directed by the Rev. Nick Percival as our newly-introduced summer-slot production should be staged at Trinity from Wednesday July 13th to Saturday, July 16th. While the four-strong cast has yet to be announced, read-throughs were fairly well attended providing Nick with some interesting options. His task now looks easier as Jane Laverack has volunteered her services as producer.
Considerable discussion followed on the choice of the Autumn production with John Parker presenting four large-cast alternatives following selection suggestions from Bob Willerton. The four were the Ray Cooney farce It Runs In The Family; the Christmas-flavoured Mike Harding comedy Comfort and Joy; Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced and the Derek Webb spoof whodunnit, Murder At The Vicarage Hall. As mentioned earlier, Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced – her first play to be televised back in 1956 with Gracie Fields and a youthful Roger Moore taking prominent roles – gained the committee’s recommendation.
Paul Taylor reported that while Andrew Crossland has already volunteered to direct our Autumn production, the fact that AMIA has two prominent parts for young men may mean that he chooses to join the cast himself. Should that be the case, both Bob Willerton and John Parker have intimated their willingness to take the director’s chair. The Autumn show is to be staged at Trinity in early to mid October.
Further discussion took place with regards forward-planning and the possibility of offering our audiences a Trinity season ticket at a reduced rate. It was also decided to approach the Lamproom Theatre with a view to obtaining possible dates for staging a production there.
JUNIOR SECTION
Ruth announced that she was continuing to examine all the necessary requirements for running a junior section/summer stage school. Unfortunately Joe Battye was experiencing a busy time as work in addition to being busy with rehearsals for Abigail’s Party.
MISCELLANEOUS
Neil reported that completion of the costume room would be followed by the creation of shelves in the basement for the storage of all items unlikely to be affected by the damp atmosphere. The committee authorised expenditure up to a maximum of £150.
SOCIAL
Peter Horner has informed us that Saturday, April 23rd is the date that he and Jeff are offering their superbly-appointed Langsett home for the screening of last year’s award-winning Whose Life Is It Anyway? The screening is being combined with a takeaway Indian or Chinese meal. Start time is 7pm and some lager is ready to be consumed. Anyone requiring something more exotic should bring their own. Needless to say, Peter is asking all those hoping to attend to give notification ASAP.
The date of Trinity Players’ now traditional ‘midsummer madness’ event is Saturday July 2nd and the venue is the garden of Bob and Ruth Willerton’s home in Regent Gardens, Barnsley. Anyone able to help with site preparation, food provision, games and entertainment etc. should make themselves known now.
NEXT MEETING
Tuesday May 3rd 7.30pm at Trinity
Comments etc. to: committee@trinityplayersbarnsley.com