1812 Theatre Company - Newsletter - 02/2011

Dear All,

As this is the first newsletter of the year may I wish you all a belated happy new year.

First, I have to tell anyone who will be visiting The Old Meeting House that it is not for the time being possible to enter by the usual route. Building work is going on in the entrance and the booking office, so that for the time being it will be necessary to access the bar via the auditorium.

"Mother Goose" seems to have been enjoyed by all (I fear the snow stopped me) but everyone concerned had a horrendous time travelling and struggling to get all the items necessary to get the set built and the show on and they all deserve our heartfelt thanks.

The first show of the year is Richard Noakes' compilation of Pinter pieces, "Pinter's Greatest Hits", which runs from Wednesday 2nd March to Friday 4th March in the bar. As the bar seats only 40 early booking is advised. You may be interested to know that Richard will be talking about the show with Russell Walker on Radio York on Saturday 26th February.

We had our Annual General Meeting on Monday last to which about 20 members turned up. After wine, nibbles and a chat we settled down to the business of the evening. Our Chairman reviewed the last year and set out plans for this. We have decided to hold a play reading/ social evening before the audition for each show. Apart from being a pleasant evening it will mean that anyone interested in reading at the audition will not come to the audition cold. The first such evening will be held prior to the audition for "Oh, Clarence" (which is based on "Blandings Castle" by P G Wodehouse) on Monday, 18th April. David Goodwin is directing so fun is assured.

That's it for now.

Find out more about the 1812 Theatre Company.

At last, we're back!

It's a long time for a blog site to go quiet. Since April, for heaven's sake. But life has been a bit too full to manage blogging on top of the extra work involved in responding to the present financial ouch factor.

The last entry was about the 1812 Theatre Company's production of "The Memory of Water". I'm delighted to say - particularly so, as I was the director - it was a great success. It even made a profit. Most pleasing, though, was the high quality of ensemble acting by the cast, especially of the three sisters and their dead mother.

Even more successful was the Russian Orthodox Choir. So popular were they we had to put on an extra performance on the same day. Lucky for us they were willing to do it. And that sold out too.What a wonderful sound they made. The acoustic of our auditorium was perfect for them.

Heatseeker(theAC/DC Tribute Band) pulled in a keen crowd of fans, as, by way of complete contrast, did the Audience with Michael Mansfield, QC . He was a relaxed and fluent speaker and held his audience with ease. As ever, the Mardi Gras Jazz lunches were popular, and though "The Land Girls of Yorkshire" played to a full house, many in the audience felt it was a disappointingly flat. Maybe the Company had been touring it too long.

The 1812 Youth Theatre production of the world premiere of "Won't Be Long", by Tom Needham (of TV fame) and David Griffiths, was funny and moving and full of excellent performances from individuals in a very big cast. The story of evacuees in World War II

touched many in the audience. And for the first time in their history the company took the show to another venue - in Thornton le Dale, where their performance moved the audience to tears. We were particularly lucky in having sponsorship for this production from the Helmsley Freemasons Lodge No 7075, for which many thanks.

Disappointingly, a number of shows since then haven't done so well, for all that they were excellent entertainment and thoroughly enjoyed by those who did come. Ali Cook and the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, for example. Ali Cook's magic tricks are superbly executed and the puppets outrageously funny. Perhaps the publicity didn't make it clear that "puppets" doesn't necessarily mean "for children". It was definitely a show for adults.

Likewise the usually very popular "Ryedale Live", with its 2nd birthday celebration, brought a smaller than hoped-for audience. But they filled the studio/bar and in a relaxed and appreciative atmosphere, with french doors open to the balmy evening air, they enjoyed some first-class performers .

Actually, the scheduling did load the dice against us more than a bit, what with 10,000 attending the Simply Red concert in Dalby Forest, the Wombleton prom down the road, the World cup on the telly, not to mention the beautiful summer weather.

And I guess the latter plus Wimbledon and the local Steam Fair kept the audiences down for "The Wind in the Willows", though 40 on the first night and 60 on the second was pretty good under the circumstances. Ratatat Theatre Company were on sparkling form in a witty and inventive, high-energy version by Martin Riley, with Dominic Goodwin in his element as Toad.

And what a shame only 32 made it to "Dancing the Ramayana", a beautiful tour-de-force of Kathak(north Indian) dance and music, with the graceful and powerful dancer on the move,

non-stop for an hour and a quarter.

Now then, we hope more of you come to see that exceptionally talented young guitarist, who can play just about any sort of music, Clive Carroll, in the intimacy of the Studio/bar on Saturday 10 July at 7.30pm. Buy your tickets now.

We're very keen that as many of you as possible come to support the incredibly accomplished young players in Ryedale School's award-winning Wind and Jazz Bands on Sunday 11th July at 2.30pm. Buy your tickets now.

And then you mustn't miss the 1812 Theatre Company's latest production of "84 Charing Cross Road" 21st to 24th July at 7.30pm.Buy your tickets now.

Right now we're just putting the finishing touches to our autumn brochure and very soon the whole programme will be in our website and your online booking can start.

Don't miss "The Memory of Water"

The1812 Theatre Company presents

Shelagh Stephenson's award-winning play

"The Memory of Water"

at the Helmsley Arts Centre

from 21st to 24th April at 7.30pm.

On the eve of their mother’s funeral, three sisters meet and once again clash, as old conflicts flare up and reveal their continuing grip on the present. Events may have been shared but memories of them differ wildly. With a husband and a lover also drawn into this bewildering whirlpool, the play offers

“...a superb mix of wild humour and bruising emotion.” Daily Telegraph

“Blessedly and mercurially funny...Stephenson combines a flair for witty dialogue with a relish for the dynamics of theatre...a mistress of comic anguish.” Guardian

The play won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy in 2000

Buy tickets now

Skylight - a tour de force

If you haven't managed to get to the Arts Centre for the 1812 Theatre Company's production of David Hare's "Skylight", then please do catch up with it on its short local tour. It's a tour de force of a production.

Here's where you'll find it : Friday 30 October at 7.30pm at Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall, for which you can book your tickets online through the Helmsley Arts Centre or by telephone on 01439 771700

Or Saturday 31 October at 7.30pm at Easingwold Galtres Centre, for which you can book tickets at Easingwold on 01347 822472

Kyra is surprised to see the son of her former lover at her apartment in a London slum; he hopes she will be reconciled with his distraught, now widowed father. Tom, a restless, self-made restaurant tycoon, arrives later that evening, unaware of his son's visit and aghast at Kyra's new vocation teaching underprivileged children. Is the gap between Tom and Kyra unbridgeable, or can they resurrect their once passionate relationship?

Skylight premiered at the National Theatre and won the Guardian's coveted Best New Play award.

'Luminously beautiful and wildly truthful, Skylight is deeply and truly about people... it is a fascinating play'. N.Y. Post
'Undogmatic and unafraid, unforgiving but compassionate'. Sunday Times

Buy 'Skylight' by David Hare from Amazon.