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AGM

AGM

The Grassington Players Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 16^th March 2010 in the Games Room, Devonshire Institute at 7.30pm.

This is the most important meeting of our year, when productions, policies and other important topics are discussed and decided for the next 12 months, so please put the date in your diary, and make every effort to attend.

We need nominations for new Ordinary Members of the Committee, and in addition this year we need nominations for a new Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, as these officers are standing down. All nominations should be sent to the Secretary by the 1^st March 2010.

Annual dinner

This will be held at the Devonshire Hotel, Grassington on Tuesday 23^rd February 2010 at 7.00pm for 7.30pm, where we have arranged a 3 course meal for £14.95. Further details in the next newsletter but please put the date in your diary.

Coffee morning success

This was held on Saturday 29^th August, and raised over £400. Our thanks to Wendy for organising and to everyone who helped on the day.

Next Production:

Follow the Fleece

7.30pm
Grassington Town Hall
Originally written for the Yorkshire folk choir Baccapella, Follow the Fleece tells the story of Dales sheep farming and how Bradford became world famous in the woollen industry. From mediaeval times through the industrial revolution to present day, with historical characters from Shakespeare to Titus Salt, the tale is told through song and narrative.
Featuring some familiar songs alongside original material, the flavour of Follow the Fleece is folk music - ‘of the people’ – from Greensleeves to Springsteen.
Grassington Players have expanded and added drama to the piece calling upon the talents of the dales theatrical community with a cast of 30+ singers, actors and musicians.

Reviews

The Crucible

NODA review by Pam Booth

Well done Grassington Players for finding such a strong cast for this powerful play, not an easy job when there are twenty parts to fill. Congratulations especially go to the younger members of the cast for tackling such demanding roles. The simple set was effective and moved easily about resulting in quick scene changes, and careful thought had been given to suitable props and costumes. This was a well directed production, and there was a good balance between the moods of the performance as sometimes with this play hysteria can take over. An informative programme gave the audience very useful background information.

Local review by John Anderson

The Crucible is one of the greatest plays from the last hundred years, chronicling an emotional witch hunt in Salem in 17^th century Massachusetts. The hunt begins with the claims of young girls in the small puritan community, orchestrated by the malicious teenager Abigail. The play is a challenging choice for a village drama group, but the Grassington Players acquitted themselves with distinction. A couple from London who were in the audience on the opening night were so impressed they returned the next day to say they had rarely seen such high quality , even on the West End stage.

Experienced actors were joined by some new to the group and together they created a powerful dramatisation with excellent individual and group performances. A great challenge for the director is to manage the gradual emotional build up in the play as the characters begin to realise the mortal danger they are all in. Even the sombre and erudite judges find themselves at risk from the accusations of the young girls, who themselves know that the judges’ belief in their testimony hangs by a thread. The tension this creates in the court-room scene was palpable.

The final scene, in which innocent men and women are sent to the gallows, was a harrowing experience and it was sensitively directed. The tender moments between the condemned were movingly acted, and one was left with a surprising confidence that the powers of evil had been unable to destroy the honesty portrayed in these characters.

The acting was of a high standard throughout with very few weak points. Les Kirkham and Jane Ellison-Bates as John and Elizabeth Proctor, Jo Hornsey as the young girl Mary Warren and Mandy Beckwith as the Caribbean nurse Tituba arguably had the most challenging parts, and they excelled. It was very good to see the experienced and gifted Les Kirkham playing opposite Grassington drama’s young rising star Jo Hornsey, from Upper Wharfedale School.

As I left, full of admiration for the whole cast and crew, I just wondered whether the intimacy of the Octagon Theatre would not have been a better choice than the conventional Town Hall stage, making the emotional effect even more electric. But perhaps the audience would have found 2 and a half hours on the Octagon’s bench- seating too much to bear!

Altogether this was a towering production and one of the best I have seen in Grassington in the 25 years I have lived in the Dales.

Love Letters

NODA review

Pam Booth District 15 2008 Dec

Grassington Players 'Love Letters', produced by Beryl Bamforth was a two hander telling the story of the lives of two people through letters written to each other from childhood to middle age. These were amusing, revealing and at times very moving pieces delivered very convincingly by the two performers. A very well written play that kept the attention of the audience throughout. Although a set was not needed for this production careful attention had been paid to the furniture and props surrounding the actors. Congratulations must go to the two performers who had captured the characters well and interacted superbly together bringing the play to a moving finale. An excellent production well done.

Players on the Road

The summer 2008 tour, Players on the Road was a resounding success. Audiences at the various Dales venues all enjoyed the shows which also helped with fundraising efforts for a number of charities. In total £706.20 was raised, with half of the tickets sales revenue each evening going to the venues choice of charity and half to Grassington Players own chosen charity for the year, Macmillan. Already there are requests from the venues for the Players to return with another show next year. The cast enjoyed participating in the tour, which comprised a series of Keith Bromley’s bitter-sweet monologues and duologues performed by a range of ages, from teenagers to septuagenarians.

Laying the Ghost

When you hear that the stage manager had decided to fly out to Florida immediately after the first night, you might be forgiven for thinking that the Grassington Players’ latest production should have been given a wide berth. How wrong you would have been. It is not surprising that word spread around the village like wildfire – “this is a production not to be missed”. The Friday and Saturday performances were sell-outs, with a queue forming for any spare seats.

“Laying the Ghost” by Simon Williams is set in The Yew Tree Retirement Home on the south coast. It is the current home of two elderly actresses, Margot Buchanan, the witty and acerbic ex-wife of the famous actor Sir Leo Buchanan, and Freda Deacon, an eccentric lady with a love of naughty jigsaws and an unusual tendency to talk to ghosts. Things go haywire on the morning of Margot’s 70th birthday, when she receives a variety of unwanted guests and well-wishers.

The whole cast gave excellent performances without any of the upstaging and over-acting which can bedevil amateur productions. Both leads find themselves unexpectedly, and very amusingly, transported “to the other side” during the show. In Sue Clements and Mark Bamforth Grassington was fortunate to have two of the most experienced and talented actors in the area to handle these parts. They gave sparkling performances. Sue claimed this would be her swan song – forget it Sue !!

They were skilfully complemented by their colleagues, with Margaret Wilson providing the golden thread, tying the production together with an understated portrayal of Freda Deacon. Joan Whitaker contributed an overdue and gifted return to the boards, and Mandy Beckwith and Esme Binns were equally accomplished in taxing roles which easily could have become caricatures. As for Andrew Armstrong , suffice it to say his interpretation of an ageing Italian kissogram Superman will remain etched in the audience’s memories for many years.

The backstage and design team provided an excellent setting and helped to reinforce my view that in every department The Grassington Players are enjoying an exciting renaissance after some challenging years. This would not be possible without directors of the calibre of Jane Ellison-Bates whose intelligent interpretation of this very funny script enabled the audience to come away wanting more.

John Anderson

NODA (National Operatic & Dramatic Association) review:-

Anyone for Breakfast?

The latest production from Grassington Players was a light-hearted comedy by Derek Benfield of the farce genre. Requiring a cast of six, the action takes place at the home of Gilbert (Ed Williams) and his wife Shirley (Rachel Steventon). Shirley has arranged for her friend Jane (Zarina Belk) married to Roger (Chris Matthews) to use her house for an evening of passion with Mark (Keith Webster). Things take an unexpected turn when firstly Gilbert shows up with an amorous German airhostess (Mandy Beckwith) in tow and then Roger arrives with a bunch of flowers intended for someone other than his wife. All become marooned by a thick fog and the scene is set for a series of riotous frolics and hilarious misunderstandings. The cast are to be congratulated on a thoroughly enjoyable experience, good timing and pace made for some memorable comic moments with strong individual performances from the entire cast. Under the experienced direction of Sue Clement and performed on a set created by Rob and Kath Gower which drew spontaneous applause from the audience, this was another tour de force from this talented group.

Irene Duxbury

Steel Magnolias

Grassington Players’ Latest Production was Robert Harling’s “Steel Magnolias”. The action takes place over a three-year time span in a ladies beauty parlour in a small town in Louisiana during the 1980’s. The play requires six very strong individual performances from an all female cast, which would place high demands upon a professional company. That Grassington Players were able to achieve a most commendable production is a great tribute to the depth of talent available to the players both on and off stage.

The play was directed with great skill and sensitivity by Jane Ellison-Bates, the performers demonstrated a wide range of acting skills both of the spoken and non-spoken variety. The southern drawl of Louisiana was maintained to a large extent convincingly by cast members whilst the dialogue was kept at good pace amid the activities of the beauty salon.

The playwrite dictates that the characters are real and believable. This was certainly achieved by this group; the strong central pairing of M’Lynn and her daughter Shelby played with great skill by Mandy Beckwith and Liz Taylor respectively provided much of the material for the other characters to debate. Strong performances from Margaret Wilson as the cantankerous Ouiser, Ezme Binns as the over-glamorous beauty parlour owner, Truvy, and Wendy Milner as the wealthy widow, Clairee, made for some very humorous moments. I felt the outstanding performance was given by Sue Crosby in the role of Annelle, a shy mousy character at the outset but over the time span of the play changed and grew in self confidence as she matured, this was portrayed with great skill by the actress.

Finally, in the Grassington Octogan in the semi-round, this production was greatly enhanced by a practical and credible set for which stage manager Mary Wilkinson and her team must take great credit.

Andrew Armstrong

The Darling Buds of May

Grassington Players’ latest production saw this versatile group attempt the stage play

version of the popular TV Series “ The Darling Buds of May” by H. E. Bates.

Skilfully directed by Ramon Porter and his very able production team lead by Mary

Wilkinson, the audience was served up a real treat.

Requiring a large cast spanning three generations, the play has little in the way of plot,

success is dependent on good characterisation, strong central performances by Phil

Smith and Bev Cuerden as Pa and Ma Larkin captured the warmth of the TV Series

whilst imposing their own individual stamp on these larger then life characters. Very

pleasing support was provided by the youthful James Rowley as Mr. Charlton

(“Charlie”) and Amelia Anson as Mariette Larkin, both showing great promise for

future productions.

The audience enjoyed an array of off beat characters woven into a colourful tapestry

around the Larkin household. All those participating can take great credit from their

performances including the five youngsters playing the younger Larkin children who

were on stage for most of the two hours, often required to be quiet and demure thereby

displaying real acting skills! Clever use of the stage to create the Larkin house and its

rural environs enhanced the production. Lighting of the set, sound and special

effects were of the very high standard associated with John Jameson and his team.

Andrew Armstrong

Players on the Road 2009

Players on the Road
Eight performances were given throughout the summer, and a total of £950 was raised for charity. Our congratulations to all involved, especially Rachel and Keith.

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Next Production:

Reviews

Players on the RoadEight performances were given throughout the summer, and a total of £950 was raised for charity. Our congratulations to all involved, especially Rachel and Keith.

Players on the Road

Players on the Road
Eight performances were given throughout the summer, and a total of £950 was raised for charity. Our congratulations to all involved, especially Rachel and Keith.