King of Spain's Daughter...

It’s all kids at The Playhouse at the moment. Last week, CCTA celebrated their 50th anniversary and I believe there may be some photos in the Echo’s Weekend supplement this Saturday of the former members meeting the current members (this on top of the Central News piece broadcast at various times last Friday and an honourable mention in The Stage newspaper). This week, Theatre Studio are hosting their annual summer school, with over 100 young people working to stage FIVE different productions this coming Saturday.

We’ve also just arranged for a visit this October from The King of Spain’s Daughter. Not real royalty, of course, but the title of a 'theatrical entertainment' from the Fabulous Old Spot Theatre Company, a professional touring troupe based in our own county. Old Spot have a fantastic style all their own, involving music, masks, high drama, low farce and jokes for the kids the adults won’t get (and vice versa). We’re very pleased to be hosting this show for just one night only on Thursday 23 October and tickets go on sale from tomorrow. Further details will be found on our main website and in our forthcoming brochure, which goes to print at the end of this week.

Playhouse on TV...

Now, please do not take that heading to mean that, in future, we’re going to broadcast our productions onto television or via the internet to save you coming out to the theatre on a dark, wet August night (it is August, apparently). Aside from that would miss the whole point about experiencing the magic of a live performance, there are convoluted copyright issues to be taken into account.

What it does mean, however, is that The Playhouse will this week feature on Central News West (I do realise that Cheltenham is one of those places where half the town gets Central News West while the other half gets Central News Midlands – or, rather, Birmingham – but I can’t do much about that).

Reporter Richard Franklin spent yesterday morning with us to do a combined feature on the refurbishment of a flood-stricken theatre and the 50th anniversary of Cheltenham Children’s Theatre (CCTA). Several of the kids were filmed undertaking jobs in the lighting and sound boxes, doing a spot of performing and being interviewed about what they get out of CCTA. The piece will be shown at some point during the 6pm news programme one evening this week, so those of you with the right reception may wish to keep an eye out.

Yours truly was also interviewed and I have no doubt that the kids will come out of it far better than I. They will appear wonderfully natural and interested whereas I will be stilted and dull (and before Steve Evans says it, no change there then). I never feel happy doing those things, despite the fact that I used to work in public relations and received media training! I guess it’s that old chestnut about only feeling comfortable when playing a role and hating being seen as yourself.

The CCTA show Beauty and the Beast opens this evening at 7.30 and we are still trying to encourage ex-members to attend on the Friday evening performance and attend a reception afterwards. In the meantime, we wish the kids all the best for their 50th anniversary.

We're back...

Just to say that we FINALLY have full access to send and receive emails. I dread to think how many I have to get through to catch up three working days' worth...

Email problems...

Technology is a wonderful thing. Until it decides to play up. Since 8 am yesterday morning, the theatre has been unable to send or receive emails, either via Outlook Express or Webmail, although we do have access to the internet. I hasten to add that the problem is with our ISP and is not a fault at our end. If you have sent an email to us and have yet to receive a response, we're not being rude, we are simply unable to do so at the present time. If you are awaiting an urgent response, please call us via the box office on 01242 522852.

Hopefully, what passes for normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. In the meantime, please accept our apologies for any problems this is causing (and it is causing plenty as far as I'm concerned).

Val Barker Tribute...

Ron Carroll is currently organising an evening in memory of Val Barker who died earlier this year. He writes:

“Val Barker was, for 44 years, a great performer, director, writer and friend of The Playhouse and the tides of people who have been washed into and away from its precincts during that time. She took a hand in more than 100 productions, and the archives show that she would accept any kind of role, however anonymous, but of course she was responsible for great performances and great shows never straying too far from her love of music.

“Her friends are putting on a show in the Green Room on Saturday 6th September. The programme will be whatever her friends feel fits best with the memories they have of Val, so we will not know until nearer the time what the items will be. However, we already know that it will be a full programme.

“It should be a fun night and all are welcome, performing or not. Do come and enjoy the new facilities from 7.15 pm onwards. Anyone interested in taking part, either singing a song, reading some prose, or performing an excerpt from a production, can email me at ron.carroll1@googlemail.com or contact the box office for my telephone number.”

New acquisitions...

Anyone who has rehearsed a musical here in recent years has been well aware that some of our pianos have, to put it mildly, been past their prime for quite some time, while one was wrecked in the floods last year. There is good news on this front, as we have recently taken delivery of a brand new upright piano for the dungeon and an electronic piano for the auditorium. The latter does all sorts of weird and wonderful things and will be kept under lock and key unless required for a production.

Two of our busiest members, Keith Swinford and Sally Norman, tied the knot on Saturday 2 August. A large circle of friends were present at the evening celebration, causing someone to remark that if a bomb had been dropped on the hall in question, amateur dramatics in Cheltenham would probably cease to be! We all wish Keith and Sally our heartiest congratulations and look forward to seeing them on their return from honeymoon.

Three of our autumn shows - The Gut Girls, Epsom Downs and The Sorcerer – all of which will be on the main stage in November, have now been successfully cast. Epsom Downs, in particular, saw a very high turnout of people and even with a large cast required director Steven Rayworth had to turn down over a third of those who auditioned. The next show up for audition will be Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, possibly in a brand new translation, although one role has already been filled. Meet Phoebe, who will be playing the part of ‘governess’s dog’.

Both Epsom Downs and The Gut Girls are about to go into rehearsal here, which means that the green room will be open with a bit more frequency than of late. However, we are not quite back to six-days a week operation and will be closed during August on the following days: Thursday 7, Saturday 9, Monday 11, Thursday 14, Saturday 16, Thursday 28 and Friday 29. Don’t forget that you can add your name to the bar rota, or check which night you are ‘on’ by visiting the theatre website, which webmaster John Roberts has recently redesigned. It’s at the same address, or you can simply click on the link at the top right corner of this blog.