Playhouse Facebook Page

You can now be an official 'fan' of The Playhouse, Cheltenham if you belong to social networking site Facebook. By becoming a fan you will automatically receive information every time it is posted to the page, whether it is notification of a forthcoming play reading or audition, tickets going on sale for a forthcoming production or, even more useful, a warning if we're about to sell out!

If you want to join our fans - we already have over 150 in just 4 days - click on the link to the right of this posting and we'll see you there. And please, after you've become a fan, invite any of your friends with an interest in theatre to sign up too!

Blogs and Facebooks

Dear Readers (if there are still any of you out there, as I haven't exactly been blogging much of late)

As more and more people use social networking sites - and this includes a huge number of theatre members - we are going to be setting up a new official Playhouse Facebook page over the next week or so. There has been a basic page there for some time, created by Sarah Roberts, but as the popularity of Facebook has grown it makes sense for us to have a more official presence which will allow us to advertise shows, accept reviews from the public, and generally reach people quickly and easily.

I am currently considering the options regarding this blog. There is no point posting for the sake of posting and if posts aren't made it becomes pointless and obsolete. However, it, too, has proved a useful tool beyond its original intention - a running commentary on the refurbishment - as one posting (the one about the lost shoes) was even referred to in The Stage and others occasionally stirred up some interesting and useful opinions. Some people even said they "enjoyed it" (but then actors are a strange lot).

Death Of A Salesman

THURSDAY and FRIDAY now SOLD OUT

Death Of A Salesman

TICKET UPDATE
We have a handful of seats left for Wednesday and Friday evening, Thursday is sold out and we have 40 seats left for Saturday. The phones are ringing red hot and this is obviously going to be a complete sell out. If you were thinking of making a booking, please do so as soon as possible!

Box office closed

Due to the current weather conditions, the box office will be closed today, Wednesday 6 January. Staff are unable to get to the theatre. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Christmas closing

The box office will be open on Christmas Eve from 3pm - 7pm for the collection of tickets for the final performance of It's A Wonderful Life (which is now sold out). The box office will then be closed until 10am on Tuesday 5 January, although the administration office will be open on Monday 4 January.

We wish all our patrons a very merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the new year, when our productions will include the musicals Red Hot & Cole and Back to the 80s, the plays Death of a Salesman and Ten Times Table and the return of the ever-popular Irish dancing troupe Celtic Circle.

Ticket availability update

Tonight's performance of It's A Wonderful Life is now sold out. There are a handful of single seats only left for Wednesday and two single seats left for Xmas Eve.

Ticket availability for Wonderful Life

Seats remaining for sale as of 11.30 am, Friday 18 December:

Friday: 14
Saturday: 16
Monday: 39
Tuesday: 29
Wednesday: 36
Xmas Eve: 10

It's A Wonderful Life

The theatre is currently being turned into the American town of Bedford Falls as we gear up to present the UK STAGE PREMIERE of James W Rodgers' adaptation of the immortal film classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.

With a specially-written prologue by The Playhouse's own John Morgan, director Caroline Young has finally managed, after several years of planning and wishing, to bring everything together and provide a touch of magic with which to start off the festive season.

The production opens this Thursday, 17 December, at 7.45 pm, with additional performances at this time on Friday 18, Saturday 19, Monday 21, Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 December. There is also a Christmas Eve performance commencing at 7.00 pm. Tickets are £9 (full price), £7 (students and OAPs) and £5 (under-16s).

Stealing the infamous (almost) final line: "every time a bell rings, an angel gets his tickets"... And at the rate the phone is ringing, I wouldn't leave it any longer to get yours! Christmas Eve is almost sold out and two of the other performances aren't too far behind.

Hot Mikado

Two exchanges in the box office from yesterday morning:

Box office: "Playhouse box office, good morning?"
Caller: "Can I have six seats for Hot Mikado on Saturday evening please?"
Box office: "I'm afraid we only have three seats left in the very front row"
Caller: "But I want six!"
Box office: "I'm sorry, this show has proved very popular and all we have left are three seats in the very front row"
Caller: "Well, can we have those three and three somewhere else?"
Box office: "No, we literally have only three seats left in total, there are no other seats available for this performance"
Caller: "What, really?"

Box office: "Playhouse box office, good afternoon?"
Caller: "Have you any seats left for Hot Mikado on Saturday evening please?"
Box office: "I'm afraid all we have left are three seats in the front row"
Caller: "But I wanted 13!"
Box office: "I'm sorry, all we have left are three seats, this show has proved very popular"
Caller: "But we've booked the coach!"

So, hear ye, hear ye. The Saturday evening performance of Hot Mikado has now SOLD OUT. Thursday evening is almost sold out. Friday and Wednesday evenings have very limited availability. So, when we say we only have a few seats left, we're not making it up!

Proposed parking changes

Last month, we received notification that Gloucestershire County Council were proposing to make changes to the on-street parking in the vicinity of the theatre, in particular Bath Road, Oriel Road and Wellington Street. There followed a short period of consultation during which many of our members, together with other volunteer colleagues at the nearby Salvation Army citadel, said how damaging these proposals could be for our community work.

We have now received the official proposals following this consultation period and I am afraid to say that almost no concessions have been made in respect of our representations. The main proposal is that the current free on-street parking on these three roads will be subject to pay and display charges from 8am - 8pm, seven days per week. A maximum stay of two hours will be permitted, with the exception of Sunday mornings when a three hour maximum is permitted. The charges will be £1.60 for one hour, £2.80 for two hours and £3.80 for three hours. Some of Wellington Street will have residents permit parking and much of the current single yellow line in the general area will be removed.

Aside from the huge financial implications to our many volunteers that these changes would bring, of particular concern to the theatre is the removal of the single yellow line along Oriel Road. This is currently used on Sunday mornings for the loading and unloading of furniture, props, sets, lighting and sound equipment as one production leaves and another arrives. If this area becomes, as proposed, no waiting at any time, the general operation of the theatre becomes extremely difficult. The actual parking charges will affect all of our amateur casts, front of house volunteers and parents dropping off and collecting children from the assorted classes held after school and on Saturdays. These charges will also impact on the Salvation Army mothers and toddlers sessions, pensioners' lunch club etc, which are also heavily dependant on volunteers and frequented by the elderly and people on very limited incomes.

The trustees of the registered charity are meeting on Tuesday evening to formulate their official response and I myself met with the chairman this afternoon. We will be asking our supporters to lend us their help in the coming weeks ahead of the official deadline for objections (Monday 7 December), not just for ourselves but for all voluntary organisations in this area that will find their work, none of which is done for profit, severely impeded or potentially forced to stop. Please keep an eye on this blog for updates.

Christmas Treats

This year we have two very different Christmas offerings, although there is no home-grown 'pantomime for childish grown-ups' (fear not - Friends Theatre Company will be back with a vengeance in 2010).

First up is PETITE ROUGE: A CAJUN RED RIDING HOOD, which is being staged by Canvas Theatre from the University of Gloucestershire. The familiar fairy tale has been reworked into an enchanting musical where Red is a duck and the Wolf is now an alligator named Claude! This show is a perfect Christmas treat for children of all ages but has enough humour and intelligence to be enjoyed by adults too. The music is infectious and provides an ideal change from traditional pantomime. The performances take place at 7.45 on Thursday 10 December and 2.30 on Saturday 12 December, with full price tickets costing £8 and concessions for children, students and OAPs at just £6.

Then we have the UK premiere of a stage version of the classic film IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. The play, like the film, is the ultimate in inspirational/feel-good entertainment in the run-up to Christmas as we see the effect George Bailey has on the world and what a different place it would be if he threw his life away. Performances take place from Thursday 17 - Saturday 19 and Monday 21 - Thursday 24 December at 7.45, with the exception of Christmas Eve when the performance will commence at 7.00. Tickets are £9 with concessions of £7 for students and OAPs and £5 for under-16s.

Hot Mikado tickets

Please note that the Thursday and Saturday evening performances for this show are selling very quickly. We have availability in the front three rows only.

Deep End play readings

Deep End Theatre Company are holding three playreadings this side of Christmas to which anyone with an interest - not just company members - is very welcome to attend. The three plays are all very different and are under consideration for possible stage productions in the latter half of 2010 and during 2011, so do come along and see what you think.

You can find out a bit more about the three plays and dramatists concerned by clicking on the links below:

TRANSLATIONS by Brian Friel (3 November)
http://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk/books/translations
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Friel

THE LADY'S NOT FOR BURNING by Christopher Fry (24 November)
http://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk/books/the-ladys-not-for-burning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Fry

SPEED-THE-PLOW by David Mamet (8 December)
http://www.samuelfrench-london.co.uk/books/speed-the-plow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mamet

All three plays continue Deep End's reputation for tackling challenging plays and represent some of the best work by the dramatists concerned. The readings will all take place in the Joan Cross Lounge and commence at 7.45 pm.

Parking near the theatre

On Tuesday we received notification that Gloucestershire County Council are proposing to change the nature of the onstreet parking in the vicinity of the theatre. At present, all the available parking on Bath Road, Wellington Street and Oriel Road is free of charge but with a maximum stay of two hours before 6pm. The proposal is that all these spaces will be switched over to pay and display parking from 8am - 8pm, seven days a week, with a maximum stay of two hours, at a charge of £1.60 for one hour and £2.80 for two hours.

This means that it will be almost impossible to attend the theatre by car - either as a performer, a member of the audience, someone taking part in a Pilates or dance class, or a parent collecting or dropping off a child for a drama class - without paying for your parking or walking some distance. The pay and display car park across the road already charges until 8pm at night (until three years ago it was free after 6pm).

We are told that: "Evidence from areas where on street pay and display parking has been introduced shows that a higher turnover of spaces means more visitors and shoppers can find a place to park to access local shops. You will also find it easier to get deliveries direct to your door. This is because the duration of stay is better managed so more spaces are made available more frequently."

While I have no evidence to dispute this, one has to argue that if the reason for introducing charges is to improve the parking for shoppers to access local shops, the charging could surely stop at 6pm once the shops are closed. Similarly, there would be no need for all-day charging on Sundays. This, of course, is if one accepts that in a time of recession/depression, introducing such high parking charges is a sensible proposal.

There is a period of consultation until October 23rd and you can read about the exact nature of the plans at www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/cheltenhampayanddisplay along with some questions and answers. You can also find a questionnaire on that site - either online or printable for posting - to air your views on these proposals. There is also a public consultation at the borough council offices on Friday 16th October during various times of the day.

We urge all supporters and users of the theatre and the local shops to air complete the questionnaire or write to the borough council to argue against the introduction of these charges.

Autumn season and new brochure

On Monday we took delivery of 27 boxes containing 8,000 brochures for our autumn season and so the box office is a hive of activity of the 'stuffing envelopes' and 'printing labels' variety as we get them sent out to everyone on the mailing list. They are, of course, also available from the theatre foyer and, over the next week or so, will start to find their way into the usual display racks around the county. The brochure has also been redesigned to an A5 stapled booklet and, so far, the reaction has been very positive. For the first time, the brochure is also downloadable as a pdf file direct from the home page of the theatre website, so do feel free to have a peruse online!

Yours truly was interviewed yesterday by roving reporter Joanna Durrant for BBC Radio Gloucestershire and the first in a two-part segment was broadcast this morning at 9.45 on John Rockley's mid-morning show. The first part focused primarily on the changes to the theatre since the refurbishment - as a general bit of profile-raising for the venue - while tomorrow's part (which should be broadcast sometime between 9.30 and 10.00) focuses on the cult, classic and foreign films we are showing in September. Full details can be found in the brochure, but for quick reference:

Monday 7 September: Blazing Saddles (12A) at 7.45 pm
Tuesday 8 September: The 11th Hour (PG) at 7.45 pm
Wednesday 9 September: Moj Nikifor (12A) at 7.45 pm
Thursday 10 September: Casablanca (U) at 2.00 pm
Friday 11 September: The Shining (18) at 7.45 pm
Saturday 12 September: Shrek (U) at 2.00 pm
Saturday 12 September: The Rocky Horror Picture Show (15) at 7.45 pm

We have already received bookings for several of these films, including a block booking for Rocky Horror, so if you are interested in attending any of the films, it may well be worth your while booking now. Remember, we don't have a huge number of seats to sell and each film is only being shown the once.

Drinking in theatres

This is a subject that occasionally gets aired around The Playhouse - namely, should audiences be allowed to take drinks into the auditorium? At present, they are not, although the practice has been allowed for specific events, such as Old Time Music Hall, where it is part of the whole experience and re-creating the atmosphere of Victorian music halls.

However, some people feel quite strongly that patrons should be allowed to take their interval drinks - or even pre-performance drinks - into the auditorium with them to continue drinking during the show. In theatres where this is allowed, glasses are usually replaced (for obvious health and safety reasons) with plastic glasses. This, in turn, tends to result in the sound of cracking plastic as people step on empties placed on the floor.

I, personally, don't agree with the practice and it seems that many performers, playwrights and producers are siding with me (wise people) according to an article in today's Daily Mail! West End theatres have noticed an increasing trend in bad behaviour, some of it seemingly alcohol fuelled, to the extend that BOUNCERS are being employed by some venues! At performance of the recently-closed A Little Night Music, one audience member actually walked over to the side of the stage and 'relieved himself'. Door staff at another theatre have actually been assaulted by drunk patrons. Producer Nica Burns, who co-owns five London venues, is among those hiring security staff because audiences can "get quite hectic and boisterous". Playwright Ronald Harwood, who has two plays on in London at present, has called for a ban: "I am deeply opposed to the taking of drink into the auditorium. I think it is an insult to the actors and the play. The audience should be in the play, not the pub."

The Mail article also relates many instances of performers being interrupted by mobile phones ringing, or texting, or taking photos with phones and cameras. Greta Scacchi relates how one audience member called out during a dramatic moment during The Deep Blue Sea last year and when other people told him to 'sssh' he shouted back "Chill out, I'm only having a bit of fun!"

I shall be keeping a close eye on this one. I suspect the debate will continue for some time.

What's happening in July?

Although generally things do quieten down slightly in July and August here at The Playhouse, with many of the regular companies having a break for the summer, there are still a few shows taking place and preparations being made for autumn productions. Here's a little summary, including details of this year's rather 'wonderful' Christmas show:

TUESDAY 7: PRE-AUDITIONS at 7.30 pm
Tonight sees the second evening of pre-auditions for next March's fundraising production of BACK TO THE 80s (directed by Richard Webb, Toni Coles and Jonathan Carter). This show, set against the backdrop of the final year of the students of William Ocean High School, features a veritable feast of classic hits from the 1980s. Auditions follow later this month - see below.

WEDNESDAY 8 - SATURDAY 11: PERFORMANCES at 7.45 pm
Deep End Theatre Company presents the FARNDALE AVENUE HOUSING ESTATE TOWNSWOMEN'S GUILD DRAMATIC SOCIETY MURDER MYSTERY for four evenings. A brilliant spoof of the worst level of amateur dramatics, you can find out more about the show at http://www.farndaleavenue.blogspot.com/ Tickets still available on 01242 522852.

THURSDAY 16: PLAYREADING
This Christmas, The Playhouse will be staging a version of the classic Frank Capra film IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, with performances spread over a two-week period and finishing on Christmas Eve itself. The auditions will take place in September, but director Caroline Young wants to give everyone the chance to see what's involved this side of the summer. For more information please ring Caroline on 01242 512135.

TUESDAY 21 - SATURDAY 25: PERFORMANCES at 7.45 pm
Playhouse Company presents Noel Coward's 1950s' satire of snobbery in all its guises, RELATIVE VALUES, directed by Wendy Berry. Again, tickets are still available and you can find out more at the theatre website at http://www.playhousecheltenham.org/

TUESDAY 28 & WEDNESDAY 29: AUDITIONS
BACK TO THE 80s auditions will be held in the rehearsal room known as 'the dungeon'. For more information contact Richard on 07905 848134.

The silence of the blog

You will be well aware that the blog has hardly been a hive of activity in recent times. Of course, a blog that isn't updated is pretty much useless, but its original purpose was merely to document the refurbishment that took place last year. And, in fact, it is exactly 12 months ago today that I posted the first photo of the completed auditorium (as work moved into the green room).

Over the summer, we shall be gradually attaching plaques to the backs of seats for all those people that kindly and generously sponsored this part of the refit. We had to ensure that everything was fully tested, tried and the whole project signed off before we started this process (and we have actually only just received the final certificate of completion).

At the moment, we are currently redesigning our main marketing tool, the theatre brochure. The next edition, out in mid-August, will be a 16-page A5 design, to take into account the fact that we not only have a lot of productions to sell tickets for but also the first of our film weeks in September. 2010 is shaping up to be a very busy year - in fact the calendar is almost full and enquiries are even being made about 2011 and there are a couple of projects being planned that could prove to be very exciting.

So, we will relaunch the blog this summer, along with the new brochure, with a commitment to trying to update it at least on a weekly basis.

Hired Man UPDATE

Please note that both Friday and Saturday performances of The Hired Man are now sold out.  Less than a dozen seats remain for Thursday's performance.