|
In
Theatr Fach on Friday Oct 18th at 7.30 - do come
to:
FRAMING
THE WORD IN FILM
AND PRINT
First
of all, I should like to thank everyone who took
part in and supported the centenary event ‘The Unfurling
of my Love’ a year ago, featuring my mother Anne
Ridler’s work. It may seem like vanity for me now
to propose another centenary event, this time remembering
my father Vivian Ridler (1913 –2009); and I wouldn’t
do so if I didn’t think the evening would have appeal
and be enjoyable in its own right. The planned programme
(which will be presented in the theatre itself at
7.30pm on Friday 18th October) will furthermore
be totally different from the previous one.
Why
‘Framing the Word in Film and Print’? The last part
of the title is the more obvious. Already
as a teenager in Bristol my father (let’s call him
VR for short)developed a passion for printing. The
lights in the street dimmed when he and a friend,
son of a vicar, powered up their first press in
the vicarage basement; and after humble beginnings
as an apprentice at E. S. and A. Robinson, he went
on to run the printing works at Oxford University
Press from 1958 to 1978. In this period he oversaw
many major projects, including in 1961 the New Testament
volume of the New English Bible.
Printing
was for VR a hobby as well as a profession, garden
sheds at the Oxford home being commandeered for
the purpose. There will be a chance in the Club
Room interval to look at and handle some of the
beautiful pieces of fine printing he achieved under
the Perpetua Press imprint, and for his own pleasure.
(Home-printed Christmas cards with texts by, or
chosen by, Anne were a favourite.) But what about
the ‘film’ part of our title? Well, VR’s other great
‘private passion’ was film - not only as a ‘buff’
but also, from the ‘50s onwards, as a highly skilled
amateur 8mm film-maker, doing all the storyboarding,
directing and editing himself. (The storyboarding
literally created a ‘frame,’ with deftly drawn cartoon
strip images forming a shooting script.) Much of
the Theatr Fach evening will be taken up with digital
projections of some of these films including ‘A
Voice from the Past’, a ghost story set in and around
St Ishmaels in Pembrokeshire. The quality of the
Kodachrome cinematography
remains
impressive.
An
infectious sense of humour was one of VR’s distinguishing
characteristics, as can be seen in the alphabet
he designed for his eldest daughter as a child (Z
for Zany, for example), or the diary he kept while
appearing (soon after retirement) in 1980 as an
extra in Michael Cimino’s Western ‘Heaven’s Gate’
with John Hurt and Kris Kristofferson. (Oxford was
used as a stand-in for Harvard in the 1870s.)
The
diary’s title page shows a photo of VR in topper
as a Harvard academic, with the subscript ‘The greatest
disaster in film history’! (United Artists did indeed
go bust.) Extracts from this lively journal (recorded
in VR’s immaculate italic script) will be woven
into the evening.
Both
my parents were enthusiastic supporters of Theatr
Fach from its outset, and would be happy to know
it still thrives. I do hope many of you will be
able to come and join us at TF on the 18th.
Ben
Ridler.
BUTTERFLY
IN SHADES
OF BLUE
Spanning
a period of seventeen years, ‘Butterfly in Shades
of Blue’ is a romantic comedy-drama which follows
Stephen and Vicky when they first meet and then
as they fall in and out of love. The play is a bittersweet
study of how their relationship changes over the
years due to differing aspirations. Their initial
high hopes and
idealistic
principles, something that many of us harbour in
our youth, somehow evaporate in the heat of unbridled
ambition, conceit, deceit and the realities of everyday
life. The play is in turns very funny and achingly
poignant. It will strike a chord with anyone who
blames themselves and still regrets the failure
of a romantic relationship …..in other words, most
of us.
This
play by Ed Penney is on at Theatr Fach on Friday
October 25th and Saturday October 26th at 7.30pm
and is sure to provide an interesting evening. Tickets
£10/£8.
Book
through Box Office 01341 422 680.
FERNHILL
On
Saturday June 29th Fernhill came to Theatr Fach.
The members of the group were Julie Murphy, who
sang and played the struti box (a small wooden instrument
which provides a drone, originally for Indian classical
music), Ceri Rhys Matthews, who sang and played
the guitar and flute, Tomos Williams on the trumpet
and Christine Cooper on the fiddle.
The
members of Fernhill have shared their lyrical intensity
and beautiful folk music with audiences all over
the world, and we were very fortunate to be able
to welcome them to Theatr Fach.
They
are concerned not with the culture of past aristocratic
patronage but the expression of the ordinary people
of Wales. They have lovingly assembled songs from
odd verses and fragments of manuscripts. These songs
are about love, place, birds, forests and everyday
life. They are touching and beautiful.
All
the members of the group were a great pleasure to
listen to, but the lead singer, Julie Murphy, was
exceptionally impressive, with her mesmerising vocal
prowess and the way she inhabited the songs and
language with so much authenticity and soul.
Unlike
traditional Irish, Scottish or English folk music,
which has always enjoyed healthy maintenance, ancient
Welsh songs have been largely neglected or misrepresented
for many years, so what Fernhill have achieved with
the material on home turf and on stages around the
world is quite remarkable. Fernhill have become
important cultural ambassadors for Wales and its
music, and we are grateful to them for coming to
Dolgellau.
Ed.
BURTON
“I
WAS PUT ON THIS EARTH TO RAISE SHEER HELL”
BURTON
vividly presents the life of the great Welsh actor
in his own words from humble beginnings to Hollywood
megastardom.
Beautiful
women (not least Liz Taylor), alcohol, wealth, stage
and screen are the threads woven into this sad,
happy, exuberant often hilarious one-man show.
Drink
was the only real anodyne to his deteriorating health
and mental state, his doomed tempestuous relationship
with Taylor and his constant guilt over the abandonment
of his family. RHODRI MILES takes on the role of
the younger BURTON fresh from a successful run to
critical acclaim at this year's Edinburgh Fringe
Festival which received glorious 4/5star reviews.
Written
by: Gwynne Edwards
Directed
by: Hugh Thomas
This
play will be on at Theatr Fach on Friday November
22nd at 7.30pm. £9/£6
Further
details: 01654 761 358
THEATR
FACH AND THE ROLE
OF ITS TRUSTEES
By
Richard Withers.
Charities
and Trustees
There
are some 160,000 charities in England and Wales
registered with the Charity
Commission,
and perhaps another 80,000 that do not have to register
(because they are very small, or because they are
'exempt' or ‘excepted’). Charities meet all kinds
of needs that would otherwise go unmet. One thing
they have in common is that they all depend on their
trustees.
Charity
trustees are the people who form the governing body
or 'board' of a charity. They may be called trustees,
directors, board members, governors or committee
members, but they are the people with ultimate responsibility
for directing the business of the charity. Most
trustees are volunteers, and receive no payment
(except out-of-pocket expenses).
Charities
with income of £10,000 or less
For
financial periods ending on or before 31 March 2009,
charities with income £10,000 or less are not required
to submit either an Annual Return or accounts. However,
they are required to keep the details we hold about
them on the Register up to date. To keep those details
up to date we ask charities with income of £10,000
or less to submit an Annual Update.
We
expect charities to report changes, or confirm that
there have been no changes, within 10 months of
the end of their financial period, the same time
allowed for the preparation of their accounts.
Dolgellau
Amateur Dramatic Society –
Charity
number 518465
On
the Charity Commission website information is held
on all charities, including ours. You can simply
type in the name or number in their search engine
and see the most recent annual return.
The
names of the trustees are shown and can be seen
by clicking on the relevant title in the left side
menu.
Our
present trustees are John Bond, Dave Collins, Chrissy
Moore-Haines, Ben Ridler
and
Richard Withers. These are lifetime trustees although
it is possible to resign at any time; such resignation
to take effect at the end of the financial year.
It
has been the case in our history that the committee
elected each year become de facto trustees for the
year of office although we have had objections to
this from committee members who feel the responsibilities
of trusteeship are too onerous. The legal situation
is that the Chair and Treasurer should always be
trustees during their term of office.
Let
me take you back to the beginning of our history.
Dolgellau Amateur Dramatic Society was set up in
January 1987. In the original constitution of the
society provision was made for the purchase of property
which would then be held in trust (by a group of
trustees not numbering less than three) on behalf
of D.A.D.S.
In
1988 the decision was made to purchase a property
in which to perform and the treasurer approached
Barclays Bank to obtain the promise of a loan to
be secured on the building and the joint and several
guarantees of the original trustees. There were
eight willing to share that financial risk at the
time and so the society purchased the English Calvinistic
Methodist Chapel (sic) in Glyndwr Street for the
sum of £9000 on 9th March 1988.
Responsibilities.
The committee for the time being shall have overall
responsibility for the correct pursuance of the
constitution of the society (the running of theatrical
performances and other items as per the constitution)
and the “trustees” shall hold and safeguard any
property on behalf of the said society.
A
MURDER HAS BEEN ARRANGED
by
Emlyn Williams.
This
production by Dolgellau Amateur Dramatic Society
at Theatre Fach, Dolgellau ran from Thursday May
23rd to Monday May 27th .
What
better place to celebrate your 40th birthday than
the stage of St. James's Theatre in London's West
End? Especially if you are Sir Charles Jasper and
are about to inherit two million pounds – that is,
if you survive until 11 o'clock that evening.
However,
what should be an evening of gaity and rejoicing
turns out from the start to be riddled with fears
of ghosts and even of murder, with tensions rising
between family, staff and guests, especially uninvited
guests.
Everyone
is aware that Sir Charles Jasper, an authority on
the occult, has written a book about supernatural
events in the theatre, and rumour is rife that there
had been a recent murder in one of the dressing
rooms; several staff have already walked out in
fear.
The
remaining members of family and staff try hard to
hide their growing anxieties, but their fears are
fuelled by a succession of unexpected happenings.
Mrs. Wragg, the cook, played with great spirit and
at times venom by Pat Jones, firmly and vehemently
refuses to be put in her place by Miss Groze, Sir
Charles' secretary, elegantly and chillingly played
by Sally Kirkham. A young man comes on the scene
claiming to be a journalist, though he offers several
versions of his name, finally settling for Jimmy
North. He is played with clever timing by Ifor Davies,
whose quick-fire interjections are excellent for
catching others off their guard. Beatrice, Sir Charles'
wife, appears. Acted by Jacki Evans, she plays her
part as wife and hostess with superb aplomb, but
cannot avoid showing that she is obsessed with anxiety
about the evening. Ruth Nicholls, as Beatrice's
mother, gives a delightful performance as a tough
nut, willing to challenge anyone or anything that
is likely to upset her daughter.
The
entrance of Sir Charles Jasper, played by Julian
Jones with dignity and drive, alters the atmosphere.
Alone among the characters he is excited by the
risks of danger as he plans to reenact the legend
of St. James's Theatre, murder and all, and even
faces with composure the appearance of his only
living relative, Maurice Mullins, who will inherit
Sir Charles' fortune if he dies before 11pm. Ian
Macer-Wright presents us with an elegant and self-assured
Mullins, who lulls the family, temporarily, into
believing that he has no designs on Sir Jasper's
fortune.
The
plot thickens, as Mullins devises a complex plan
to kill Sir Jasper without being suspected of the
crime, and the family and staff draw together to
outwit him. The dramatic intervention of a mediumistic
woman in red, played eerily and compulsively by
Evelyn Richardson, raises the level of anxiety even
further as the play draws to its
unexpected
denouement, and Maurice Mullins is trapped unawares
into making a confession of murder as Sir Charles'
ghost walks – or does it?.... Produced by Richard
Withers, this fastmoving melodrama kept audiences
on the edge of their seats from beginning to end.
Ed.
OTTO
AND FRIENDS
The
recital of music for piano and for harp which was
held at Theatr Fach on April 6th is one which we
shall long remember, and it was especially good
to have with us two fine musicians: Otto Freudenthal,
an artist of international renown for many years
and at the pinnacle of his art, and Harriet Earis,
former All Britain Champion on the harp, winner
of many awards and in the early years of what will
undoubtedly be an exciting career, as she continues
to perform throughout the world.
It
is always a delight and a great privilege to have
Otto with us and on this occasion he played the
four contrasting Chopin Etudes, Opus 10, dramatic,
reflective, turbulent, written when the composer
was very young and dedicated to his friend Franz
Liszt. These were followed by Chopin's Ballades
No. 2 and No. 3, Op. 38, which are amongst the most
challenging pieces in the piano repertoire. (The
term 'ballade' was associated with French poetry
until the mid-19th century, when Chopin
was
amongst the first to promote the ballade as a musical
form).
Harriet's
programme included a selection of her own arrangements
for the Celtic harp of lively tunes from Wales,
Ireland and Scotland – jigs, reels and, as she put
it, 'a few jazzier numbers'. Her joie de vivre and
obvious enjoyment of her music were infectious.
Altogether,
this was a delightful evening and we are most grateful
to Otto and to Harriet.
Ruth
Nicholls
Nice
title, shame about the job.
(Being
a Web Mistress)
OK
so maybe the thigh high black leather boots and
Indiana Jones bull whip are part of my private fantasy
that I probably shouldn't share but you have to
admit that being a web mistress sounds like a pretty
cool job.
Well,
maybe but not really when you're completely self
funding, technically self taught and working alone.
Then it's a very expensive, mind-buggeringly boring
and lonely business.
When
the Theatr Fach web site started back in I suppose
2000 or thereabouts it was tiny just a couple of
pages from a link on my own site http://www.black-butterfly.co.uk
that informed people what was on at Theatr Fach
Dolgellau but like Topsy in Uncle Tom's Cabin it
just growed and it growed and growed until one day
it was ready to be launched as its very own domain
(that's the .co.uk bit.) but it didn't grow
by accident. It took a long time and a lot of self
gained knowledge with a lot of appearances by that
famous double act Trial and Error.
A
little bit of (boring) technical information.
Theatr
Fach has at least 50 separate html pages (including
13 + galleries & 15 members pages)
The
language used throughout the site is html (hypertext
mark-up language) and Java script for interactive
and dynamic elements such as the galleries, the
quick-view calendar and the scrolling text on the
front page.
Image
files are industry standard JPEG or animated GIFs.
The
site is published with a standard FTP (File Transfer
Protocol)
Content
is largely written in MS Word.
Downloadable
documents are PDF (Portable Document File)
All
the pages on the site are created in original (not
commercially available) templates.
Some
people have asked me why I don't host the site on
a free service. The answer is I hate advertising
with a passion bordering on the psychotic. I personally
don't want to visits sites where you have to wait,
not for useful content to download, but useless,
irrelevant and inappropriate adverts and I
really don't see why I should subject any visitors
to a site I'm responsible for to the same mind numbing
bombardment. Also these free sites limit you
in what you can do with the site. They have a one
size fits all policy that goes against the grain
with anyone who is in the least bit creative and
owns even a basic knowledge of web-design. Most
if not all the page templates I use at present still
carry the NAMO name (A web editing programme I got
free on the front cover of a computer mag fourteen
years ago) but they have very little in common with
that web editing programme's templates.
Another
thing folk ask, when they know that I do write my
own scripts for dynamic elements and they know that
such things exist, is why I don't use commercial
or 'free' scripts which abound on the net these
days. Well, and this is another fear and loathing
thing, I hate hackers. I see no reason for these
single brain celled creatures to exist on this or
any other planet. To quote an old Yiddish saying;
I would not spit on them if their hair was on fire.
It probably loses a little of its venom in that
bowdlerized translation but you get the picture,
and I see no point whatsoever in providing these
amoeba brained life forms with an easy entrance
in to something I've spent so much time and trouble
creating just so that they can empty the drawers
and pee on the carpets.
So
I do the work of creating the frame but a frame
is no good without a picture. For a web site, any
web site to be of any use at all it needs one thing
that no amount of fancy design can give it and that
is content and that ma dears comes down to you.
The members. Not just the committee members who
- fair play to most of them - supply me with a goodly
store of stuff to put up there but also non committee
members.
On
the computer I do all the web development on because
it has a massive and massively underused hard drive
I have installed several browsers as well as good
old IE (I think I even have an old copy of Netscape)
just because no one told me that sites looked different
in different browsers. I also store a complete copy
of web safe colours with their numeric equivalents
because no one told me that the colours I used on
the site again display differently in different
browsers unless they are coded by their numbers.
This is all information I could have had acquired
a lot sooner had someone out there dropped
me an e-mail telling me that the site looked odd
or even different when viewed in Firefox or even
on a flat screen. Still I suppose that's where the
double act came in.
Last
year when theatrfach.co.uk was celebrating its tenth
anniversary as a registered domain I produced a
seventeen page report detailing how the web site
had been created and listing the changes (mods and
upgrades) I intended to make during its redesign.
As far as I know only one person apart from myself
has ever seen that report. The fact that Bronwen
has kindly asked me to write this article tends
to lend substance to that view.
I
would and I do, gratefully accept any comments whatever
their persuasion. If there is something wrong or
not quite right I welcome the opportunity to put
it right if I can or to extend my knowledge so that
if the solution is not immediate it can be found
sooner rather than later.
I
have never looked for only compliments as far as
the site is concerned. It is not and never has been
my site. It belongs to the society if they want
it and I do hope that this article will go some
small way to making greater participation something
that everyone wants.
THE
SUMMER REVIEW
Staged
on July 24th,30th and 31st and August7th.
The
cast of the Summer Revue worked hard throughout
the summer to present a lighthearted and lively
show with many different facets: there were songs
(mostly in English but one in Welsh), sketches,
and even a short radio play! Attending twice a week
to rehearse is a commitment that is made by the
performers who take part in any production, with
more frequent rehearsals as the performance approaches.
We should applaud and commend these people for this
commitment and their dedication in providing Theatr
Fach with amateur productions three times a year,
to help to raise the funds to keep the theatre going,
as well as providing a venue for professional performances
by touring theatre companies.
This
all helps to bring a welcome variety of entertainment
to the local community.
So
a big thank you to all concerned in putting on the
Summer Revue.
Ed.
POETRY
AND PROSE
Over
the spring and early summer there were three very
different poetry and prose evenings, all much enjoyed.
ANOTHER NIGHT WITH BILL AND GEORGE
The
mystery of the above title was revealed on April
19th at Theatr Fach when it became clear that the
characters in question were England's patron Saint
(George) and William Shakespeare himself; these
two share a common anniversary on April 23rd.
There
was a varied and interesting collection of readings,
put together by Richard Withers.
This
included, among others, extracts from 'Pericles,
Prince of Tyre', 'The Merry Wives of Windsor', a
re-telling of 'Hamlet' by Bernard Miles, Max Beerbohm’s
poem 'The Characters of Shakespeare', Prospero from
'The Tempest', and some anecdotes about Burbage,
Macbeth and theatres of the day. There was also
a Shakespeare quiz which made many of us, including
your editor, realise how much they thought they
knew, and how little they actually knew....... Needless
to say, the quiz was won by Ben Ridler.
Our
thanks go to Richard for an intriguing evening.
BIRTHDAY
PRESENTS
In
2013 Chrissy Moore-Haines celebrated her 65th birthday.
In fact she celebrated more than that; 2013 saw
her 35th Wedding Anniversary, the 25th anniversary
of her arrival in Wales, and the 50th anniversary
of her first book being published.
So
on June 21st she had plenty to celebrate, and did
it in style at Theatr Fach by inviting people to
come along and bring her presents of poetry and
prose. And what a variety of items there were; Vitai
Lampada by Sir Henry Newbolt, Old Tyme Dancing by
Joyce Grenfell, The Fairies by W.Allingham, Johnny
McEldoo (author unknown), Eeyore's Birthday from
Winnie the Pooh by A.A.Milne - and many, many more.
Some of those present wrote their own poems, others
brought their favourites along on the evening, and
Chrissy brought along splendid cakes for the interval.
It was a friendly, happy evening, full of surprises,
all pleasant, and we thank Chrissy for organising
it.
TALES
OF THE RIVER BANK
This
most successful two-part evening was presented by
Evelyn Richardson on Friday July 19th. The first
half was a collection of readings and songs which
was full of variety; one minute we were engulfed
in the deep sadness of 'Old Man River', movingly
sung by Julian Jones; the next we were holding our
breath as the slave girl Eliza jumped from icefloe
to ice-floe with her babe in her arms as she crossed
the river to freedom in Ohio in 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.
We followed Otter and Ratty as they rowed through
the night to find themselves in the awe-inspiring
presence of Pan, god of animals in 'Wind in the
Willows' and we learnt what Evelyn and her husband
Jack got up to in their younger days holidaying
in the Dordogne. These were just some of a most
varied and worthwhile collection of items.
After
the interval, the mood changed as we followed the
River Mawddach from its source in the high remote
lands above Abergeirw to its broad estuary at Barmouth
on a most excellently made DVD – the work of George
Mandow, who has known and loved and walked this
area for many years. The DVD is a delightful evocation
of the history, landscape and charm of this interesting
and stunning part of Snowdonia, and we are grateful
to George and Evelyn for giving us this chance to
view it.
Ed.
DOWN
MEMORY LANE
I
am asking people who, unlike me, have been around
Theatr Fach for some time to recall a fondly remembered
production they were involved in years ago – and
the series is off to a splendid start with Chrissy
Moore-Haines andher hilarious account of the goings-on
in the pantomime 'Shoes' back in 2001. Ed.
There's
no business like no-show business
(or
My brief attempt at treading the boards)
Back
in the days of Music Hall a chap used to stand on
the side of the stage a long curved wooden hook
to drag off performers who out stayed their
welcome this was not necessary for me. Quite
the reverse.
If
I'm honest performing on stage has always ranked
along side running barefoot through a nettle patch
as a preferred occupation for me and I'm not
quite sure which would be the most painful.
I
think I've actually performed on stage three times
in my life – unless you count the horrendous experience
of being dragged up on stage by some adult fairy
shaped thing when I was four years old and being
asked by a boozy old has-been who was playing Buttons
in an organized for our brave boys in uniform production
of Cinderella, what Santa Clause was bringing me
for Christmas. Like that was his business?
Marginally
less unsavoury was my first ever performance as
an adult. I was 20 and actually working in the theatre
in some lowly occupation when the artistic director
– a wonderful guy called Chaim Westlake who went
on to write the music for my one and only stab at
a musical a thing called Voices a kind of rock opera
about Joan of Arc G*d help us – decided to run short
season of plays by new writers. My play, Numbers.
about an old Jewish guy who is going more than a
little demented and chucks a massive wobbly at his
granddaughter's wedding Mitzvah claiming to be haunted
by the kids from the camp and denouncing his granddaughter's
new husband's American uncle as one of the Nazi
guards was chosen as one play to be performed. I
was the comedy relief playing the master (mistress)
of ceremonies Ruthie Silberman. And writing this,
something terribly spooky has occurred to me. The
other book-end to the performance I actually wanted
to tell you about, my third performance on stage,
was in Glittering Prizes two one act plays which
were recently produced at Theatr Fach was playing
Ruthie Silberman a stand up comedienne in The Prize.
But
it was the middle one I wanted to tell you about.
I
had been a member of DADS as it was then for what
seemed like about five minutes when someone asked
me if I could write a pantomime. The regular panto
maven had just done a runner and putting aside my
loathing for things "He's behind you"
and chaps dressed as tarts and vice – pardon my
freedom – versa I answered in the affirmative. And
I did. I wrote this jolly good, clean, cross dressing,
attempted wife murdering fun with bad fairies and
good fairies and ‘ah look at poor Petunia (a small
feisty fairy who nearly gets aced by the baddy)
lying prostrate on the stage’ while the good fairy
(a pistol packing ass kicking character called,
with no apology to Ms. Jolie, Cara Loft) tries to
get the disbelieving audience to believe for long
enough to bring her back from fairy heaven. On paper
it was hilarious. It was called Shoes (The Cinderella
Story) and I must admit I had a lot of fun writing
it but then I always have fun writing. It's something
you don't do if you don't find it only marginally
better than tackling the housework or unblocking
the drains but I digress.
I
attended the auditions and even managed to persuade
my husband Wyndham who had been in Separate Tables
for the society to lower his theatrical standards
and take the part of Baron Von Beergarten.
We
had a truly marvellous cast all of whom took my
very first attempt at good old British Pantomime
to their massive hearts and cherished it as their
very own. In a lot of cases they even learned their
lines!
Now
in my senior year at school I had achieved some
success as a director. My production of The Mikado
even got an honourable mention in the Head's end
of year report and a passable review in the local
paper and sort of half way through Shoes I mentioned
to the tremendously supportive and accommodating
director Richard Withers that I would like to do
a teensy bit of directing. Be careful what you wish
for. Richard had a rather unfortunate accident shortly
after my request and so I got what I wanted but
please believe not the way I wanted it.
Things
went very much south pretty quickly after that.
At
the final dress rehearsal my Cinderella developed
some bizarre disorder that robbed her of her until
then quite pleasant singing voice and on the opening
night made her youthful unblemished face change
from vomit green to febrile red with the regularity
of incontinent traffic lights and forced other junior
members of the cast to move up one and take their
knitting pushing Dandini in to a frock and the senior
fairy in to that vacated role with out so much as
a rehearsed line but worst of all, from my point
of view was that my bad fairy legged it and I was
forced to go on in her place.
For
the first half that was OK. I was a voice off stage
and could stand there and read my words oft with
an maniacal cackle but when I was visible even hooded
and with a pronounced Richard III curvature to disguise
myself I felt as vulnerable as if I had walked
on stage sans culottes and pretty much sans everything
else.
And
yet I sincerely believe that is something every
playwright should do; be prepared to put their mouths
where their words are.
I
did it for five performances and once I got over
the shock of actually being able to see the audience
(You genuinely can't in a large theatre) I have
to admit I enjoyed it. I even managed to get the
whole of the two old men sitting in deck chairs
joke out a couple of times and I completely fell
in love with my bright red jump suit, striped stockings
and ginger wig but that is probably something I
shouldn't share. Right? Of course right.
THEATR
FACH COMMITTEE
Chairman:
Julian
Jones 01341 421 856
Vice
Chairman:
John
Bond 01341 421 144
Treasurer:
Richard
Withers 01654 761 358
Theatre
Technician:
Dave
Collins 01654 710 096
Theatr
Fach Website.
Chrissy
Moore-Haines 01766 540 382
Publicity
Officer and Newsletter Editor:
Bronwen
Dorling 01341 250 085
Secretary
and Membership Secretary:
Jacki
Evans 01341 423 813
Fundraising
and Grants:
Debbie
Ashton 01341 250 884
Other
Committee members:
Ruth
Nicholls
Ben
Ridler
THEATR
FACH DIARY DATES
Friday
October 18th 7.30 pm
Framing
the Word in Film
and Print
Celebrating
the work of Vivian Ridler
(1913
– 2009) Tickets £3.50
Details:
Ben Ridler 01341
450 224
Friday
October 25th at 7.30pm and
Saturday
October 26th at 7.30pm
A
Play by Ed Penney
Butterfly
in Shades of Blue
Tickets
£10/£8
Theatre
Fach Box Office 01341
422 680
Friday
November 15th 7.30 pm
A
Poetry and Prose Evening
Highways
and Byways
Tickets:
£3.50
Details:
Bronwen Dorling 01341
250 085
Friday
November 22nd at 7.30pm
Rhodri
Miles in
Burton
A
play by Gwynne Edwards
Directed
by Hugh Thomas
Tickets
£9/£6
Details:
01654 761 358
Saturday
December 14th 7.30 pm
A
Poetry and Prose Evening
Christmas
Humbug
Tickets:
£3.50
Details:
Evelyn Richardson 01341
250 428
Thursday
16th, Friday 17th, Saturday 18th January
2014 at 7.30pm plus Saturday
matinée at 2.30pm.
The
pantomime:
Jack
and the Beanstalk
Details:
Jacki Evans 01341 423 813
Theatre
Fach Box Office 01341
422 680
Friday
February 21st 7.30 pm
A
Poetry and Prose Evening
Trains
and Parcels and Letters
Details:
Julian and Pat Jones 01341
421 856
Thursday
22nd, Friday 23rd, Saturday 24th, Monday
26th May 2014 at 7.30pm and
a matinee performance on Saturday
24th at 2.30pm
A
play by Terence Rattigan
The
Winslow Boy
Details:
Ruth Nicholls 01341 430 637
DOLGELLAU
MUSIC CLUB DATES:
October
4th Absolution Saxophone Quartet
November
1st Lucy Hall (soprano)
Gavin
Roberts (piano)
November
29th Elen Hydref (harp)
January
10th Ailsa Ijiri (piano)
February
7th Wu Quartet (strings)
March
7th Rosanna Ter Berg (flute),
Leo
Nicholson (piano)
April
4th Llangollen Operatic Society Troupe
These
concerts will be held in the hall of
Coleg
Meirion-Dwyfor on Fridays at 7.30.
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