February 2008 Newsletter

New Production

Arriving in July, from Brazil, where the nuts come from, everyone’s favourite aunt, Donna Lucia D’Alvadorez, will be paying a welcome visit to the Theatre Pitt for a short stay. Over a two-week period, this delightful lady will be entertained by her nephew, Mr. Charles Wykeham and his friend Mr. Jack Chesney at their university rooms, to be re-designed by our own team under the direction of the highly talented and innovative Gwyneth Glover.

Yes, Charley’s Aunt, that all time favourite Victorian comedy, one of the best-loved plays from the English theatre, will be our 2008 major production at the Theatre Pitt. Gwyneth plans a completely new look production while retaining the costuming and style of the original 1892 London season that ran for four years. The Theatre Pitt with it’s unique space, offers a fresh challenge to this play usually performed on a regular proscenium stage.

Gwyneth Glover, the director for Charley’s Aunt, has been our wardrobe designer for the last two shows and is a very experienced director both here and overseas. A chance conversation with her last year resulted with Gwyneth being asked to direct our 2008 play. We are fortunate to have her enthusiasm and expertise to head one of the funniest comedies in the English repertoire.

Auditions for Charley’s Aunt will be held on April 13th, 2 PM at the Bicentennial Hall, Pitt Street Methodist Church, 78 Pitt St, and any expressions of interest may be directed to either Marion Hines, the P. A. on 376-6583 or Bruce Weston on 845-1094, both evening telephone numbers. Three young men and three young women plus three older men and the wonderful role of the Aunt herself make this a large cast to find. If you are not one of our acting members, do please tell anyone you know who may be interested. We are also looking for persons willing to assist the committee in this production.

This year’s Around The Churches play, ’A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To Jericho’ is a well written piece by Tom Long. - sourced from the script library of English religious drama society Radius, who have suggested several successful church based dramas for us in the past. This humorous but thought provoking piece looks at how the Good Samaritan story still speaks to us today, not so much as how it can help others but ourselves and how we relate to our church and community. Once more, we are fortunate to have Carolyn Flint direct this play. Last year’s touring play directed by Carolyn was such a success that we expect to have plenty of bookings. If you would like a visit from Carolyn’s group, please call her on 629-6707 for a booking. The season will be all the Sundays in June, morning and evening plus any weeknight that your church may like to plan an outreach event. Please give Carolyn a call as soon as possible as the season must be limited to the month of June.

Other News

As one of the improvements planned for the Theatre Pitt, the committee has authorized the building of some extra rostrum to allow for better audience viewing. When completed, all the audience will be seated on raised levels, each row above the one in front. This is a major undertaking that requires strengthened platforms, which can be moved easily to suit different styles of theatre presentation. As well, the rostrums will be carpeted for noise reduction and light absorption. All the seats have also been provided with new cushions. Along with a carpeted dressing room and green room now situated in the basement, the committee is moving forward to making the Theatre Pitt a more enjoyable space for both audience and actors.

One of our best-received plays, in recent years, was the outstanding production of ‘The Boys Next Door’. Many missed this moving play, spiked with unexpected humour, and so it is with great pleasure we announce that the play, again directed by Barry Spring, will be the April production at the Dolphin Theatre. If you enjoyed our production, or want to see the play again, Dolphin Theatre bookings will open in early April.


Survey

Thanks to those who returned the Survey Forms last year. These are being analysed by the committee.

Membership Fees

The annual memberships for the 2008 calendar year are now due.  Thanking you for your support.