Claremont Dramatic Society Newsletter
12 Eden Road, Claremont, 7708
Tel: 021 671 2888 Cell: 083 414 7003
email: claremontdramatic@gmail.com
http://www.claremontdramatic.wordpress.com
May 2012 – Number 110
Hello everyone!
How does one introduce oneself? Not entirely sure, except to say that I believe I made the fatal error of mentioning a pleasure in writing which happened to fall upon Wendy’s ears and so here we are. Writing, yes, filling in my tax return, application for a credit card possibly, scratching out a corny birthday message, I think you get the drift. I ‘m sure it’ll be fine, I’ll try to stay away from comments on the weather and we can all pretend it’s not winter.
Members’ Evenings
MEMBERS’ EVENING FEEDBACK (20-03-2012)
by Sheila Inglis
The first members’ evening kicked off (almost literally!) to a good start with a skit set in Australia at a revered sports stadium. I was wondering how the Aussie accents would sound – but, no worries – Eric (played by Liam Cundill) as a young Hungarian football coach had this gorgeous Euro-English accent with a tendency to drop his “h”s, which tended to annoy Humphrey (played by Nigel Sweet) a middle-aged, frightfully English cricket enthusiast with a slight stammer. Humphrey had come to this particular stadium to re-live, in peace and quiet, an extraordinary, historical, cricket victory. His peace was soon shattered by the garrulous Eric joining him. This was a highly entertaining skit with an exciting climax of the hilarious, blow by blow account in cricket terminology of the amazing cricket victory – not understood by Eric – and culminating in Humphrey being inveigled into refereeing Eric’s football match with somewhat disastrous results.
After a pleasant watering and feeding break – the eats were fresh, delicious and ample – we were thoroughly spoilt by an excellent rendition of Bar and Ger by Anton Schafer and Shannon Correia respectively, who had brought this one act play, directed by Bruce Sanderson, over from Milnerton Players. We were treated to snippets of insight into the lives of this devoted brother and sister from their very early years right through puberty until Bar died in a motorbike accident. There were moments of comedy and pathos to which we could all relate. The acting was SO good and the lighting was spot on (excuse the pun).
Thank you for a lovely evening.
NEXT MEMBERS’ EVENING – 22 June at 19:30 for 20:00
Our next members’ evening will be a Comedy Night.
We start with Scott Gill’s one-act Play ‘Box Office Blues’, starring Ruth Allsopp, Shirley Nixon and Simon Dutton. Scott wrote this piece for a one-act play competition, and took top honours. It was performed at a MADS members evening recently, and was received with much hilarity, especially by those who have done box office duty at the Masque.
After a break, Jay Heale will follow with a slice of entertainment called ‘WITH APOLOGIES TO…’.It consists of a few of Jay’s favourite bits from Michael Flanders, Peter Cook, and Gerard Hofnung. As you know, Jay is a consummate actor, with superb comic timing.
Looks like we’re in for a grand evening! Please RSVP to Pam by Monday 18 June: pamb@masterparts.co, 021 657 5700 (w), or 082 488 0442.
Call for Directors
Final Call: All directors interested in directing for Claremont Dramatic Society in 2013 please contact Anthony Lister urgently (anthonylister@mailbox.co.za). Application deadline 20 May.
Subscriptions
The nudge to take note of yearly fees, committee members included, sorry Wendy I’ve been meaning to,seriously…
R40 for members, R30 for students and pensioners
R60 for couples, R45 for student and pensioner couples.
Please deposit (or transfer) funds into the following account: Claremont Dramatic Society,
Standard Bank, Claremont Branch 02-51-09, Current account number 072 637 676. Please use your name and ‘SUBS’ as the reference.
Audition
‘Calendar Girls’: Sunday 24 June, 2:30pm and Wednesday 27 June, 7:30pm. Production dates 9-24 November. Audition notice below – for more details regarding characters, please contact Wendy.
An announcement of the Sweet Kind
Nigel Sweet and Yvonne Copley got married earlier this month. Nigel has performed and built sets for us, and Yvonne has directed, acted and served on the CDS committee. Yvonne is also Claremont’s newly appointed representative Trustee for the Stern Masque Theatre. Congratulations and our Best Wishes to both of you.
Hok Matters
Our CD player at the Hok has gone AWOL! Has anyone borrowed it and forgotten to write it in the book? If so, its return to any committee member would be greatly appreciated. In the meantime, Adrian Kettle has very kindly donated a DVD player to the Hok. Thank you Adrian!
News from Other Societies
AUDITION
HELLO AND GOODBYE
A drama in two acts by Athol Fugard
Milnerton Playhouse
Saturday 23 June @ 14.00
Direction: Mari Mocke
The two characters in the play are a brother and sister, Johnnie and Hester Smit, who have not seen one another for a few years. When interviewed, Fugard gave Johnnie’s age as 29 and Hester’s a few years older. The play requires experienced actors as both characters have lengthy monologues, wrought with emotion and there is much dialogue to memorize. Backstage & technical crew for stage manager, props, rehearsal prompt, lighting & sound will also be required.
The play will run at Milnerton Playhouse end August/beginning September 2012 with a possible further performance at the ‘Fugard Fest’ in Stellenbosch during the last weekend in September
For further information please contact the director at: 021 556 2415 or 082 708 4794
E-mail: mari.mocke@telkomsa.net
Calendar
18-26 May: ‘Second Time Around’ by Derek Benfield, directed by Gordon Molloy, for Milnerton Players, at the Milnerton Playhouse. Bookings: http://www.milnerton players.com or 082 267 1061.
20 May: Deadline for applications for directors for CDS 2013 productions
20 May: Masque AGM. 19:30, at the Theatre
26 May: 80’s party – Masque fundraiser
1-9 June: Season’s Greetings, directed by Colleen van Staden, MADS
16 June – 1 July: ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’ directed by Teddy Davies for The Cape Town Gilbert and Sullivan Society, at the Artscape Theatre. Book at Computicket
22 June: Member’s evening – Comedy Night – 19:30 for 20:00 at the Hok
23 June: Audition – Hello and Goodbye – Milnerton Players
24 and 27 June: Audition – Calendar Girls
20 – 28 July: The Odd Couple (female version)
And last, certainly not least, Sheldon Cross (Director of the Odd Couple) is in search of props suggesting 80’s style décor, particularly those white porcelain dogs (breed unspecified) if anyone has one to spare we’d be most grateful.
Thank you and keep warm.
Alex
AUDITION NOTICE
CALENDAR GIRLS
A Comedy by Tim Firth
Director: Wendy Goddard
Audition Dates: Sunday 24 June at 14:30 and Wednesday 27 June at 19:30
Venue: The Hok, Campground Road, Claremont (under the bridge, next to Pick ‘n Pay)
Production dates: 9 – 24 November 2012, at the Masque Theatre, Muizenberg
Rehearsals: from Tuesday 21 August, at the Hok, Campground Road, Claremont
SYNOPSIS
When Annie’s husband John dies of leukaemia, she and best friend Chris decide to raise money for a new settee in the local hospital waiting room. They manage to persuade four fellow WI members to pose nude with them for an “alternative” calendar, with a little help from hospital porter and amateur photographer, Lawrence.
The news of the women’s charitable venture spreads like wildfire, and hordes of press soon descend on the small village of Knapeley in the Yorkshire Dales. The calendar is a success, but Chris and Annie’s friendship is put to the test under the strain of their new-found fame.
Based on the true story of eleven WI members who posed nude for a calendar to raise money for the Leukaemia Research Fund, Calendar Girls is the fastest selling play in British theatre history.
CHARACTERS
Chris* – 40s – 60s (Medium-Large part + 330 lines)
Annie* – 40s – 60s (Medium part + 230 lines)
Cora* – 30s–40s (Medium part + 200 lines)
Jessie* – late 60s-70s (Small-Medium part + 150 lines)
Celia* – 35-50 (Small-Medium part + 160 lines)
Ruth* – mid-30s–late 40s (Small-Medium part + 160 lines)
Marie – 40s–60s (Small-Medium part + 150 lines)
John (Annie’s husband) – 40s-60s (Small part + 60 lines)
Rod – (Chris’s husband) – 40s-60s (Small part + 40 lines)
Lawrence – 20s–30s (Small part + 60 lines)
Lady Cravenshire – 50s – 70s (Cameo + 15 lines)
Elaine – 20’s (Cameo + 20 lines)
Liam – 20’s-30s (Cameo + 30 lines)
Brenda Hulse – 30s to 70s (Cameo + 20 lines)
*Characters who take part in the calendar photo shoot within the play. The action of this sequence is choreographed so that their modesty is preserved but actresses considering auditioning for these roles should bear this in mind. All shapes and sizes are welcome to audition – being well-endowed is not a prerequisite!
A NOTE ON NUDITY
Contrary to belief, there is no nudity directly on show to the audience.
Anyone wishing to audition for Cora should email Wendy for the music for ‘Jerusalem’ which needs to be prepared for the audition (Cora plays the piano). None of the other parts require preparation. For more information, a copy of the script, or if you’d like to be part of the backstage crew of this wonderful team, please contact Wendy on 083 414 7003 or wendygoddard@xsinet.co.za.