Goodbyeeeee...

Well, after five and three quarter years in the group, just about half of that as chairman, I'm off to college to hopefully take the musical writing to the next level (or not!). Wish me luck because I'll need it! I am looking forward to seeing the next few shows as a member of the regular Woodhouse audience, which will be a relaxing experience.

I'm handing back over to Steve, who has served as chair before and knows pretty much everything there is to know about how this group operates, which it has done very successfully all the time I've known it, getting bigger every year, always doing more things, improving the quality and range of the programme and offering better and better value to members.

All this comes for what is still an extraordinarily low membership fee (with no hidden costs), and with the friendliest and least political atmosphere I've ever encountered in an amdram group. Oh, sure, we have disagreements and occasional fistfights, er, hurt feelings, but in general there is a pleasing lack of ego, a tremendous respect for ideas, a robust and sensible attitude to work and a determination to be inclusive and as democratic as possible. Long may those things characterise the group.

It's also a plus that we have a very sensible attitude to money, too, meaning the group is always able to invest and increase its sustainability year on year. I'd like to see politicians achieve that without raising taxes! :)

Among the many fond memories for me are, obviously, the two halloween pantos of 2003 and 2005. Speaking for myself, I achieved things on those of which I would not have considered myself capable back in January 2001. This is one of the great things about the group: provided you are willing to take a risk or work at something new, there's always an opportunity to try out and develop your talents in a wide range of areas, be that directing, music, writing, sound, lighting, set design, poster design, web stuff... the list is endless (well, it's long anyway: see www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk/involved.html). In my time, I've noticed that generally the people who stick around and get the most out of the group are usually the people who diversify beyond acting.

I hope that whatever happens, the group remains open to new ideas and innovations and is able to sustain its current increased level of activity. Whether it can or not is not down to the chairman or committee, but is something that every member of the group can step forward to make happen. If you like how the group is shaping up, then help maintain the level of activity by volunteering to do something, especially if you haven't before.

Anyway, all the very best to you all, and here's to many successful years to come for the Woodies. I look forward to seeing you all at The Dresser, in a week's time as I write this, and at shows after that.

Tim

Choosing 2007 plays

On 10 Oct we will be selecting plays to perform in 2007. The slots have changed this year, so here are some details about what we're looking for, to get you thinking. Any member of the group, or even a newcomer, can advocate a play for the group to perform. If you have a suggestion you want to bring to the meeting, please check out the "How We Decide What To Do" page on the website: http://www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk/members_programming.html and then mail chair@woodhouseplayers.co.uk so we can circulate the names of suggested plays ahead of the meeting, enabling those who can't attend to express a view by email.

If you would like to direct something, but are stuck for ideas, you could check out the slush pile page (plays previously suggested by various members): http://www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk/members_slushpile.html

Here's a list of the slots we are selecting for:

FEBRUARY STUDIO PRODUCTION

This will perform in February half term. We are looking for a full length play with a small cast (certainly less than ten and ideally less than five), and a shoestring budget. A good slot in which to do something 'experimental' that may not pull in massive crowds but would be a good development for the participants. Could be new writing.

DOUBLE BILL

We need to choose two one-act plays to perform in the Easter Holiday and to be taken to local drama festivals (if they run in 2007). No particular constraints on the subject matter or size of cast, but to enter a festival, a play would need to be fairly simple to stage and run somewhere between 20 and 50 minutes. Budgets are small. New writing especially welcome.

CABARET?

For the last two years we have run a cabaret in May. We need to decide whether this should continue into 2007, and if so who is willing to produce it, as Tim won't be around to do so in '07.

WHITSUN STUDIO PRODUCTION

If there are enough suggestions, we may select something for this slot, or leave it vacant and decide at another meeting in Feb. Another small-cast, small-scale effort in a similar vein to the February show. This year we did "Teechers" in this slot.

(UNDER MILK WOOD)

It has already been decided that we are going to stage a revival of this year's "radio reading" of Under Milk Wood, at the Kenneth More Foyer Studio Theatre. This will be some time in the early Spring, date tbc.


So, a quick recap:
- CHECK OUT THE WEBSITE FOR HOW WE CHOOSE STUFF
- IF YOU'D LIKE TO DIRECT SOMETHING BUT ARE STUCK FOR IDEAS, CHECK OUT THE SLUSH PILE
- IF YOU'RE GOING TO ADVOCATE SOMETHING, ESTABLISH WHICH SLOT IT SHOULD GO IN, THEN MAIL YOUR SUGGESTION TO chair@woodhouseplayers.co.uk, IDEALLY AT LEAST A WEEK BEFORE THE MEETING
- COME TO THE MEETING ON 10 OCTOBER, WCH, AND VOTE FOR YOUR FAVOURITES

Panto Chosen!

After an extremely close and nail-biting selection meeting, the group has chosen Ali Baba and the Four Tea Leaves by Thos Ribbits and Nicola Holland as its 2006-7 pantomime.

More details to follow on this, but it's the not-often-done story of the Open Sesame cave and the evil plot of Sultan Pepper against the pure-hearted young person who is his nemesis!

A very close-run thing, and particular thanks to Shauntelle and Jackie for submitting The Little Mermaid which we all enjoyed reading/hearing at the meeting.

More soon on panto.

Panto Selection

It's time to choose the Panto for New Year 06-07.

At 7.30pm on Tuesday 6 June, we'll be choosing between two possibilities, both written by members of the group...

The Little Mermaid
by Shauntelle Benjamin and Jackie Braithwaite

Shauntelle writes: "It's the story of Ariel (ahem) Lenor, as we all know it, with all the trimmings reaching from Queen Queenie with her somewhat rough around the edges son Rocky, to Dither and Frank, Lenor's fishy sidekicks."

Ali Baba and the Four Tea Leaves
by Thos Ribbits

A version of the Forty Thieves story, but with fewer thieves to help out with the Woodhouse budget!

We'll be reading through sample scenes, talking about the writers' ideas for how their show could be produced. All members are very welcome to come and ask questions and contribute to the outcome, either by consensus or if necessary by a vote.

We should have chosen by 9pm, at which point there are auditions for Liz Braithwaite's radio version of Under Milk Wood. Bring a Welsh accent (or near equivalent) to also participate in that!

AGM, who's standing for what...

The Annual General Meeting of the Woodhouse Players will be on Wednesday 10 May, 7.30, at the Welsh Church Hall. Please attend this meeting. It is your chance to have your say in how things are run and we need your input to ensure our continued success.

More about the agenda and AGMs in general (including how voting and proxy voting works) at www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk/members_agm.html

As always we're electing a committee. Here is the current list of candidates (will be updated as more details come in):

Chair - Tim Saward (to serve only until end September)

Treasurer - James Goodman

Secretary - Thos Ribbits

"Ordinary Members" - there are four posts available:

Steve Balchin (Deputy Chair, Production Co-ordination, new writing)
Kate Harper (Membership Secretary)
Jackie Withnall & Jennifer Moorby (To work together on publicity)


Both Sonja Wardle and Carla MacLean will be standing down, with our hearty thanks for the help they've given on the committee and in the group generally.

This gives us enough candidates for all the posts, but if you would also like to stand, let us know! (secretary@woodhouseplayers.co.uk)

If you are considering standing for any post, but haven't told us yet, the deadline for letting us know is 7pm on MONDAY 8 MAY.

Notify Thos the secretary on secretary@woodhouseplayers.co.uk


DISCUSSION: Personnel, Cash and Programme for 06-07

It's been a busy year for Woodhouse, with lots of programmed activities, including another brace of one-offs, the regular programme of one-act and two-act plays, plus our first foray into a self-produced appearance at a professional venue, and our first revenue-raising publicity stunt at the Savoy Hotel.

In the coming year, we have scaled up to six regular productions (from four or five) and continued to add opportunities for members to do backstage stuff. As in every year, we've seen an influx of new members, too, bringing the active membership up in number.

The discussion is to set priorities. What should we do more of; what should we do less of? Is there any room for further expansion?

Here are some particular issues that need thinking about:

Recruitment - As discussed at last year's AGM, we have made progress with encouraging people to take time off the stage in order to direct and do other backstage stuff. We have been less successful at recruiting outsiders.

Spring Activities - In response to developments on the festival front, and the fact that we are not really using the hall for a performance in February half term, we could think about the future of our Spring productions. One suggestion is to add a seventh production in the February half term and make the Easter show a double bill. What do people think of this idea?

Money - We're doing OK for money, having raised funds this year quite successfully and had a good profit on some shows. However, we did lose money on Jekyll and Hyde and may not have collected all membership fees. We have also had to suddenly spend a lot on storage. How can we start to make enough money that we can improve our lighting and sound infrastructure?

Venues - We're still enjoying working at the Welsh Church Hall, but it could be that we need to look beyond it to accommodate an upscaled programme. What could we do about finding external venues to appear at or rehearse at?

Things we need to achieve in May thru July

If you'd like to help us out later on, in May or June or July, here are the next projects for which you could volunteer to help.

JOIN THE PRODUCTION TEAM OF “GALILEO”

Galileo will be our Summer production. I’m hatching plans for unusual set configurations, the use of projectors and, in short, a fair bit of technical jiggery pokery.

As usual with my productions, I aim to make the “crew” list at least as long as the “cast” list.

How you can help:
Would anyone be interested in any of the following?

• Helping out with cast directing?
• Working on the sound plan?
• Working on the lighting plan?
• Working on costume
• Working on some reasonably sim­ple set elements (need some boxes for the projectors plus some solid platform over scaffolding)

In addition, I’ll be looking to borrow (ideally for no money) four computers and four office data projectors. If anyone knows where I might be able to borrow these from, please get in touch! (Would need them for the last week of July)

contact Tim on
chair@woodhouseplayers.co.uk
or 077 9960 8220

HELP US FUNDRAISE

As we get bigger, we get bigger needs when it comes to fundraising!

We have recently updated the “funds needed” page on the website at www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk/donate.html - and that now lists the following needs:

• STORAGE (sheds) - £1000
• SOUND EQUIP - £500
• LIGHTING EQUIP - £860
• RIG/LX - £1600

We have raised similar sums before, Some of this money is absolutely essential for the years ahead (as we have now lost the loft for storage, we have to get sheds and make sure they’re secure).

How you can help:

Have you written grant applications before, or sought commercial sponsorship? Would you be able to write some applications for us, search out funding streams, make ap­proaches?

If you can’t offer time for this, you could consider upgrading your mem­bership to Patron Status. For £60 a year, you get namechecked in the pro­grammes, on the website, and get 2 comps for any show (and the warm glow from having helped out local community theatre!)

We need your help!

Dear Woodies,

Now that the Triple Bill’s coming to an end, thought I’d let you know (or remind you) of a few projects we have com­ing up in the near future. We have an ambitious programme this year, with more opportunities to be involved, and more productions than ever before! Woodhouse is growing, year on year, and our level of activity is increasing in response to the ideas that members are always inputting (particularly at the AGMs).

We’re always keen (the committee, that is) to say “yes” to people’s ideas and are always grateful when members spare time to volunteer their help in a way that benefits the group. However, I know that sometimes people would like to help, but don’t get to hear what’s going on for one rea­son or another, or would like to wait to be asked.

So we’re asking now! The below are some of the big priori­ties for the group in the short term. We really do need help with them. Some are big, some are small, but if you could give a bit of time to help us with them, we’d be really grateful!

PRIORITY 1... RECRUITING NEW SOUND AND LIGHT TECHIES - URGENT!

Peter and Rob, who have done the lighting (and often sound) for nearly all our shows in recent years, need a break!

This means that we need to recruit some new lighting and sound people to work on Teechers, Galileo and The Dresser, plus maybe later shows…

We’re searching for people who would feel confident not only with the technology, but also in making creative decisions about light­ing and sound).

We think we’re looking for students or re­cent graduates in London, experienced re­tired people, or just anyone who’s done am­dram tech stuff before.

How you can help:
We have made a recruitment poster for new lighting and sound designers. We need people to take them and put them up (or send them out) to places where they will catch the eye of the right people.

If you think you know anyone who might fit the bill, direct them to our special recruitment site at www.woodhouseplayers.co.uk/lightandsound

PRIORITY 2... STEP ACROSS TO TECHNICAL ROLES?

A few people last year did the lighting work­shop with Rob Bettelheim. Now that we are doing more, there are more chances for peo­ple to take that further and think about run­ning the lighting for a show either in their own right or under someone else’s guidance (or in a partnership).

How you can help:
If you were on last year’s lighting workshop and would like to step forward to do some lighting work on the next few shows, or…

If you’d like to step forward and do sound, or…

If you missed last year’s lighting workshop, and would like us to run it again this year so you could learn more, or…

If you’d be up for a Sound workshop…

Let Tim know on chair@woodhouseplayers.co.uk
or 077 9960 8220

PRIORITY 3... CABARET I (on stage)

We have quite a few acts now for our caba­ret on Sat 6 May, but we could do with a few more.

Although we have a lot of our music covered in the form of computer or recorded stuff, it would be ideal if we could find a good pianist who was free that night (last year’s maestro, Jonathan Pease, unfortunately can’t make it this year).

How you can help:
If you’re thinking about an act (just needs to be about 6 mins max in length), then please let Tim know on chair@woodhouseplayers.co.uk
or 077 9960 8220

If you know a pianist, please also get in touch!

PRIORITY 4... CABARET II (technical)

We will be using the Sheepwalk, a new venue for the cabaret. We have a few singing acts. We need to find an amp and two mics, and ideally a small mixing desk to manage the sound for this show.

We also need a bit of help with getting some more atmospheric lighting going.

How you can help:
Do you know someone with an amp or mics? Could you persuade them to loan them to us for an evening? Let Tim know on chair@woodhouseplayers.co.uk

Award Winning Drama

Congratulations to:

JAMES McKENDRICK, who won the BEST ACTOR award at the Waltham Forest Drama Festival on 1 April (no, it definitely wasn't an April fool!)

STEVE BALCHIN and the CAST AND CREW of 45 Minutes to Go, which came overall second at the WFDF.
__________

Honorable mentions, too, to:

SACHA WALKER and SONJA WARDLE, both nominated for Best Actress

JIM KILLEEN, nominated for Best Supporting Actor

and to KATE HARPER and the CAST AND CREW of The Procedure, nominated for Best Set

__________

Congratulations to everyone who appeared at or worked on our three entries to the Waltham Forest Drama Festival, especially including Peter Raggett, doing lighting for all three shows, and newcomers Tracey Pinniger on Sound and Nick Purves, directing with us for the first time on The Dock Brief.

Here's to more successes next year!