NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 2001
| The Compton Players'
NEWSLETTER DECEMBER 2001 |
|
Editorial
Katherine Howard review
Katherine Howard feedback
Dave's cartoon
I have had a dream...
His words came feebly
If the trumpet give an uncertain sound...
Katherine Howard - a ghost story for Christmas
Newbury Dramatic Society - The Crucible
Front of house
Calendar 2002
Next issue
Appeal for help
'I have often thought, says Sir Roger, it happens very well that Christmas should fall out in the Middle of Winter.'
The Spectator, Joseph Addison 1672-1719
A splendid production of Katherine Howard, well-received by the audience on all four nights and the subject of many admiring remarks. The review from the Newbury Weekly News, together with another review and a selection of congratulatory letters and remarks, can be found on the following three pages. The review in the NWN was generally very favourable although one or two comments seemed slightly surprising, particularly the ore about 'not giving the audience time to appreciate ... very amusing lines.' To
the best of my knowledge no Compton Player has ever knowingly missed an opportunity to gain either applause for himself or laughter for the company!
But these are minor cavils. The entire cast and supporting crew are to be congratulated,
but particularly Enid whose brainchild this was and who found herself combining the role
of wardrobe mistress and chief seamstress with that of being director of an ambitious
production. Our newcomers, too, very welcome and very willing, are to be applauded for
the way in which they rose to the challenge of this production.
For the first time we decided to stage the production for four nights instead of the usual three. We've put on Saturday matinees before now but only very occasionally and only for pantomimes. The innovation proved to be
successful: the audience for the first night, Wednesday, was smaller than that for the following nights
but, as we all know, the same thing happens when we run the production for three nights. And one half-full night and three full ones seems better than one half-full night and two full ones. So it seems to be the policy to pursue in future, certainly for most productions.
Plans for the Spring production are assuming a definite shape with the most likely outcome being a production of
'Allo, 'Allo. The meeting for December 7th, unfortunately unable to be included in this newsletter, was designed both to welcome any further newcomers and to read through the script of
'Allo, 'Allo to assess the likelihood of mounting a production of it early next year.
In addition to the reviews and comments about Katherine Howard we have two contributions from Dave on the same subject, one written and one visual - although
I have to say that if you missed the first five minutes of the play the cartoon won't make a lot of sense to you but I'm afraid that's your problem. Others will explain it. Some of you will know, also, that congratulations are due to Dave for a contract which he's won very recently as a writer for a new TV show; further details will follow. The thought occurs that with H. and Sam Hall and Dave and Paul's reviews for the press we're doing very well for writers. In this edition of the newsletter Paul has also supplied
his thoughts on some other matters - with footnotes, no less. Paul has also offered a competition with a prize of a bottle of bubbly! See Paul's
I have had a dream... below.
We also have a calendar of dates for our activities at the early part of next year together with various other bits and pieces - a smile, a song, the usual sort of thing.
Finally, a merry Christmas to everyone and a happy New Year.
Good acting is like holding a bird. Hold it too tightly and you will crush it, hold it too loosely and it will fly away.
Michel St. Denis, actor and director, on holding the balance between technique and
spontaneity in acting.
from the Newbury Weekly News, November 29, 2001. Reproduced by kind permission of the newspaper.
| Destroyed by a man's desires
'KATHERINE HOWARD', performed by Compton Players, at the Coronation Hall, Compton, from Wednesday, November 21 to Saturday, November 24 Compton Players are to he congratulated on this ambitious production. Without strong main characters, especially Henry VIII, the play would have fallen flat on its face, but there was no such danger. This gem of a script was written by the author of 'Shadowlands', William Nicholson, who portrays Henry, not as a monster, but as a man with whom we sympathise. He is aware of his gross, ageing appearance and putrefying leg, and desires above all to be valued and loved as a man, not a king. His soliloquies reveal his vulnerability. He falls in love with lady-in-waiting Katherine, and marries her. When court intrigue and subtle manipulation cast suspicion on the Queen's loyalty, he is devastated and allows her execution. He is left pondering on the need of God to be loved, but he also was betrayed by humankind. The script contained some very amusing lines, not all of which were timed to give the audience the opportunity to appreciate them. Produced 'in the thrust', the action took place on the stage, divided into two areas, and floor, which gave space for processions and dancing The actors showed no nervousness at the close proximity of the audience. The hand-made costumes were excellent, but I was surprised that Katherine had only two outfits. The second was worn throughout her courtship and marriage. Dave Hawkins' Henry in his dotage was a tour-de-force and entirely believable, almost loveable. Tracey Pearce gave a dignified and sympathetic portrayal of the ingenious [sic] Katherine, but lacked the implicit youthful sparkle. Liz Saxton's Lady Rochford was a strong performance and one could only sympathise as she was tricked into betraying the Queen, but was still unable to save her own head. Michael Sheperia gave a competent portrayal as Thomas Culpepper but lacked passion and there was little tension between him and Katherine - though I know that love scenes are difficult for amateurs to play. The emotion between the King and Katherine was much more evident. Eric Saxton as the scheming Archbishop Cranmer was in fine control of his lines and spoke them with perfect timing and to good effect. Jasmine Gartshore was fun and just right as the uninteresting dumpling Anne of Cleves, and Mike Long as Thomas Howard had a good voice and stage presence, although his portrayal could have been improved by displaying a more arrogant and courtly bearing. The minor characters were played by good supporting actors. Non-speaking parts are also vital to the overall effect and players should convey by lively facial expression that they are part of the drama and not divorced from it. I look forward to the Players' next production IRIS LLOYD |
I got a very nice card from Chris Horton, of Boundary Players and BANTA:
Dear Paul,
I had intended to write sooner - but I'm afraid my health took a nose dive - to say how much my friend and I enjoyed Katherine Howard last Saturday.
Congratulations to all concerned for a truly magnificent production. You must all be extremely proud and satisfied at such an accomplished achievement.
We were really gripped and spellbound... how and why the couple in front of us left before the end completely baffled us both!
We shall definitely make the trip (and it's quite a drive from Sherfield!) to see the Compton Players again. It will be worth it if all your plays live up to the excellent standard of Saturday.
Please pass on my best wishes and thanks to all concerned for a truly fabulous evening. Liz and I agreed it was the best thing we'd seen all year.
Regards,
Chris H
PS: What will you do with the costumes? They were fantastic. Hire out? Undo and use as something else - that would be a shame.
As Paul says, a very nice card. I was doing front of house on the evening when the two members of the audience left towards the end of the second half. They did apologise. One of them said, 'It's not the play ... we have a table booked at a restaurant and we're already late.' -Ed.
Below is an equally complimentary review sent to Tracey. It comes from the Aldworth and
Ashampstead parish magazine.
For the next edition of the Leaflet (Ashampstead / Aldworth Parish Magazine)
'Katherine Howard' --- Compton Players
The gap in publication of the Leaflet makes the following a little dated. At the end of November last Ashampstead's 'Tea and Chat' fielded half a dozen keen theatre goers to swell the audience at Compton Village Hall for Compton Players' staging of William Nicholson's well-written historical play 'Katherine Howard'. The Players have presented plays in all but two years since 1947; a truly praiseworthy beacon to the art of theatre in this corner of the 'Downlands' in an age when there is so much other entertainment to be had. But such pale plastic and insipid 'Telly and 'Video offerings are no competition for the well-rehearsed, polished live performance of a literate, period-dressed (16 convincingly courtly Tudor costumes) and stimulating play. The audience was 'rapt' throughout on 21st Nov. and the applause loud and long for the pleasure given by a talented cast. The main burden fell upon Henry (VIII in crumbling if later rejuvenated middle age) and the young beguiling Katherine Howard inveigled into his bed and, briefly to share the throne, by the scheming of Church and politicians.
The record of the Players since 1947 shows that they try to cater for a wide range of tastes. But don't be misled; this staging of a 'quality' play was of a high standard and readers should not miss the opportunity to see a good play presented by Compton Players which may appeal to their taste.B and K. S.
(Brian and Kathy Street)
Apart from reviews, cards and letters there were several comments about the play which were either addressed to those of us who were on duty at the front of the house or were overheard by us in the course of the four evenings. Below are some samples.
'You people have done it again' - Benson Players
'The best £2's worth of entertainment I've had for a very long time.' - John Robertson, pensioner, Warsash
'Those costumes are wonderful.'
And on the same subject the slightly cryptic comment overheard from one lady in the audience:
'Ah yes. Curtains.'
And overheard from someone settling into her seat with programme: 'I love the design of their programmes here.'
And many more
click
on the picture to see Dave's cartoon
...past the wit of man to say what dream it was. (Bottom, A Midsummer Night's Dream)
I was all right. Up in the control room, so I didn't have The Dream, but the cast should have been waking up sweating in the middle of the night.
The Dream comes in a variety of guises. Usually, you're about to make your entrance on the opening night and you realise with horror that you don't know any of the words. Or possibly, you do know the words but they're from a completely different play than everyone else is doing. In other variants, you've lost your clothes for the costume drama, so you're having to go on in your jeans and sweater. Or, worst of all, you make your entrance and realise that you're completely naked.
What's your worst experience of The Dream? A bottle of bubbly for the best contribution to the Editor, in time for the next newsletter.
Excuse me while I get on my hobbyhorse. Prompts are the curse of amateur theatre. They break the spell. The audience loses its concentration. The pace slows down. And they aren't necessary. OK, you'll never eliminate them altogether; we're all familiar with the heart-wrenching moment when you know it's your line but you haven't a clue what it is. The actors are frozen on stage, the sweat starts to break out on your brow, the pause extends to what seems like 17 minutes until finally the prompt shouts out your line in a voice that deafens the front row; you want a trap door to appear in the stage and swallow you up.
Fortunately, we have a pretty good record at Compton Players. I think it's because we have quite long rehearsal schedules, and the directors are getting stricter about learning the lines early on. But in some groups, prompts seem to be endemic. I went to a production recently (I won't name the group, to spare its blushes) where there were so many prompts that the play almost stopped. On the other hand, I don't think I've ever heard a prompt at New Era.
...who shall prepare himself to the battle? (1 Corinthians 14)
By Saturday night I was feeling pretty smug. The sound had gone without a hitch; my use of a PC was vindicated. I pressed the button for the final long fanfare at the end of Act 1. Tum te te tum... AND IT STOPPED. Just for half a second, then it carried on. Did anybody notice? You bet they did. The entire cast was queued up, waiting to process.
So what went wrong? It was a combination of events, due to the presence of an Extra Person in the control room that night. In fact it was a result of the relationship between the monitor power-down time and the hard disk power-down time (anyone wanting full details, get in touch with me @geeks.r.us) - all fixed now, so it won't happen again.
Christmas is the traditional time to sit around the fire telling tales to send shivers down the spine... But did you know that one of England's best-known hauntings is associated with the subject of Compton Players' last production?
Whether Katherine Howard was arrested on a trumped-up charge of adultery - certainly as the play of the same name would have us believe - or whether she was simply a headstrong girl disenchanted with her grotesque husband and not above a bit of extra-marital activity, she was arrested at Hampton Court on charges of adultery. The play makes much of her struggles at the time, fighting against her guards and calling for the King. In the play she breaks away from the guards momentarily, but is soon held and dragged off to her ultimate doom. In fact, she did more than just escape from their restraint, but the limitations of theatrical presentation deny us the moments that followed. Maybe the guards were expecting Katherine to come quietly. Maybe they were wary of harming the young queen lest they become the target of the King's wrath themselves: in all events, Katherine broke away from them and she ran. She ran screaming for the king, down the Long Gallery to the Royal Chapel where Henry was at prayer, believing that if only she could talk to him she would be forgiven. Katherine knew this was her one chance; her only chance to escape the dreadful outcome her accusation must surely bring - she would have been foolish indeed to believe she could avoid the machinations of the practisedly corrupt Tudor court. Her cries, however, were to no avail. The door remained closed to her, and no royal pardon was ever forthcoming.
Today, it's hard for us to imagine the scene; the desperation, the real raw, naked life fear that prompted Katherine's actions. Perhaps some element of that emotion was absorbed by the very walls of the palace themselves. For it is said that even now, on cold, dark winter's nights, the screaming, fleeing figure of the queen may still be seen running down the gallery to the chapel, screaming for the king to save her... But the chapel doors remain forever closed.
Merry Christmas.
DLH
Dead True... Katherine Howard's alleged lovers, Richard Dereham and Thomas Culpeper, were both executed before her, and their heads impaled on spikes on London Bridge. Dereham, however, once the queen's tutor, was doubly unlucky. Being a commoner, and not of noble birth, he was not merely beheaded, but had to suffer the full barbarity of being hung, drawn and quartered... |
I saw this recently at St Mary's Church, Thatcham, and reviewed it for the Newbury Weekly News. In the review, I said, "Reviewing amateur theatre in West Berkshire is usually a joy. There is a wealth of talented groups and I've seen some excellent productions. Once in a while, I see something exceptionally good - this was such a production." OTT? Judge for yourself - Newbury Dramatic are taking it to the Watermill from 31st January to 2nd February.
The first time I've done this, apart from helping out occasionally on the odd night. I'd like to pay tribute and say 'Thank you' to all those who work in this area. In a popular production such as Katherine Howard you're kept very busy, showing people to their seats, providing programmes and answering queries. If you're catering you have to work very quickly and under a lot of pressure to serve everyone in the time available - and then you have to wash it all up afterwards. I'd particularly like to thank Kate Layton who organises the catering each time and David Smith who organises the seating, notices and displays; setting it all up and taking it all down again afterwards is a surprisingly time-consuming business. Finally, thanks to Norma who runs the box-office so efficiently, even when being addressed by three people simultaneously - I saw it happen. Many thanks.
Calendar 2002 |
|
| Tuesday, 8th January Welstead Room, 7.30 |
Reading 'Allo, 'Allo |
| Thursday, 10th January Welstead Room, 7.30 |
Casting 'Allo, 'Allo |
| Tuesday, 15th January Village Hall, 7.30 |
Rehearsals begin |
| 10th - 13th April | Performance dates |
IMPORTANT - GUEST EDITORFor the next three months Paul has kindly agreed to be guest
editor. The next newsletter will be out in March, unless there's a pressing
reason to have one before then. Contributions for the next edition should be
sent to |
We understand that several people, all male, have received copies of the following appeal and, as it's Christmas, we've been asked to reproduce it here in a good cause.
THE TEMPERANCE
SOCIETY
Founded 1873
Dear
Perhaps you have heard of us and our nationwide campaign in the cause of temperance. Since our foundation in the 19th century we have worked to educate the public to the evils of excessive drinking and the dangers inherent in alcohol abuse.
Although we make use of sophisticated education techniques such as video and film it has been our experience that live lecture tours are as effective as anything else and for the past fourteen
years our chief executive, Dr. P.J. Lindstrom, F.R.C.P., has each year made a tour of the British Isles and delivered a series of lectures on the evils of Drinking.
On these tours Dr. Lindstrom has been accompanied by his assistant, Clyde. Clyde, a young man of good family and excellent background, is a pathetic case whose life has been ruined by excessive indulgence in all forms of alcohol and its attendant debauchery.
Clyde would appear at lectures with Dr. Lindstrom and sit on the platform wheezing and mumbling, gazing at the audience through bleary, bloodshot eyes, on occasion falling off his chair or, embarrassingly, attempting to molest any young women unfortunate enough to be within reach. Dr. Lindstrom would point him out as an example of what drinking could do to a person. If you attended any of our lectures then I am sure that the sad figure of Clyde will be familiar to you.
It is my painful duty to inform you that Clyde has recently died. Your name has been passed to us by another organisation and I wonder if on our next tour you would consider taking his place?
Yours, etc.
Taken from More Christmas Crackers by John Julius Norwich. Other versions are said to exist.
That's all, folks!