WOSSNAME

Remember, the Ace Theatre Company will be staging their production of Wyrd Sisters in October!

When: 20th – 22nd October 2016
Venue: Chequer Mead Theatre, De La Warr Road, East Grinstead, West Sussex RH19 3BS
Time: all evening shows 7.30pm; matinee on Saturday 22nd, 2.30pm
Tickets: evening shows £13 (£11 concessions); Saturday matinee £11 (£9 concessions), available from the Box Office by phoning 01342 302000, by email to tickets@chequermead.org.uk, or online at http://www.chequermead.org.uk/whats-on/theatre/event/?e=364967&cat= (click on the desired date button to purchase)

http://www.chequermead.org.uk/

Here be their poster:



And here be some cast photos from rehearsals, including a fine trio of witches:

The Richmond Amateur Dramatic Society aka RADS will be staging their production of Wyrd Sisters in July. RADS chairman Mike Walker writes, "For anyone who hasn't visited the Georgian Theatre Royal, it is an experience in itself, being Britain's oldest working theatre in its original form; a Grade 1 listed building and an accredited museum. It is an 18th century 'courtyard' theatre which seats just over 200 people, the furthest seat being only 10.7m from the stage! I do hope Terry Pratchett fans will be interested in seeing Wyrd Sisters in this fascinating setting."

When: 28th–30th July and 4th–6th August 2016
Venue: Georgian Theatre Royal, Victoria Road, Richmond, North Yorkshire, DL10 4DW
Time: 7.30pm all shows
Tickets: £6.50 to £12.50, available online at https://tickets.georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk/ or ring the box office 01748 825252

http://www.richmond-ads.org.uk/
http://www.georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk/

Maskerade is coming to Southend in March!

Director Mark Delf writes:
East Essex Players are once again climbing aboard the Great A'Tuin as they bring the late and great Terry Pratchett's tale of opera phantoms to Southend. The theatre company brought Wyrd Sisters to life in November 2014 to sold out audiences and are hoping to recreate its success again March this year.

"We had such a great time working on Wyrd Sisters and look forward to the same challenge with Maskerade" says East Essex Players chairman Hazel Latcham, "Due to its popularity we are even sticking in two extra performances due to how quickly it sold out!"

When: 15th - 19th March 2016
Venue: Dixon Studio, Palace Theatre, 430 London Road, Southend, Essex, SS0 9LA (phone 01702 351135)
Time: all evening shows 7.30pm. Matinees on Thursday 17th and Saturday 19th March 2.30pm
Tickets: £11.50 and £12.50. A £1.50 per ticket booking fee applies capped at six per order. To purchase online, go to http://bit.ly/1nxQ6p8 and click on the Buy button for your chosen date

http://www.eastessexplayers.co.uk/
http://www.sosac.co.uk/c/?776

Uppingham Gets it Right

by Annie Mac

Readers of Wossname will by now recognise the name of the Uppingham Theatre Company, whose late-October 2015 production of Wyrd Sisters had a long and fascinating pre-production run-up that we featured over many issues. Being many thousands of miles from Uppingham, I was unable to attend a performance of the play in person, but techmaster Martin Baines kindly arranged to send a recording of one performance to me via clacks. And I am very glad he did – this is not the first amateur theatre rendering of Stephen Briggs' Wyrd Sisters play that I've seen, but beyond doubt it is the best.

Top marks go to Stephen Green and Meryl Vincent-Enright as would-be royal couple Duke and Duchess Felmet, especially to Ms Vincent-Enright for giving the Duchess that fine – and canonically accurate – balance of pompousness and murderousness that melds Lady Macbeth and Hyacinth Bucket. Mick Barker excels as the Fool, the miserable bells-festooned jester who is far from foolish. The scenes between the Duke and his Fool are among the best in the production. Also of special note is Andrew Chapman's turn as Vitoller, owner-manager of the company of strolling players who shelter the infant Rightful King of Lancre (well played as a young man by Geran Jackson), and George Larkin's as ghost of Verence I, recently-murdered Previous Rightful King of Lancre.

As for the Wyrd Sisters themselves, Joy Everitt's portrayal of Granny Weatherwax has just the right amount of Granny's famously tight-lipped "I can't be having with this". Holly Bertalan may not be anywhere near as (also famously) flat-chested as Magrat but she makes up for her lack of lack by hitting Magrat's New Age-y soppiness spot-on. And Gillian Kendon does a creditable Nanny Ogg, although I could have done with seeing more of Nanny's legendary sauciness that Ms Kendon only showed at the very end of the production as she danced off into the wings, kicking up her heels and displaying her "scandalous" bright red petticoat with correctly Oggish delight.

Vikki Shelton's direction is nicely timed, keeping the action moving along and getting the best projection from her players, and the entire cast achieves a satisfyingly low incidence of fluffed lines. But in many ways the shiniest star of this production is its technical excellence. Uppingham's Wyrd Sisters features the most professional-looking stage and costume design I have ever seen in an amateur theatre Discworld presentation. The sets are clever and striking, utilising well-planned back projection to create believable vistas – the wild Lancre moors, the streets (all right, street) of Ankh-Morpork, the vast-roomed, draughty expanses of Lancre castle and it gloomy dungeon. A round of applause goes to the aforementioned Martin Baines for his projection and projection design, and to stage manager Alan Jackson for ensuring that everything and everyone in this physically intricate presentation went smoothly. Bex Key and John Everitt discharged their lighting and sound duties superbly, but I think I'll have to award Man of, that is, Seamstres-, er, Needlewoman of the Match to Mandy Jackson for her design and creation of the wonderful costumes, especially the Duchess' extraordinary gown that looked to be of full-on telly costume drama quality.

What marks the Uppingham Theatre Company's production of Wyrd Sisters most of all is its sense of dedication – to detail, to the spirit of the chosen play, to making sure every member of the company gave their best from early days to the well-merited final bow. As producer-director, Vikki Shelton infused the entire process with indefatigable enthusiasm and all manner of promotional ideas, and most of all with sheer honest heart and soul. I do hope the company chooses to do another play from the series one of these days; based on the great showing of Wyrd Sisters, I would say Discworld is in great hands in Uppingham.

Just received an email from Susan Kronenberg, director of this forthcoming production...

The Sterling Playmakers will be performing 'Mort' in February!

When: 18th, 19th & 20th, 25th, 26th & 27th February 2016.
Venue: Sterling Middle School, 201 W. Holly Ave., Sterling, VA 20164
Time: all performances are at 8pm
Tickets: $12. For more information, or to buy tickets online, visit
http://www.sterlingplaymakers.com

We Are Theatre will be presenting their production of Mort next June -- the 21st and 22nd, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York. But first, it's auditions time!

Starting this evening (UK time) on BBC Radio 4 Extra, a six-part adaptation starring Martin Jarvis, John Wood and Melvyn Hayes. Each episode is 30 minutes long and will be available internationally for several weeks after broadcast. Check it out!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00fgszb (episodes 1 and 2)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jmk0 (episodes 3 through 6)

ON STAGE THIS WEEK!

The Henley Players present their production of Maskerade this week!

"Fast, furious and massive fun, Maskerade promises to be a dazzling night of absurdity, thrills, witty dialogue and a plot that moves like a high speed train. Brilliantly adapted for the stage by Stephen Briggs from the novel by the late great Sir Terry Pratchett, Maskerade is superlative entertainment for all ages... and what better place to represent an old opera house than the fourth oldest working theatre in the land, and I do believe… can you see ...yes, there ...up in the fly tower, it’s a ... aaiiieeeeeeeeeeee!!"

When: Wednesday 14th October to Saturday 17th October 2015
Venue: The Kenton Theatre, New Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, RG9 2BP
Time: evening shows 7.30pm, plus a Saturday matinee at 2.30pm
Tickets: 14th and 15th: Adult £10, Concessions £9; 17th matinee all tickets £10; 16th eve and 17th: All tickets £12. Group discount is eleven tickets for the price of ten

Box Office (phone 01491 575698) is open Monday - Friday from 11am to 3pm, and Saturday from 10am to 1pm; also open 1 hour prior to performance for that show only

https://www.kentontheatre.co.uk/
http://www.henleyplayers.com/

An article about the production, featuring tributes to Sir Pterry from actors the Petrie brothers, can be read here: http://bit.ly/1L7YzXw

The Bay Area Harbour Playhouse is currently presenting a rollicking production of Guards! Guards!

When: current, weekends through 18th October

Venue: Harbour Playhouse, 3803 Highway #3, Dickinson, TX.

Time: 8pm Friday and Saturday nights, Sunday matinee at 2:30 pm

Tickets: $17 adults, $12 students and senior citizens, $6 children 12 and under; $15 each for groups of 10 or more, and $10 each for students and seniors groups of 10 or more.

To purchase tickets, go to http://bit.ly/1L0I2Cp and select your desired date from the drop-down menu.

"Sunday, Oct. 11, from 12 noon until 2:00 p.m. Bill Underwood will dress as a knight in armour and ride his steed in front of the theatre. Free hot dogs and soft drinks will be served as the public has opportunity to be photographed with the knight."

More information, and a set of photos from the performances, can be found at:

http://harbourtheater.com/