Newsletter March 2024
Hi,
Not long now until Spring, and we are looking forward to our 2024 programme!
The Spice of Life.
The Spice of Life returned for a second time in March, and it was a great success! A variety evening full of comedy, drama, music, and entertainment, including monologues, short plays and singing. We welcomed many new members which was wonderful. We had a very creative cast and very happy audiences who enjoyed singing along to the final number!
Chiltern Shakespeare Company - Comedy of Errors - June 2024
We are thrilled that this exciting joint production is being directed by Jamie Kwasnik in June, within the delightful grounds of Hall Barn.
Rehearsals have started and are in full swing with a very talented cast of actors. It’s going to be a fun rehearsal period!
A brief synopsis from Jamie:
Two sets of twins, mistaken identities, a notable abundance of pubs and lots and lots of comedic confusion. Join us for Shakespeare's most farcical (and shortest) play set in the melting pot city of Ephesus. Often considered to have more in common with restoration comedy than Hamlet and Henry IV, The Comedy of Errors tells the story of Antipholus of Ephesus and Antipholus of Syracuse as the latter arrives in the exciting city of Ephesus and chaos ensues. This physical and energetic production is a great introduction to Shakespeare for adults and children alike. Whether you are new to performing in Shakespeare's work or a seasoned connoisseur of the bard, we hope that this production will offer something exciting and a little different. Did we mention it's his shortest play?
The Box Office is opening during March, so make sure you buy your tickets. We sold out last year, so don’t leave it until the last minute!
Fourways Theatre Company - Blue Stockings - October 2024.
We are delighted to announce that Roger Saper will be directing Blue Stockings in October 2024 at Wycombe Abbey School.
Auditions will take place in July. More details to follow.
Background and synopsis from Roger:
In 2013 Jessica Swale produced her first play, Blue Stockings which as a writer, Producer/Director, actor, academic and teacher of drama clearly demonstrated a huge understanding of theatre and its infinite possibilities. Jessica’s skill is to take real live events in History and provide the human interaction that went on around it and during it ,which history does not relate.
We all know or can research famous events and the characters associated with them, but we don’t necessarily know how the characters got to that event, or what the small talk was. Nor does Jessica, but her witty carefully crafted plays bring you firmly into that world to judge for yourself. We are looking for a cast that is up to the challenge, whether you have acted before or not.
Blue Stockings is set in and around 1869/1873 when “The College for Women” was opened in Benslow House Hitchin and then moved in 1872 to part of the present site on the edge of Cambridge and renamed Girton College. The actual Blue Stocking Society was initially founded in the 1750’s. Its members represented a new kind of modern intellectual woman, who were accomplished and well versed in many fields-artistic, literary and political. Contrary to popular belief the original founders always made it clear that it was open to men, (Joshua Reynolds, Horace Walpole and Edmund Burke to name but three), as well as women.
Our production will be a very fast moving highly charged theatrical experience. Original lyrics to music you will know, strong physical theatre, young and older actors combining to produce an exciting snapshot of hope, passion, humour, love, protest, physical and mental intimidation, great oratory, iconic actors, huge themes and a sincerity and beacon of hope that will leave you with an amazing memory of an exhausted cast and one of those wonderful Fourways evenings at Wycombe Abbey’s fabulous theatre.
Oh, by the way, Wycombe Abbey’s founder and first Head mistress was one of the original 9 Girton Girls. That’s amazing and we are going to tell you an unforgettable story.
We’re very busy working on our 2025 programme, so watch out for exciting new updates!
Very best wishes,
Carolyn
Carolyn Kendall
Chairman Fourways Theatre Company/Chiltern Shakespeare Company
