EDITED BY MARK WAKEMAN
HTML coding by Robin Hall
Well the excitement has just started to die down in my house after yet another play selection evening and I can tell you now what two plays the Bench have decided to throw their expertise and enthusiasm behind. In February we shall be attempting to bring Terry Pratchetts best-selling Discworld Phenomenon to the stage in a production of Wyrd Sisters to be directed by the most handsome, fantastic, wonderful person I know….could it be me by any chance? In the words of Henry the mild mannered janitor ‘Could be?’ (Apologies to all those who are not a fan of the work of Hong Kong Phooey) But the second play selected for our April slot was one written by one of our very own. Yes, John Scadding will direct his own play ‘Hollywood Play’ and I’m sure that John will give me more details about his play as we draw closer to his audition dates. I will write a little bit more about Wyrd Sisters later in this very volume as I will have to get my proverbial skates on!
But enough of such things, read on good reader, read on!
Mark Wakeman, Bench Press Editor
| DATE | EVENT |
|---|---|
| Caucasian Chalk Circle | Thursday 22nd – Saturday 24th Nov Tuesday 27th Nov – Saturday 1st Dec |
| Set-Down | Sunday 2nd December |
| Club Night | Thursday 6th December, 7:30 for 8pm |
| Next Issue | Meet at HAC mid-day Saturday 15th December to stuff envelopes. Followed by a festive lunch in a pub?? |
| Club Night | Thursday 3rd January |
| Club Night | Thursday 7th February |
Where are you? As part of the BackBench package, you not only get free theatre tickets but you are also invited to the Club nights yet very few do. Why? Why not come to the December meeting (of which more below) and join in the festivity. It is all very relaxed and sociable and you will be made most welcome.
The February slot is confirmed as Saturday 23rd February to Sunday 2nd March and we will be doing Terry Pratchett's Wyrd Sisters. This should be a great production, involving many people and will be highly inventive. It should also be extremely popular and because the run is relatively short, we are looking at the possibility of doing a matinee. Watch this space!
The April slot is April 14th to April 27th and we will be doing ‘Hollywood Play' by John Scadding. This again needs quite a large cast and follows quickly on Wyrd Sisters so it will be a busy time for all.
December 6th is our next Club night and we aim to have an evening of Christmas (ish) stuff including songs, poems, readings, recitals, etc. Sam Emery is co-ordinating this and will be trying to draw up some kind of a running order so please let her know what you have in mind. Last year's event was a great success so come forward with whatever you have to offer.
This is progressing well and is now just a couple of weeks away. We do need people for Front of House so anybody not
involved in the show will be called on for that. It would be helpful if people could volunteer otherwise it's a very
thankless task phoning round to badger cajole or embarrass people into doing it. Remember only one person needs to sit out.
For the other two, it only needs you to come twenty minutes early on a night you were going to see it anyway and tear up
tickets or show people to their seats.
Would any BackBenchers be willing to volunteer? Very little work is called for and yet it is a good way to make a
contribution to the company's productions.
All volunteers ring Tim Taylor (023 9248 4730 or email timbotee@cix.co.uk)
After last year's very successful ‘Completely Bard', we have asked for a slot in May again and look likely to get Friday May 17th. It would have been nice to have got more nights but this doesn't look probable. Nevertheless, start thinking of themes or ideas to focus on. 2002 is the Year of the Writer which offers an obvious focus and Havant Borough Council has selected The Sea as the theme for the May Festival so between them there is plenty of scope. A collection of sea-faring scenes? Titanic, The Musical? The possibilities are endless.
The Bench Press doesn’t reach you by magic – oh no! Sometimes it might not reach you at all, and we thought we should explain how it’s all supposed to work, to make it easier for you to let us know when it doesn’t. So, how does a Bench Press come to life?
We try to send our an issue every month or so, but make sure that there is always something interesting to say. Before sending each edition, we set a date for the next one. (Sometimes we even consult Mark first!!) Over the weeks between issues Mark collects together all contributions and contacts anyone who might want some space to have their say, for example directors of upcoming plays.
**This is where you come in, if you have anything to contribute to our next issue – be it comments on a Bench event, a review of a play that you have seen (a brief note to say what the play is about and whether you enjoyed it is still interesting to the rest of us!) or just something to get off your cheast please send it to Mark. (Address below.)**
During the week or so before Bench Press is ready, Mark is often found slaving at his computer turning these contributions (whether emailed, posted or scribbled on scraps of paper) into the fine Bench Press that lands on your doormat.
Mark, exhausted by his efforts, then sends the completed thing to me. I make sure I can’t see any obvious spelling mistakes and that kind of thing and print out a master copy. I then take write the ‘e.Bench Press’ – the electronic version that we email to those of you who prefer to receive your newsletter that way. (In case you are interested in these things, I write in HTML4.Transitional and use a Style Sheet to add the pretty colors etc. Anyone who has any comments or questions about the electronic version, please let me know. And if you’ re wondering, yes I do do this for a living…)
Meanwhile, the third member of the team is wrestling with the membership database. Paul has the job every month of producing a list of current members who should be sent a copy. He produces two sets of members – one set of printed labels for posting, and a list of email addresses.
That’s the easy part of his job. The big challenge is to make the computer tell us which of you need to renew your membership. We send all of these people a renewal form with their copy of the Bench Press. In fact we will send you renewal forms twice – once with the issue before your membership expires, and if you haven’t paid up then again with the issue afterwards. So everyone gets two chances to get in touch with us.
So – if you are getting Bench Press every month, then you should get plenty of warning when it’s time to renew. And if you’re not getting Bench Press then you won’t be reading this…! But if you know of anyone who isn’t receiving this and thinks’s that they should be (or would like to join) please put them in touch with Paul. Once you have paid your membership you should receive a new card from us either at a club night or rehearsal or with your next Bench Press.
Publication day is always a Saturday, and generally I do my bit early on Saturday morning (I must admit I’m still in my dressing gown now… that should put you off your cornflakes). We then set off into Havant in time to meet a willing group of volunteers at the Arts Centre with photocopied Bench Press-es, envelopes, stamps and address labels. The folding/stuffing/sticking process takes about an hour and it’s much more fun if plenty of people turn up, so look out for the date and time on each edition of Bench Press and please come along if you can. (Next time is at HAC mid-day Saturday 15th December for the Christmas Issue.)
Then after a well earned drink we go home to start working on the next one…
So now you know how it all happens, and how you can help (envelope stuffing, and sending in your contributions), please let us know if we get it wrong – we know it doesn’t always work as smoothly as it should, especially when we’re all involved in the current production… (If you would like to meet any of us to put a face to the name, come along to Chalk Circle)
We do like to know what you think – what kind of things do you like to read about in Bench Press? Even to know which typefaces are easy to read is very useful, as I’m not sure I can tell at 7 o’clock on a Saturday morning!
Information in Bench Press goes stale ! - for up-to-date contact information please check the relevant page on our website.
This is the title of the next Bench show which is happening in February, as I’m sure there are a number of people who have not heard of it this is a chance for me to explain the play and what sort of actors and back stage people I am looking for!
First off the play has been adapted by Stephen Briggs from the best-selling novel by Terry Pratchett. TP is currently Britain’s best selling novelist and he writes about a bizarre comic world of his own creation, The Discworld. This world is a flat planet that is set on the back of four giant elephants which themselves are set on the back of a giant turtle that flies through space. (With me so far?) The Disc is split up into different countries and cities and TP works his way around the planet from book to book. Lately the books have come to be split up into categories following his heroes. He writes about the City Watch in a number of books and these are the ‘Guards’ books (Guards, Guards, Men at Arms etc) and he also writes about the Witches of Lancre who appear in a number of his novels (Witches Abroad, Lords and Ladies, Carpe Jugulem and of course Wyrd Sisters (Ah you knew there was a point).
Wyrd Sisters is the first Discworld Novel which featured the Witches of Lancre, they are Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg and Magrat Garlick and together they form an unlikely coven who defend the world from all sorts of bizarre evils. In this first story (And the story of our play) we find ourselves spoofing Shakespeare as The King of Lancre, Verence, has been murdered by the evil Duke Felmet and his Wife and only the infant prince stands in their way of gaining the throne. However the witches rescue the boy and place him in the hands of a wandering troop of actors to raise while they work out how to save the kingdom.
The play is very funny with sharp dialogue, some ridiculous set pieces and a wide variety of characters both comical and sinister (And in some cases both) to get your teeth into. Probably best described as being like our production of Old King Cole crossed with Caucasian Chalk Circle (Much manicness which all the family can enjoy and a multi part cast!) there is no or little set as the scenes race from one to the other as the witches mobilise all their arsenal to save the kingdom. For this play we will also need special effects!!! As the Witches fire magic from their hands and fly on their brooms!
However this is not as difficult as it sounds...
This particular adaptation was done with the view of an
amateur company putting the play on in a theatre which seated ninety.
Which makes it ideal for our purposes, the flying is done by a lighting
effect and the magic can be provided by a magic shop!
This presents a great challenge for me as a director as its unlike anything I’ve ever done before. Everyone who has worked with me on a play before knows I like to have proper sets. I like doors that open and close, windows that do the same (Charley’s Aunt I cry, remember Charley’s Aunt!) and with this I can’t have that. I will be forced to invent (Or steal) every trick in the book to keep the play racing along!
However, now onto what personnel I will require!!!!
I will need to find someone to help me with what set there is? I will need someone to help me locate or even make a set of stocks! (This could be the same person!) as for one part of the play Nanny Ogg is held in the dungeon of the castle and for another the Witches watch a play being performed and we see both backstage and front of stage at the same time!
I have already had a volunteer to Stage Manage for me so I need someone to design the lighting (A challenge, we need to get across the change of locations mainly through lighting as well as what will become the legendary flight of the witches!) We also need someone to do a little bit of sound for us (Pressing buttons, anyone can do that? Can’t you?)
We also need to find someone who will volunteer to look after the pyrotechnics! Anyone have any experience of these kind of things before? Then please give me a call!!!
Then of course we need someone to help with the costumes as for this play we need to costume witches, a ghost, the Duke and his Wife, a court Jester, a company of rubbish actors performing a play, guards, court officials, you name it, we’ve got it, there’s even a Demon!!!
As you can see this play will be a great challenge for all backstage, well what about all those on stage? Well I’m going to need enough people to fill the following, the three witches themselves, Granny and Nanny are older, more experienced witches while Magrat is very young and naïve and new to witchery. They are the biggest and best parts in the show as they are the heroes!
Next we have the villains, the Duke Felmet and his scheming wife the Duchess. I suppose really they could be played any age although I see the Duke as being an older figure with a younger, seductive wife who seems to be the actual motivating force behind the murder.
Then we need the King himself, Verence who appears only as a ghost after his murder. He wanders in and out of scenes, mainly with the witches, as they are the only ones who can see him!
Then there is the Fool who is also the love interest for Magrat. For a fool from a family of fools he seems surprisingly intelligent and actually aids the Duke and Duchess in their schemes but he is not bad! Just in the wrong place and in love with a witch!
Then we have the infant Prince who grows up during the course of the play to become TOMJON, the greatest actor of the age. A young man unaware of his true destiny as the King of Lancre who the witches think is safely away from the Kingdom but who returns to put on a play for the Duke, unaware that he will be performing for the man who killed his father.
Added to this are the bumbling guards of the Duke as well as the terrible actors in Tomjons troop and the peasants of the county. In the instance of a large number of people auditioning I could probably cast everyone (But be warned some of the smaller parts are only in one scene! However, everyone does get some cracking dialogue, even the smallest characters are hilarious!) but more likely is that once I’ve cast the main parts, who could all double up (Except probably the witches) everyone will find themselves with at least one other character to play, be it Robber 1, 2, or 3 of the Thieves guild or the fake witches in the play at the end.
I know it all sounds very confusing but it’s really not. It’s Good versus Evil, it’s sarcastic versus even more sarcastic in the comedy style that has made Terry Pratchett so rich and famous!
This play really does have something for everyone and I hope that a lot of you will want to take part in it (As I will need all the help I can get) this is just the sort of play that the whole company can get involved in if they want to and it would be well worth your time!
I haven’t set audition dates yet, but they will be after CCC because I’m in that play. I’ll probably have the dates arranged by Club Night so I can announce them then!
If you are interested in getting involved but are scared
you may miss the audition dates then please :
phone me on 02392 713169 (My new phone number) or write
to me
on the e-mail at MAWakeman@aol.com or in the old letter
way at
28 Knightwood Avenue, West Leigh, Havant, Hants. PO9 5SA
(My new address!)
Thanks for your time!
WYRD SISTERS will be on during the week of 24th February – 2nd March 2001
Ladies and Gentlemen, once again we have a letter! Or rather an e-mail was forwarded onto me! For any such electronic correspondence please feel free to write to me as MAWakeman@aol.com But now, read on!
To the Editor
Dear Sir,
Your latest newsletter just received, has, at last inspired me to
put pen to paper. [I read the entire letter before doing my crossword
and that is praise indeed!] They seem to improve with every edition,
and are interesting, amusing and informative, including just the sort
of things we, as BackBenchers like to hear about. It makes us feel
part of the group.
However, congratulations are also due to all the Bench company
for providing us with versatile, thought-provoking and enjoyable entertainment
which is always so professionally done. This includes not only the
performances but the sets and effects as well. So thank you for keeping
theatre alive in Havant and best wishes for the future.
On behalf of the Front Row Back Benchers,
Enid Caddy
Bench Theatre
Registered Charity No. 291935
Bench Theatre, PO Box 144, HAVANT, PO9 1XB