BRIGHTON BEACH SCUMBAGS - cloudfront.net
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Winter/Spring
2018
www.rdg.org
BRIGHTON BEACH SCUMBAGS
This Steven Berkoff play was a brave choice by director Troy
Chessman, dealing as it does with all the social taboos out there
and containing very colourful language. It is a tribute to Troy and
his cast and team that the production went a long way to captur-
ing the Berkoff style and the adjudicators at both Woking Festi-
val and Spelthorne & Runnymede Festival gave praise for this and
for the quality of the production generally. There were no awards
at Woking but at Spelthorne the production won the Mary Fitzhugh Award for Comedy
for the hilarious eating/burping/farting scene and Nancy Lund won the Adjudicator’s
Award for her performance which the adjudicator said had ‘great impact’. There were
twelve nominations for awards at the festivals—at Woking for Ian Santry on Sound, the
new Janis Brokis Award for costume, for Simon Waller on Lighting and acting nomina-
tions for Nancy, Neil James and Nick Lund. At Spelthorne, nominations were for Stage
Presentation, Technical Merit and for Neil, Nancy, Nick and Max Usher’s performances.
WHITE CHRISTMAS
Wow! What a show. Top quality
in all departments and large and
enthusiastic audiences. It truly
was the perfect start to the
Christmas holiday celebrations.
Many regulars in the audience
said they thought it was a best
musical we had performed.
Apart from the talented cast
and band, thanks and congratu-
lations go to Carolyn Floyd,
Chris Winslet and Gemma Mur-
phy for direction, musical di-
rection and choreography, ably
supported by Jonathan Miller and Chris Elcocks on sound and light, Simon Waller as
Stage Manager, and the backstage team led by John Godliman.
At the time of writing, no financial details are available as some figures are as yet un-
known but it looks as if the show did make a loss, despite fantastic budgeting. This, de-
spite 742 tickets being sold from a maximum capacity of just over 900. Those damn roy-
alties!
Winter/Spring 2018 Page 2
SEUSSICAL
Louise Dangel having nothing to do (!!) follows her lead
role in White Christmas by directing our wonderful youth
group, The Sundowners, in their annual February half
term production. The backstage team are thoroughly en-
joying creating a cartoon-style set for this magical show.
Rehearsals are in full swing, with Chris Winslet (another
one with nothing to do!) as MD and Mel Silk as choreographer. Tickets are on sale—
thanks again to Leah Ayers for coping with sales for White Christmas alongside this
show. Flyers are at the Studio and can be downloaded from the website www.rdg.org and
our Facebook page. Please do spread the word to get another sell out the the Rhoda.
Leah’s phone number is 01784 240068 email leahayers201@gmail.com and tickets are
£14 (concessions £12). Dates are 15th, 16th and 17th February at 7.45pm with a matinee
at 2.45pm on the Saturday.
PEOPLE
Michelle has gathered together a great cast for Alan Ben-
nett’s comedy People which has just started rehearsing in
preparation for performance from 11th to 14th April at River-
house Barn Arts Centre. We welcome two new members to
RDG—Naomi Sherwood and Katrina Lee who will be part of the
ensemble.
Again, tickets are on sale and flyers are available at the Stu-
dio and from the website. Riverhouse box office is 01932
253354 email boxoffice@riverhousebarn.co.uk or via their
website www.riverhousebarn.co.uk Tickets are £14 (no con-
cessions).
As for our previous play at Riverhouse, the seats will be num-
bered, which seemed a successful arrangement. ALSO—new
initiative—the café/bar at Riverhouse are offering pre-performance meals. Ask for de-
tails when booking tickets. We hope this will be a popular thing with our audiences and
will no doubt be a lot cheaper than The Swan!!
PRODUCTIONS FOR THE REST OF 2018
It is a great shame that Tony Frier was unable to cast his play Are You Watching Me?
Which we hoped to enter for Elmbridge and Leatherhead Festivals. Those who had ex-
pressed an interest were unable to commit for various reasons so, sadly, we have no pro-
duction to enter the spring festivals this year. Hopefully, the timing may be better an-
other year and this intriguing play can be performed.
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Winter/Spring 2018 Page 3
Judith Dolley will be directing Moira Buffini’s highly original comedy
HANDBAGGED for our summer production at Riverhouse. This funny, in-
sightful and brilliantly-written sharp satire was nominated for an Olivier
award for best new comedy in 2015 and went on to become a West End
success. It has recently been released for amateur performance. The play
looks behind closed doors of Buckingham Palace to speculate what really happened when
two of the world’s most powerful women—Margaret Thatcher and The Queen—met for
tea in the years between 1979 and 1990. There are four great parts for women and 2 or
3 men divide around 17 different characters between them!
A full introduction to the play will be circulated and is available now on the website. Au-
ditions will take place at the RDG Studio on 25th April and the performances are on
25th to 28th July. Scripts to read will be available soon.
******************************************************************************
For our entry in the Woking and Spelthorne Festivals in October, Troy Chessman will be
directing GHOST STORY by Mark Ravenhill, a sensitive and intriguing play for three
women. Further details will be available nearer the time but an advance copy of the
script can be emailed to you if you wish.
Unfortunately, Nancy Lund is unable, due to other commitments, to put an entry into the
autumn festivals for the RDG Youth group. She hopes to pick up the reins again next
year but if anyone other member wishes to take over for now she will be happy to assist
facilitate this.
******************************************************************************
Our final production of 2018 will be a return to the Rhoda McGaw for a big production.
Mark (Harry) Humble is to direct NELL GWYNN by Jessica Swale, which had a great
hit in the West End with Gemma Arterton. This will be a lavish production, larger than
life with costume, music, movement and no doubt a great set! Details will be circulated
later in the year but please book the production week in your diary—25th November to
1st December.
EASY FUNDRAISING
Well done to those on-line shoppers who have now increased the amount raised to £1,655.
If you shop online please consider joining if you are not already signed up. Easyfundrais-
ing.org.uk If you need any help contact Nick at nlund74@gmail.com It really is so easy, no
effort at all and raises valuable funds for the group.
100 Club Winners for October to December were Yvonne Newman, Marc Anderson
and Colin Dolley. As it is now January, the new 100 Club Year has started and Nick
has issued invitations to renew. To give time for current and new members to join
for this year the January draw has been held over for a bit.
If you are not already a member contact Nick on 07710 471112 or
nlund74@gmail.com The more members there are the bigger the monthly prize so
please do join or renew
Winter/Spring 2018 Page 4
SOCIAL SCENE
Thanks to Faith for organising and to Nancy for researching and hosting the
Desert Island Discs social evening in November. Jill Payne and John Godliman
were the guests who shared their experiences with the audience.
Following the success of the Quiz last year, Graham Botterill and Simon Waller
are putting together another test of our knowledge on Friday, 2nd March, again
at the Oatlands Club, 75 St Mary’s Road, Oatlands, Weybridge, KT13 9PZ. £5
a head and a subsidised bar. 7.15pm for a 7.30pm start. Please let Faith know
if you want to join in for what is always a fun even-
ing. faithpowell@live.com
Many congratulations to Emma (nee Frier) and Alex
Thompson on their marriage in December.
Congratulations too to Carolyn Floyd who celebrates
the big 5-Oh at the end of this month.
It was lovely to catch up with long-past members Jackie de Ville and Joyce
Williams who came to see White Christmas.
Another past member, Peter White, sadly died last month. Peter was for many
years part of the set building team. His wife, Margaret, an accomplished ac-
tress and our Treasurer for many years, will be moving to Manchester to be
nearer their son, Tim.
There was a good turn-out for the AGM in November and your new committee are: Paul Foster
(Chairman), Frankie Godliman (Secretary), Tony Frier (Treasurer), Nick Lund (Publicity), Faith Pow-
ell (Social Secretary), Judith Dolley (Studio Manager), Clare Pinnock (Technical/Backstage Repre-
sentative), Linda Russell and Caroline Ross (Members’ Representatives. Nancy Lund is also a co-
opted member of the committee as Child Protection Officer. She is responsible for keeping the Child
Protection Policy up to date, an area we are very keen to promote as vitally important. Clare Pinnock
updates our Health & Safety Policy. Copies of both documents can be found on the website
www.rdg.org
RAISING THE PROFILE OF RDG
At a recent meeting of the Committee, discussion took place as to how we could
raise the profile of RDG in the Runnymede Borough. As we perform in Elmbridge
and Woking, it is difficult to get the word out to the community where we are
based. It is also RDG’s 70th year this year and the 40th anniversary of the start
of our youth group, The Sundowners.
Any suggestions welcome but it is hoped we will be taking a stall at the Black Cher-
ry Fair in Chertsey on 14th July.
Winter/Spring 2018 Page 5
Another opportunity to perform in Runnymede has been put to us by Egham Muse-
um who are organising an evening of music and drama at the Literary Institute in
Egham High Street on 8th June. This is part of their Suffrage in Egham Project,
funded by the Arts Council. They would like us to take a five or ten minute slot
to perform something related to suffrage, the early 20th century or women more
generally. If you have a piece or song you would like to perform or put together
THE RDG STUDIO
Judy Dolley has been very pro-active since taking on the Studio Manager’s role.
The ladies’ toilet has been mended and broken window panes repaired. It is hoped
new curtains will be made soon and there is a Cleaning Session arranged for 10am
on Saturday 17th February. Please do try and get along to this as the more there
are there the quicker it gets done and the more enjoyable it is.
When using the Studio, please be aware of keeping it as tidy as possible and deal
with/report matters such as gas cylinders/light bulbs that need replacing.
As you will recall from the last Scene, we have some funds to promote what
is involved backstage at our productions, in particular Stage Management.
Having researched various courses, it seems there is nothing out there suita-
ble for our purposes so we have approached Sally McCormack who is Stage
Manager at Leatherhead Theatre and who has agreed to tailor a workshop
for us. This is likely to be on a Sunday morning in June but the details are
still being arranged. Hopefully it will be of interest to everyone—not just
those who might consider helping on the stage management side of our pro-
ductions. More details will be emailed as soon as possible.
DATES FOR YOUR DIARY….
11th February From 10am Get In for Seussical
15th—17th Feb 7.45pm Performances of Seussical (also 2.45pm on 17th)
17th February 10am—12 Studio Cleaning Session
2nd March 7.15pm Quiz at Oatlands Club, Weybridge
8th-14th April Production Week for People
18th April 8.00pm Committee Meeting, 53 Thames Meadow
25th April 7.30pm Auditions for Handbagged
8th June Egham Literary Institute - Suffrage in Egham show
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