What can be done in a day? Early in the day a large team of society members assembled to make 'Play in a Day' happen. Ably guided by Angela Sloan (producing and troubleshooting - she never stopped for a moment all day and all evening) and Julian Hoad's enthusiastic direction, the team worked all day and by the time the curtains opened on The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew, Robert Bolt's tale of knights and dragons, the company had:
created costumes (very fancy), props (everything from a pet dog through dragon's tails to a church building and a full-size dragon), stage lighting (including lightning and a full moon), sound effects (wizard's magic through Colonel Bogey), and an entire hot supper for all the attending members. What an achievement: a great evening was enjoyed by all.
The Black Knight by Rosemary Lawrence
An historical drama set in the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. The action was set in Whitehall Palace in late Spring 1584 and the large audience was very appreciative of the fine acting and gorgeous costumes in this original play based on a plot to assassinate the Queen by the followers of Mary, Queen of Scots. It was directed by Hermin Daley pictured above with Wendy Davies as Mary Radcliffe.
The evening was rounded off by the presentation of the Chairman’s Challenge Trophy to the 2018 winner Rob Pearson for his one act play ‘Etinarc’.
There was a Midsummer Night’s Dream theme at our stand at the West Chiltington Village Show. Visitors to the stand included the Lord Lieutenant for Sussex, Susan Pyper and the Village Show Chairman, Anne Sugarman. We were able to promote the society, Horsham District Year of Culture and our latest production ‘House Guest’. We also managed to sign up some new members.
The highlight of the evening was a talk by Ian Gledhill, once professional actor, theatre company manager, and latterly an opera set designer. The talk was entitled Art and Illusion; theatre set design from Sophocles to Spiderman, in which he traced the entire history of stage scenery with fascinating insights to the origins of the words we use to describe the various parts of our theatres and the development of art of stage set design.