As previously mentioned in January, Gemma Slade has kindly agreed to visit the Island again to run another acting workshop. The details of this have now been finalized and the workshop will take place at Totland Church Hall on Sunday 8th March 2009 between 10am and 2pm. The workshop is open to members and non-members alike and will cover a wide variety of acting techniques. This practical session is designed to take attendees through the stages of how to approach a scripted play from the point of receiving the script, through to developing the character and staging the performance. The last workshop was extremely successful and I hope this one will be as well supported. Please feel free to turn up on the day and join in! This workshop has been arranged and funded by Kaleidoscope Theatre Company.

The New Strolling Players held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) last night during which they discussed last year’s show, finance, and their plans for next season. For a number of years I have been interested in putting on ‘Scrooge’, however finding a performance slot over the Christmas period has always proved difficult. A proposal to do ‘Scrooge’, rather than a traditional pantomime, was put to the AGM and I’m pleased to say that they have approved ‘Scrooge’ for the Christmas season. The show will be directed by myself with Martine Burgess doing the choreography and Janet Haire covering publicity and communication. Auditions will be held in early September directly following Kaleidoscope’s summer show, with rehearsals starting immediately after and a run of performances from the 16th – 19th December. I will post more information when the audition date is finalised.

Congratulations to the cast of “All You Need is Love” after a successful run last week. Also thank you to everyone who helped out with Keith Hempstead’s Memorial Concert, this was a great success and raised more than £1,500 for the Earl Mountbatten Hospice. One of the highlight’s of the evening was classical pianist Pawel Jankowski’s rendition of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Chopin’s Prelude in E minor and his collaboration with the Phoenix Jazz Ensemble.

As a result of a busy schedule of shows planned for this year we are having to book venues and rehearsal time earlier than we usually would. Next weekend I plan to make bookings in preparation for the summer show, please can you let me know whether there is a particular night of the week that might clash with other commitments such as rehearsals for another show or a regular meeting of a club/society. If we are aware of these in advance we will be able to work around them make the most of our rehearsal time.

In other news members of Kaleidoscope are providing technical support for a charity concert in memory of Keith Hempstead who died in September last year. Keith was a keen supporter of amateur dramatics and had directed for Curtain Up and The Strolling Players, he was also leader of The Slipshod Singers. The event will see notable musicians such as the professional pianist Pawel Jankowski from War-saw, among others, pay tribute to Keith. The concert will be held at Freshwater Memorial Hall on Friday 6th February, all proceeds going to the Earl Mountbatten Hospice.

The New Strolling Players are having their annual meeting about next year’s Christmas show at Totland Church Hall on Monday 9th February at 7:30pm.

Finally, good luck to Sasha Cave and Rowan Lathey and the rest of the cast of “All You Need is Love” which débuts this week at Shanklin Theatre. Please see our ‘Upcoming Events’ page for more information.