Edward Alderton Theatre

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Archived News: 2014

13.11.14
 Building works
Please note that due to ongoing building work on the new Adult Education classrooms, vehicle access to the theatre is from the Danson Youth Centre car park which is to the right of the Edward Alderton Theatre. If the Adult Education Centre is open, the theatre can be accessed by foot from either side of the main building; if this building is closed, then pedestrian access is only via the Danson Youth Centre car park.

13.11.14
 Wendy Marsh steps down as Artistic Director
Regretfully Wendy Marsh has had to step down as Artistic Director for health reasons. Roz Betts and Mark Campbell have stepped in as joint-Artistic Directors with immediate effect. Plans are currently afoot for our next season, our 39th, from October 2015 to July/August 2016. If you are a budding director, please contact Roz Betts on 01322 448370 or Mark Campbell on 07977019342.

13.11.14
 Last show of the season
We are pleased to announce that the final show of our current season will be The End of the Pier Show, a fabulous summer variety entertainment. The dates for this are 25 July to 1 August 2015. Anyone interested in taking part, please contact Roz Betts on 01322 448370 or Mark Campbell on 07977019342.

13.11.14
 Cast announcement 
Casts for The Female of the Species by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Louise Ody, and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em by Raymond Allen, adapted and directed by Mark Campbell, have been announced. For details please go to our This Season page.

06.09.14
 Christmas carol service 
On Wednesday 17 December we will be having our traditional Christmas social evening at the theatre. There will be carol singing in the bar, and mulled wine will be on sale together with free mince pies. The bar will be open from 8pm but the singing will start later. Hope you can all come along!

31.08.14
 Audition Pieces available 
Audition pieces for Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em by Raymond Allen, adapted by Mark Campbell, are now available to download from our Auditions page.

14.08.14
 Pygmalion cast 
The cast for the first play of our new season, Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw, directed by Tony Donnelly, has now been announced as follows: Chris Manning-Perry (Henry Higgins), Holly Foster (Liza Doolittle), John Hyde (Colonel Pickering), Shirley Andrews (Mrs Higgins), Kevin Coward (Alfred Doolittle), Roz Betts (Mrs Pearce), Viv Stapleton (Mrs Eynsford Hill), Ciara O'Hare (Clara Eynsford Hill), George Coward (Freddy Eynsford Hill), TBC (Parlour Maid), Horry Stapleton, Dorothy Holmans (Local Crowd). Our congratulations to all those involved.

14.08.14
 Auditions date 
Auditions for The Female of the Species by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Louise Ody, and Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em by Raymond Allen, adapted and directed by Mark Campbell, will take place on Sunday 26 October at 2pm and 3.30pm respectively. Details to follow on our Auditions page.

10.08.14
 New season launch day 
On Sunday 14 September, we will be holding a special New Season launch party at 3pm at the theatre. The bar will be open, and nibbles will be provided. This will be a chance to meet the directors for next season's plays, look at scripts, have a chat with directors about being involved in their plays, whether on stage or helping backstage or on the technical side. If you are new to us, we will give you a tour of our theatre, and you can find out about becoming a member and all the things we do. If you would like to come along, we would love to see you there.

10.08.14
 Quiz Night date change 
Please note that the date for our next Quiz Night has been postponed a week to Saturday 13 September. Please see full details below. Apologies for any inconvenience caused by this change of date.

19.07.14
 Work weekend dates 
This year our annual work weekend will be happening on Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 August. One of the main tasks will be to clear out the props room, discard items we don’t need, and photograph and replace items that we are keeping. We are also looking to replace the carpet in the reception area and apply a lick of paint. Please remember that our humble little theatre relies on the hard work and enthusiasm of all its members—without YOUR help we cannot survive. Please check your diary and see if you can free up a few hours on either (or both) of these dates to help make your theatre the place YOU want it to be. We hope to see you there.

19.07.14
 Next Quiz Night 
Our next Quiz Night will take place on Saturday 6 September at 7.30pm. The quiz this time is brought to you by the letter 'M'! In other words, the themes of each round will begin with M, so put your thinking caps on and try and guess what they might be! As usual, tickets are £5 with a maximum of eight per team. Please bring nibbles but it's requested that all drinks are purchased from the bar. All profits go towards the upkeep of the theatre. If you would like to come along please contact Karen Friett on 07976 905437 or karenfriett@aol.com

09.06.14
 Auditions for Antigone 
Auditions for Antigone by Sophocles, directed by Rachel de Silva, will take place at the theatre on Sunday 29 June 2014 at 11am. Information is on our Auditionspage. The performance dates are 21-28 February 2015.

08.05.14
 Auditions for Pygmalion 
Auditions for Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw, directed by Tony Donnelly, will take place at the theatre on Sunday 15 June 2014 at 3pm. Information is on our Auditionspage. The performance dates are 18-25 October 2014.

08.05.14
 Trailer for The Tempest now online 
A trailer for our next play, The Tempest by William Shakespeare, directed by Mark Campbell, is now available to watch on YouTube. Performance dates are 31 May-7 June at 8pm.

 

08.05.14
 Second audition date for Gary and Terry 
Another round of auditions for Terry and Gary in 'Dulci Jubilo', written and directed by Ian Long, will take place at the theatre on Sunday 15 June 2014 at 2pm. Information can be found on our Auditions page. The performance dates are 6-13 December 2014.

23.04.14
 Selected highlights of Hancock's Hour and a Half now online 
Scriptwriters Ray Galton and Alan Simpson have kindly allowed us to put a short 'highlights' video together of last year's successful radio special Hancock's Hour and a Half, produced by Sarah O'Hanlon and Mark Campbell. If you enjoyed the show and want to see more—or missed it and want to see what all the fuss was about—then remember we have Another Helping of Hancock's Hour and a Half on 7-10 January next year, where we'll be performing three more episodes of Hancock's Half Hour. To watch the video, click on the link on our Home page.

23.04.14
 Up Pompeii author visit 
Miles Tredinnick, the writer of the stage version of Up Pompeii, came to watch the show on Thursday night and stayed behind to meet the cast. He declared himself extremely happy with what he saw and praised the cast and director Roz Betts on the energetic production and the brilliant comic timing from all concerned.

 

17.04.14
 Eleanor's one-woman show 
Eleanor McEnery will once again by delighting us with another of her sell-out one-woman shows, this time entitled A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Theatre. The dates for this special event is Saturday 14 June 2014.

17.04.14
 Demolition of adjacent Adult Education buildings 
Work has now begun on demolishing the old buildings next to the theatre. A detached 2/3 storey building will be built in its place, to provide more rooms for the Adult Education Centre, along with provision of 40 additional parking spaces. Further information can be found on the London Borough of Bexley website. In the meantime, please note that access to the theatre, and the theatre car park, is from the Danson Youth Centre car park only. Unfortunately the wheelchair accessible disabled toilets have been closed until further notice. 

01.04.14
 Up Pompeii casting change 
Sadly Helen Bezer has had to drop out of Up Pompeii. She is replaced by Karen Friett as Suspenda.

01.04.14
 Alice cast 
The final play of our current season, Alice, has now been cast as follows: Charlotte Clarke (Alice), Chelsea Clare (Alice's Sister, The Cook), Scott Godfrey (The White Rabbit), Rod Henderson (The Dodo), Clive Madel (The Caterpillar), Eileen Warner (The Duchess),  Linda Gay (The Cheshire Cat), Shaun Martin (The March Hare), Darren Cullen (The Mad Hatter), Shirley Andrews (The Dormouse), Wendy Marsh (The Queen of Hearts), George Coward (The Knave of Hearts), Eleanor McEnery (The Mock Turtle), Rianna Amas (The Mouse) and Dorothy Holmans (The Owl). This reimagining of the classic children's books by Lewis Carroll is adapted and directed by Charlotte Jacobs and is in performance 19-26 July.

01.04.14
 New 'super' casino planned for Brampton Road—APRIL FOOL (obviously) 
It is with some concern that the Edward Alderton Theatre has received a letter from the London Borough of Bexley detailing plans for a so-called 'Super Casino' on ground abutting the theatre itself. A PDF copy of the letter can be found here , but here is the text of the letter:

Dear Sir or Madam,

As you may have seen in the recent Budget Statement, local councils are being encouraged to supplement their Council Tax revenues by the deployment of more gambling outlets, both on the High Street and in designated business/community areas. This is in combination with the 10% decrease in Gambling Tax as outlined by Chancellor George Osbourne.

The Planning Department at the London Borough of Bexley have highlighted your particular business as one of the key Business Community Projects within the borough. To this end, we will shortly be initiating a Planning Procedural Assessment Project (Ref: 13487AJ) to build a state-of-the-art 'Euro-Vegas ' Casino on land adjacent to your theatre. This will take approximately 18 months to complete. The Adult Education Centre have agreed in principal that a Casino in Bexleyheath would be "a huge potential asset to the borough, its inhabitants and local businesses". 

The footprint of the Casino complex will be approx 350m x 445m, and will be based on the design of the popular Luxor building in Las Vegas. It will stretch to a height of 300m and will become the tallest building in South East London. I have attached an artist 's impression of the new Casino complex, which will incorporate your existing theatre building.

We understand that you and your members may have reservations about a licensed gambling premises opening up so close to you, but rest assured that the London Borough of Bexley in consultation with the Gambling Commision have researched the results of systematic gambling on the public and have concluded that there is no evidence of any detrimental effects whatsoever.

We will be in touch shortly regarding a meeting to discuss further implications of this proposal.

Yours sincerely,
Clr John Hood BSc(Econ)

Here is the artist's impression of the casino building itself:

22.03.14
 Newsletter 
Our April 2014 newsletter is now available online—click on the link above. 

22.03.14
 Trailer for Up Pompeii now online 
A trailer for our next play, Up Pompeii by Miles Tredinnick, based on characters created by Talbot Rothwell and Sid Colin, is now available to watch on YouTube. Performance dates are 5-12 April 2014, and please note that there is a matinee on Sunday 6 April at 5pm.

 

15.03.14
 Terry Williams' funeral arrangements 
Terry Williams' funeral service will be held at St Mary's Church, High Street, Downe, at 12pm on Friday 21 March. Terry's son Marco has provided this Funeral Zone link for information about the funeral and related matters, including donations to supported charities: click here to read it. The family would be pleased to welcome anyone who knew Terry–particularly those involved with the production of Seconds Out!– to the funeral, cremation and reception.

11.03.14
 Blossom Close comes to Bexleyheath 
The theatre will be staging a musical concert performed by Blossom Close on Friday 18 April 2014 and Saturday 19 April 2014. Blossom Close is an experienced close harmony group whose singers are handpicked from the pool of singers in Blossom Street (a vibrant vocal ensemble comprising some of the UK's best young singers which performs regularly on TV and radio), performing mostly jazz and pop a cappella arrangements, under the direction of Hilary Campbell. They have recently returned from performances in Japan. The group filmed for the TNT Show on Channel 4 and a social media campaign for Clintons Cards, and made adverts for Sky+, HBO and Channel 5. The singers work regularly in the corporate world; their client list includes Channel 5, HBO, ITV1, Channel 4, BBC2, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, Claridges, Vinopolis, Waitrose and the National Theatre. The group includes former EAT member Ellie Martin who last appeared in Spider's Web by Agatha Christie in 2009.Tickets are £10 and are available on the door. If you would like to pre-book tickets, and for more information email info@blossomstreetsingers.com or phone 07958 177586.

10.03.14
 Terry and Gary auditions 
Auditions for Terry and Gary in 'Dulci Jubilo', written and directed by Ian Long, will take place at the theatre on Sunday 13 April 2014. Information can be found on our Auditionspage. The performance dates are 6-13 December 2014.

10.03.14
 Terry Williams 
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Terry Williams, writer and director of our smash-hit debut musical Seconds Out! in October 2010. The show dramatized the colourful life of boxer Freddie Mills and won two awards from the Arts Council of Bexley. Our condolences go to his family and friends.  

10.03.14
 Next season 
Artistic Director Wendy Marsh announced our next season of plays at the recent AGM. For full details, please go to our Next Season page.

02.02.14
 Alice auditions 
Auditions for Alice, adapted and directed by Charlotte Jacobs from the original stories by Lewis Carroll, will take place at the theatre on Sunday 23 February 2014 at 2pm. Information can be found on our Auditions page. Alice is the last play of our current season, and will be in performance from 19-26 July 2014.

26.01.14
 Trailer for The Weir now online 
A trailer for our next play, The Weir by Conor McPherson, directed by Nick Hewitt, is now available to watch on YouTube:

 

25.01.14
 AGM on 25 February 2014 
The EAT Annual General Meeting will take place on Tuesday 25 February at 8.15pm in the theatre. Please do come along to hear where we are in terms of finances, leases, building projects and of course the launch of our new season— there is some very exciting stuff in store for us!

There is currently one vacancy on the committee and we would be very interested in hearing from anyone who has a particular interest in the Technical side of things who would be willing to establish and organize a team of 'tech' volunteers. If you feel that you would be able to fulfill this role please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you.

The current committee and chair are all willing to re-stand for a further year. However if you feel you would like to put yourself forward to join the committee in a particular role then please do feel free to. Anyone who wishes to be considered for any role should send a short statement in which they say why they would like to stand and what they feel they could bring to the role to the committee secretary Karen Friett on karenfriett@aol.com. You must also have an official nominator and seconder named on the statement and these must both be full members of the EAT.

Please note that you must be a fully paid-up Member or Associate Member to attend the meeting. Subs were due on 1 September 2013 and are £10 for Associate Members and £15 for full Members. You may pay subs on the evening of the AGM by cash, cheque or credit card. Apologies for the meeting should also be forwarded to Karen.

We hope as many of you can attend as possible.

 

For earlier news items, see links in the right-hand bar