A Look Back at 2017

Happy New Year!

 It's already 2018 and we thought it would only be fair to look back at 2017 and all of the lovely moments that have happened! 

There has been a murder on stage at the music hall!

 Twenty seventeen kicked off in January with the play reading for our March/April performance for a play written and directed by one of our members, Christine, called "Murder at the Music Hall." Fueled with cakes and coffees, we delved into the script, a murder mystery that takes place in the less than illustrious Empire Theatre with a twist - an added audience participation that sees the cast members interrogated by the audience. Something that seems like a daunting process, because believe me, you can never predict the questions the audience will ask no matter how much you practice in rehearsals. Come March and April, the curtains went up to sold out audiences who really got into the nitty gritty details when it came to the interrogation stage... "Why did you say *insert completely irrelevant throwaway line?" "What happened to the monkey?" (Yes, a monkey was mentioned!) But I'll let you in on a cheeky little secret, depending on which evening you went, the killer may have been different to the previous night ;) 

 At the AGM, the committee was re-elected and we welcomed Mori to the committee as our social secretary. As the new social chair, she threw herself into it and organised various social events for the year. Hot off the success of the run of "Murder at the Music Hall", Mori arranged for us to participate at the Horseshoe's pub quiz. ATG were fortunate enough to have not one, but two teams competing in the quiz - and boy, were they pulling out all the stops and little nuggets of knowledge to do us proud. Both teams finished in the top three (out of sixteen teams) taking third and first place! With a rematch to follow up in July...

"INTIWBLT" set

"Playing with Shadows" set

 Shortly after we came out on top at the quiz, we had the second performance of the year cast. Two short one-act plays - "Playing with Shadows," and "I Never Thought it Would be Like This," which a linked theme creating a title for the evening as "Family Ties." (And we weren't just referring to the fact that the directors were married!) Having two plays in one night meant that during the interval, it was action stations to transform the stage from A) a pristine and comfortable looking living room into B) a deserted desert island - you can see the contrast in the pictures above! 

 Then it was July/August time, and in the summertime (when the weather is fine...) that means the BBQ was just around the corner. In true ATG tradition, Nicky and Martin threw open their wonderful home to the extravaganza that is the ATG BBQ. The BBQ acted as a great way to begin Summer and prepare us all for the next performance, a musical to be performed over two weeks rather than the usual one. 

On stage for Billy Liar ~ November 201

 That musical being Billy Liar, the well known musical that starred Michael Crawford in 1974 (although some of our younger members needed to do a little bit of extra research to learn more about Billy Fisher and his fiesta of marriage proposals!) It was this performance that saw a number of established and new members taking to the stage in a cast and chorus filled musical. It's safe to say Billy Liar was thoroughly enjoyed on stage and off stage - we hope that our new members stay with us and more members join :) 

Check out the teapot at the table!

Down the rabbit hole!

 Our jam packed year was rounded off with a fantastic Alice in Wonderland themed Christmas party. Our beloved hut was decorated from floor to ceiling with red and our team of creative minds rustled up a Mad Hatter’s Table, a rabbit hole and card guards. The night was a great success with a round of pass the parcel and a ever so slightly aggressive game of musical chairs!

 So what next? Well as we are well into January 2018, auditions have started for our March production of Cat’s Cradle - if you fancy taking part on stage or back stage, then let us know :)

 ATG