Avast me hearties! ~ May 2019

Ahoy-hoy!

Cue cards for the crew and Cut Throat Bill

Can you believe it’s already June?! More importantly, we have just finished our first show of 2019 - Pirate Radio. A play that centred around a drama group called TWADS who are about to broadcast a radio drama that has been written by the chairwoman of TWADs, but it was never going to be plain sailing. The group experience various issues, technical faults and having to rely on members of the audience to fill in for the crew of the Black Gherkin and the ship’s parrot called Cut Throat Bill!

You may not have heard of a play called Pirate Radio and there is a good reason for that too - we are fortunate enough to have incredibly talented writers in our group and this particular play was written by Christine and actually marks the eighth play hat she has written for the group(!!) 

Kelly on stage as Calliope



Wellies, bonnets, hats and wigs in rehearsals...

Pirate Radio saw us welcome new member Kelly to the stage. She told us she wanted to join a drama group - to try something new - and once the cast had been announced, she couldn’t wait to get started on rehearsals. Playing the part of Pamela/Calliope got Kelly to jump into ATG with two feet and she cannot wait for the next performance that ATG puts on later this year. 

The rehearsal period went by like the click of your fingers... (made even more enjoyable with the extra trips to the pub for a quick tipple after rehearsals on Thursday!) and before the cast knew it, they were standing on deck waiting for the curtain to go up. 

One thing that proved challenging/funny was the voices and accents that the cast had to use in order to differentiate between the many different characters within the radio broadcast of ‘High Winds in Tortuga.’ Hats off to Adam who was not only TWADs member Edgar, but also... wait for it and take a big breath!... The narrator, Old Hugh, Ben Pistol, Pestilence Pete, Bulk, Gnasher, Foul Old Tomaso (originally just Tom, but it was amended mid rehearsal), the Great Giant Clam, the Siren, the shrunken heads and Captain Blaggard. 

Introducing Vera the Voodoo Priestess

After the shows were done, ATG partied late into Saturday and played some comical games - including a returning yet challenging cereal box game. What is this game? I hear you say. Ultimately it’s torture for the less flexible of us! Imagine an empty cereal cardboard box that you must pick up using only your mouth and only your feet can touch the floor. With each round that passes you rear off a strip or the cereal box until it’s just a small slither of card on the floor. 

So what’s next for ATG? Well at this current moment in time, we are looking at a couple of plays to put on at the end of November. For now, we have a couple of social events coming up including a trip to Blanchman’s fair and our annual BBQ and AGM.

That’s all for now :)

ATG x

The cast of Pirate Radio



Looking back at 2018

Hello!

It has been a while, hasn’t it?

Having realised that we’re nearly at the halfway point of June, it seemed only right that we cast our minds back to 2018 and share our favourite moments with you. Twenty eighteen saw us celebrate our fiftieth anniversary, hold our biannual awards night and put on three enjoyable performances.

Taking a bow with Cat's Cradle

Kicking off a cold 2018 and hot off the success of Billy, we were set to put on Cat’s Cradle  as our March production - a play set in the Creswell Arms where Detective Inspector Frost finds himself returning to, set on solving a peculiar mystery that happened many years before. Cat’s Cradle saw us welcoming new and returning members to the stage in Peter and Amy (Amy joined us last year in September so it’s safe to say we didn’t scare her off!) 

Exactly a year ago, (or at least it will be by the time this post is uploaded) we celebrated our fiftieth anniversary of which you can read about the laughs and memories we shared in one of our previous posts. At the end of the event, it was safe to say we all looked forward to the next however many years the group continues to grow and thrive. 

Dress rehearsal for Relatively Speaking

Shortly after came our second show of the year - Relatively Speaking, a hilarious comedy full of misunderstandings and confusion. For a cast of four, it was amazing to watch them have fun on stage and see how well they bonded over the rehearsal period (of which we’re sure they were glad that the temperatures were warmer than for the March production!) 

ATG Awards Night 2019

Before we started auditions and rehearsals for the final performance of the year, the group held its biannual awards night. Having had the fiftieth anniversary of the group in June, there was some debate as to whether or not we should push the awards night back a year... but ATG members love a good party and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity for an awards night. The theme for the night was “The Greatest Show” and it certainly embodied that! (Make sure to check our older posts if you haven’t read about the awards night!)

Part of the PTMTT cast backstage

Rounding off the year was the performances of “Prepare to Meet Thy Tomb” and it certainly played to one of the group’s strength of murder mysteries. With Drusilla and Hecuba being the only surviving members of the Tomb family, they’re ready to modernise the Monument House into an alternative health farm (“whatever that is!”) but when some unwanted guests start appearing, new plans needed to be set in motion... Seeing ATG put on a show with a big cast made the experience all the more exciting and we had a lot of fun at the after play activities! 

Speaking of after play activities, ATG is super traditional and normally has shows running from Thursday night to Saturday night with something to do after each performance. Thursday night - pub night (we have a choice of two well loved pubs just further than a stone’s throw where we perform!) Friday night - curry night - this may sound bizarre but it’s actually quite fun being able to have a meal after a show! Saturday night - party night (need I say more?!) 😉

And thus concludes the year of 2018 for ATG seeing as we kind of had the Christmas party in January! 

Hope to write some more posts soon!

ATG x