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