NewsletterNewsletter FebruaryFebruary 20202020 In This Issue • Chairman’s Final Letter P3 • Jottings from Michael Shipley P4 • Nothing Quite Like a Dame P8 • LTG National Conference P11 Vol.34Vol.34 No.1No.1 FebruaryFebruary 20202020 LTG Newsletter Vol .34 No.1 February 2020 Vol. 34 No. 1 Feb 2020 LTG Diary of Events The Little Theatre Guild National Conference represents 114 member theatres Questors, Ealing April 17- 19th that control and manage their amateur theatre companies Northern Conference with an annual audience of over Chads 2020 Date tbc 650,000 patrons, and a turnover Central Conference of approximately £4 million. Norbury Theatre, Droitwich February 22nd Visit us at www.littletheatreguild.org New LTG Rep Articles for the LTG Newsletters 2020 deadlines Station Theatre, Hayling Island - Laura Duncan for copy: May 10th, Aug 12th & Nov 6th [email protected] was interesting. It appears that festival. It was good to learn of A Word from there is a mixed feeling for the the different possibilities. competitive kind of adjudication The Chairman of such as when entering a Well I’m sure we can fill a whole festival and an adjudication edition of tales of adjudicators Carlisle Green Room which is just an assessment destroying the self confidence of a particular play. Maybe we of many a budding newcomer, I attended the LTG Conference should adopt the latter at the or sending an experienced in Nantwich at the end of Green Room. actor off in a monumental sulk October and high on the list of sometimes for the kindest ‘must attend’ workshops was Within this there is scope to have of advice! Some cast can be one entitled Adjudicators - either a written adjudication affronted on account of others What do they Know? sent to the company or to have if they feel a comment is a verbal adjudication delivered unfounded and sadly this can I was there like a shot, as I on the night of the performance now easily explode onto social knew this area is a hot topic after the show. Similar to media. Not an easy job being at the moment. What I found the system used in a one act an adjudicator! Well by now some of you will know that Samuel the death of a name that IS Amateur Theatre, I French has been taken over by Concord was reassured that Samuel French would survive Theatricals Company. Fortunately the name as an imprint of Concord Theatricals. lives on at Samuel French’s Bookshop at The Royal Court Theatre. Not being familiar with the expression I don’t When I was commiserating with the staff over know how to feel about that! Little Theatre Guild of Great Britain www.littletheatreguild.org Temporary Newsletter Editor: Sandra Simpson National Secretary: 104 Albert Road West Caroline Chapman Bolton Friar’s Oak Lancs BL1 5ED 24 Mill Farm Road Hamsterley Mill Tel: 01204 843631 Tyne & Wear Email: [email protected] NE39 1NW Tel: 01207 545280 The contents of this newsletter are not necessarily Email: [email protected] the official views of the Little Theatre Guild. 2 LTG Newsletter Vol .34 No.1 February 2020 A Final Letter from the Chairman “It’s one of the tragic ironies of the theatre that this end we have negotiated only one man in it can count on steady work – valuable discounts on The Night Watchman”. So said play scripts from Samuel Tallulah Bankhead the American French, Nick Hern Books and actress of the 1920s and 1930s. Weinbergers. Depending on how many productions your The same might be said of LTG theatre puts on in a season it Chairmen who are now rotated can contribute or even meet the every three years. That is a policy cost of the LTG subscription. of which I very much approve. As this will be my last The process of negotiating Chairman’s Letter, I hope you will forgive a bit of other benefits is ongoing. reflection. A subject always under review is member The first thing to say is being LTG Chairman has been a communications. It is something very difficult to very enjoyable and rewarding experience. During my get right and like many other organisations we do term I have attended approximately 12 national and sometimes get the criticism we don’t know what is regional conferences. I can honestly say I never get going on. Sometimes it is justified but not always. bored of them. I suppose I have become a conference LTG has three main channels of communication, junkie. They have three great attractions, the people website, newsletter and yearbook. Certainly, when you meet, the stage productions and the opportunity we held relationship meetings round the country the to visit places you would probably never have visited. yearbook and newsletter were regarded as valuable The welcome at all these conferences has always and useful. It is fair to say our social media presence been very warm and friendly and the productions of needs to be developed and this is something that will a uniformly high standard which does great credit to be looked at. LTG. I now feel I qualify to become an Ambassador for Trip Advisor. Many services we provide have been an LTG feature for years and none more so than our Grey papers. The position is of course much more than being a They provide summary details and early warning conference junkie. It is being part of the national on legislation that will affect our theatres and also committee team who are constantly trying to make other related issues such as tax. These are very well positive changes in the way we operate and the received and often given as a reason for joining by benefits we can bring to our theatres. In the spirit of new members. They are constantly being added to reflection, I thought it might be interesting to detail and are reviewed on an annual basis for accuracy some of our more important initiatives. and relevance. At the start of my term, with the support and active I have been very fortunate in being supported by a involvement of the national committee, I was anxious dedicated and experienced national committee. Their we developed a Business Plan to act as a “route map” great strength is that they all remain actively involved for the next three years. This covered most of the in their own theatres. This keeps us all well grounded areas we are involved in from member benefits to and very aware of what it is like at the “coal face”. I communications and from Grey papers to finance. would like to thank each and every one of them for For each area we established a projected outcome, the support they have given me and the work they target and review date with the plan as a whole being have undertaken which has made being chairman reviewed on an annual basis. It is, therefore, very such an enjoyable experience. much a living document. I have been very fortunate to have as my Vice Chairman We have also taken the opportunity to review our Jo Matthews from Questors Theatre. Many of you will Rules and make changes as appropriate. Changes know her and be aware of her undoubted abilities and were recommended and these were approved at our knowledge of the theatre. I could not have asked for 2018 AGM at the People’s Theatre in Newcastle. The a more supportive and dedicated vice chairman. As most significant change was extending the term of under the LTG Rules she will automatically become office of the Chairman and Vice Chairman from two chairman at this year’s AGM, I have no hesitation in to three years. This has enabled longer term planning saying she will become a very worthy chairman. to become embedded and the job holders to become more familiar and confident in their positions. Finally, could I thank you all for making the last three years such an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Enhancing the benefits of LTG membership has always been a priority for the national committee. To Mike Smith 3 LTG Newsletter Vol .34 No.1 February 2020 More Jottings from Michael Shipley A short piece from the There can be a lot in a name. photographer Dafydd Jones in a If the LTGs are keen to sell the recent book, quoted in The Oldie benefits of the Guild to their recently: “I noticed how many Theatres, great! If they are of my pictures featured people ambassadors of their theatres glued to their phones. Old to the Guild, even better. The people, young people, mothers process is two-way for mutual with children, workmen, cops, benefit.” cyclists, everyone - in shops, in the streets, on the train, in Moving to page 2, the popularity galleries, in bars and restaurants, parade (or Top of the Pops) everywhere. I’ve even seen of the plays chosen in the Guild a man standing at a urinal, a was announced. The five most phone cradled in his free hand.” frequently performed authors in 1988/9 were Alan Ayckbourn, A blast from the past! William Shakespeare, Noel It’s time to look at the archives Coward, Tom Stoppard, and again, this time for November Michael Frayn. The most 1989, thirty years ago! There, frequently performed plays Booker Prize Winner on the first page, comes this were The House of Bernarda Bernadine Evaristo wrote pithy quote from the Newsletter from Ilkley Playhouse: Alba, Noises Off, Chorus of feelingly in The Guardian about Disapproval, 84 Charing Cross youth theatre work on 24th “Theatre is about taking risks Road, and On Golden Pond.