The rest of the season was equally successful with the welcome return of Thelma Hebden and the debut of Phil Smith as director. The Christmas Concert was I think the best yet, attracting an audience of around 50, and it was good to welcome Chris and Helen-Louise Cundell from the Skipton Operatics and Neil and Phil from Sutton Amateurs to our little band of strolling players. We continue to attract new people to the theatre as is obvious when taking the bookings. On the subject of bookings I think members need to be reminded that we can no longer guarantee them a seat unless they use the booking system. There were at least four disgruntled members who because they had left it too late could not get in on the night they wanted or did not get in at all. This needs to be discussed before the beginning of the new season. I do not like turning people away, especially members, but they cannot just assume that because they have always come on a Friday they do not have to book their seats.
On the down side we have had to discontinue the hire of the theatre to pop groups. In our attempt to open the theatre to the community we only seemed to make work for ourselves in the clean up exercise that followed, resulting in a bill for £150 for cleaning our relatively new carpet. The hire of the theatre by outside bodies will have to be looked at again in the near future. Perhaps we should look at charging a deposit which can be retained if the theatre is not left in a satisfactory condition – we cannot be left out of pocket, we simply cannot afford it.
At the risk of this beginning to sound like a school report, one thing that has been on my mind for some time is the standard of our productions. We have in my opinion always had a very high standard here at Skipton Little Theatre, which puts us above the average. We have to maintain this. Recently we seem to have got into the habit of thinking that it does not matter if the first or even subsequent nights are littered with prompts. It does matter. As I mentioned before we get more and more strangers through our doors, some of whom do become members. Some do not choose to join but continue to support us time and time again. Some may only be visiting and may not come again, and if they have seen a less than average performance, we do not get a chance to redeem ourselves. We are not just performing for our friends and relatives, we have a duty to do the best we can as amateurs, for those people who pay good money to be entertained. "Amateur" does not mean "Mediocre". Nobody knows more than I do how difficult it is to learn lines and we all have other, outside commitments, but for me the secret is rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal. We are lucky to have our own theatre for rehearsals - some groups are not so fortunate. The theatre is here for us seven days a week – we must use it!
On a lighter note - the new seats. I’m sure you all know the story of the seats from Leeds Grand, so I won’t bore you with all that again, but this is quite a milestone in the history of the theatre. The old seats have been part of the fabric of the building for such a long time and some would say part of its charm. I am quite sad in a way to say goodbye to the old seats, and I think we should keep one row for their sentimental value. As you can see the new seats are all in bits and we are looking for volunteers and a number of weekend stints for them all to be in situ in time for the start of the next season. We have had some interest in the sponsoring of the new seats but this is an ongoing project and we will re-issue the invitation to sponsor a seat in the new season.
Finally I would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to my fellow officers and the members of the committee for all their hard work during what has been yet again a very busy season. I would also like to thank those of you who are not on the committee but who have worked equally hard to ensure that all our productions happen. We could not do it without one another – it’s all about teamwork and hopefully having fun. Thank you again. Have a good summer.
We began the year with what can only be described as the ‘Farndale Fiasco’ – sets falling down, sets upside down, wrong props, wrong entrances, dead bodies talking – in fact everything that could go wrong did go wrong, and we had the audiences rolling in the aisles (well almost), but it was an excellent way to start the season.
The December play was ‘Haunted’. A different slant on the ghost story for Christmas theme. In fact so realistic were the effects that I almost thought the theatre ghost was going to make an appearance.
In February we had ‘Funny Money’ which was to have been directed by Pat Harris. Unfortunately, Pat fell and broke her ankle and was unable to continue. I would like to thank Ann Busfield for stepping into the breach so quickly, especially as she had only just finished directing the December play. Thanks Ann.
The April play was a new play specially written by John Godber for amateurs in conjunction with Amateur Stage Magazine. We had a surprise visit from the author on the Friday night who gave us an impromptu workshop and kindly signed some programmes. We have subsequently been featured in the magazine photographed with John Godber.
Our last play of the season was the resurrection of the old favourite ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’. It proved very popular with audiences throughout the week. It is always good to stage new and different plays but it does show that people like to see something familiar now and then.
We saw lots of new faces on the stage and behind the scenes this season. Some new to Skipton Players and some new to acting altogether. I extend a welcome to them all and I hope we see a lot more of them in the future.
There has been a definite increase in audience numbers this season, with a lot of new people visiting the theatre for the first time, as is evident when taking the bookings – they always ask where it is. I think we should get commission for free advertising because we always say it’s near Tescos, opposite the Railway pub! We have actually turned people away and suggested they come on a different night and on more than occasion we have had to put extra seats in. Let’s hope that we may soon be in a position to re-open the Monday night.
The theatre has never really been empty this season. Two visits from Leeds Library Theatre, three concerts with Drystone Radio, two visits from Craven College and one visit from Moveable Feast who were a group of ladies doing comedy sketches.
We have had everything from Jimi Hendrix to Victoria Wood – Ella Fitzgerald to Antigone. One highlight was the Drystone Radio concert with Clare Teal - a local girl made good – who has appeared on the Michael Parkinson show and has just signed a record deal with Sony. I hope when she’s rich and famous she remembers her night at the Little Theatre.
I have already been approached by two companies wanting to use the theatre next season, a children’s group want to stage a panto and Drystone Radio have already booked another concert in October.
Finally, I would like to thank my fellow officers and the committee for all their hard work and anyone who has contributed in any way to the successful season we have just enjoyed. Hope to see you next season, thank you to you all.