Jacquee Storozynski-Toll | 12 Oct 2023 14:44pm
Concrete? Nothing is written in stone.
Report ContentWell, all the plays planned for our local studio theatre this year remain cancelled. The building is still closed owing to RAAC concrete problems, and rumours abound regarding what is happening.  Everyone has a different version of events. Will it open temporarily and then close again for a complete overhaul? Who knows?  Most of the plays have been rescheduled. The company I am involved with has bitten the bullet and rescheduled Waiting for God for 2024. As I started learning the lines in July 23 and it is now scheduled for July 24, it will be a long time to keep them going. In the meantime, the various groups are looking at other venues. They need to perform not only that play, but also Pinter’s The Homecoming and Ayckbourn’s Absent Friends. However, the companies only want to perform in a theatre, not a church or dance hall. However, Trafalgar who lease the theatre, or the Council might decide not to waste time and effort repairing it and close it permanently. If that happens, everyone will definitely have to rethink things.
To keep everyone’s interest going, a couple of groups are looking at performing one act plays, preferably without royalties. One comedy that I wrote is under consideration. A few of us recorded an extract from it on BBC Sounds. It was recorded over Zoom. As usual, I had trouble logging in, there were the cast all chatting away, and I was missing. Finally, I received a frantic phone call asking where I was. Of course, it was then an in-joke that I was useless with technology.
One company is also devising a variety show with set pieces with a Christmas feel, as by the time it goes on, Christmas will be arriving. God, that’s a shock!
Apparently, a TV company has got wind of the theatre drama (no pun intended) with RAAC concrete, and are sending a crew to film Waiting for God in rehearsal. They then want to interview the cast for their views on the whole sorry saga. I am not sure I want to be seen struggling to remember lines on TV. As they rescheduled the play, I haven’t looked at them for several weeks. Anyway, I suppose it is supposed to be a rehearsal so I am allowed to forget my lines. Trouble is one cast member decided nothing was happening and went off on a cruise. Happy days!