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may 2020 e-bulletin

31/5/2020

Our May e-newsletter is out! Subscribe to our mailing list to get all the latest news from NewSPAL direct to your inbox via our Contacts page.

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The Show Cannot Go On: a lock-down view from The Archway Theatre

30/5/2020

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Like many other theatres, professional and amateur, The Archway Theatre in Horley, The Miller Centre in Caterham and the Courtyard Theatre in Chipstead (all Surrey members of the prestigious Little Theatre Guild) have been closed because of the social distancing requirements of the pandemic.
All these theatres are suffering financially. With no income, there are still outgoings - light, heating, equipment maintenance and insurances - that have to be paid. The Archway Theatre is even harder hit, as rent for the Arches still needs to be found. The Archway Theatre has lost at least three production slots:

The York Realist by Peter Gill, set during the rehearsal period for the York Mystery Plays in rural Yorkshire in the 1960s, was due to open on the very same day that theatres were closed by the Government. Quite apart from all the work that had gone into this by the cast, director, technical and backstage crew, there was a considerable task to be faced in contacting members who had booked tickets to offer refunds. We understand that several people waived their refund, for which the theatre is deeply grateful.
This was to be followed by Hangmen by Martin McDonagh - a savagely black comedy about the end of judicial hanging in 1965. This play was already well into the rehearsal phase. Lines had been learnt, and many tickets already sold. The same process for refunding tickets was also required.
The third production to be impacted by the shutdown is Sunset at Villa Thalia by Alexi Kaye Campbell, a fascinating play set on the Greek island of Skiathos where an English couple are manipulated by a married duo they meet on holiday, but which has a deeper agenda - the exploration of America’s propensity to impose its will on individuals and whole societies. The play had been cast, and the first rehearsal held.
Of course, the knock-on effect is far greater than simply ‘losing’ three plays, especially as, at the time of writing, we have no idea when restrictions will end. Decisions will have to be made about how to put these plays back in the programme and how the balance of the year will be affected. The morale of the players is also a key element, although the Archway Council of Management has been doing sterling work, with films (some made by the theatre itself), online quizzes, information updates and posts on social media including WhatsApp and Facebook.
The planned programme will still go ahead, maybe later than envisaged, maybe in a different order. It’s an exciting mix, which includes, as well as the three plays detailed above, The Wind in the Willows, adapted from the Kenneth Grahame novel, A Comedy of Tenors, a hilarious sequel to the sell-out Lend Me a Tenor we put on in 2016, the highly acclaimed Pressure by David Haig, The Father by Florian Zeller, a profoundly moving play about dementia, Jeeves and Wooster (from the P G Wodehouse novels) and the Youth Workshop in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And, of course, the Studio Theatre, which has a wide range of entertainment lined up and ready for the moment when lock-down rules are lifted.

For more information, and entertainment visit: www.archwaytheatre.com

Written by Carol Hall

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april 2020 e-bulletin

29/4/2020

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Our April e-newsletter is out! Subscribe to our mailing list to get all the latest news from NewSPAL direct to your inbox via our Contacts page.

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NewSPAL – 2020 Annual Review and Statement on COVID-19 impact

7/4/2020

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From the Chairman: Mark Welling

At a time of great anxiety when the lives of so many people are being hugely disrupted, we at NewSPAL want to send a message of solidarity and sympathy to all our volunteers, donors and supporters. Because each of us is involved, in some way, with performing arts groups we are acutely aware of the particular challenges facing such groups, with the consequential impact on the lives and livelihoods of the many freelance professionals (conductors, leaders, instrumentalists, music directors, accompanists, teachers etc) who work with those groups.

Our first priority has been to take steps to follow Government guidance. Even before Surrey Libraries closed their doors, we suspended the cataloguing work at Ewell Library which was being done by our small army of wonderful volunteers. Our Transition Project Manager, Victoria Taylor, will be working from home (there are many strands of the project which can continue to be worked on “virtually”). Our trustees will be meeting “virtually” for the time-being. It is too soon to know what the wider implications will be for the NewSPAL project but the trustees will be keeping that under careful review and updating regularly through the NewSPAL e-newsletter and website.

Before the COVID-19 emergency broke over us all, we had prepared an Annual Review to let you know what we had achieved in the first year since Surrey County Council’s momentous decision to allow us to proceed with the NewSPAL project. For reasons of accountability and transparency, we think it is still important to circulate the Annual Review. For the reasons given, it does not make reference to the effects of the COVID-19 emergency.

To read the Annual Review please click here.

Mark Welling

M. R. Welling
Chairman

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