NEWSLETTER APRIL 2024
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Hi Everyone
I am sure like me the warmer weather cannot come fast enough for you. So much wind and rain this Winter, I have
never known it so bad. My heart goes out to all those people whose homes have been flooded. It must be really
devastang.
Bearing in mind how the weather affects us all, we tried to bring a lile light relief with our 24 Hour Musical,
“Pirates of Penzance” in February. How amazing they all were! Just 24 hours to put on this tremendous show. Well
done to everyone involved especially the director, Kate Benne.
April brought us “Stones in his Pockets” - just two actors playing a total of 15 characters. Harry Rippon and Jamie
Pos worked extremely hard to achieve this and I know from the feedback I received it was well worth the
effort. Many congratulaons to them both.
In rehearsal at the moment is another two hander “Trestle” (27th May/ 1st June) - see below for further details of
this and all our other forthcoming producons this year.
Hope to see you all at our next producon.
Best wishes
Dawn
Best wishes
Dawn Smithers, Chairperson
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
‘An actor without techies is a naked person standing in the dark trying to emote. A techie without actors is a person
with marketable skills.’- Mark Leslie
TRESTLE
SURPLUS WOMEN
CIDER WITH ROSIE
THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER
27th to 1st June 2024
17th to 24th August 2024 (Sat - Sat) @ 12 noon
17th to 24th August 2024 (Sat - Sat)
21st to 26th October 2024
FORTHCOMING PLAYS & EVENTS
…Difficult to miss, but in case you haven’t no�ced we have a new sign adjacent to the box office and highly visible
through the windows of the theatre. How many �mes have we heard people say ‘I didn’t even know the theatre
was there’? Well now the word
is emblazoned in red neon lights for all to see, so we’re making our presence felt and no mistake!
TH�ATRE
UP IN NEON …
We are now invi�ng submissions for our 2025 season. If you have a play or plays you would like to put forward for
considera�on, please contact our Ar�s�c Director, Stuart Smithers - sws57@hotmail.co.uk
CALLING ALL DIRECTORS…
… for the first �me in many a long year, we have a pantomime planned for December. S�ll in the planning stage,
further details will follow, so WATCH THIS SPACE!
STOP PRESS …
Hot on the heels of ‘Stones in his Pockets’, rehearsals have just started for our May produc�on, ‘Trestle’ by Stewart
Pringle, winner of the 2017 Papatango New Wri�ng Prize. This is a bi�ersweet comic drama about later life, love
and community. Harry and Denise meet by chance at the village hall. They are both of a certain age. For Harry, life
is beginning to �ck down, his autumn years spent quietly caring for the community he loves. Denise thinks life
begins in re�rement and she’s dancing like she’s s�ll at high school. The play is directed by Richard Greenhorn, a
long-standing member of the Players.
Our Fes�val 2024 produc�on is the much loved ‘Cider with Rosie’ by Laurie Lee. This charming autobiographical
play with music charts Lee’s early years growing up in a Gloucestershire village a�er the First World War. This is an
ensemble piece and we welcome to the stage no fewer than 14 actors, many of them new to the Players. Following
her very successful produc�on of ‘Kindertransport’ last year, Gill Lambourn is very much looking forward to
direc�ng this beau�ful and very challenging play in the Arundel Fes�val at the end of August.
Con�nuing the series, ‘Short Cuts at the Priory’, our one act play in the Arundel Fes�val this year will be ‘Surplus
Women’, wri�en by Stuart Smithers and directed by Helen Harries-Rees. The play is a ‘shared monologue’ and
follows the trials and tribula�ons of a First World War widow. This is once again presented in collabora�on with
Drip Ac�on’s Theatre Trail.
Next up we have our October produc�on, ‘The Suspicions of Mr Whicher’ adapted for the stage by Alexandra
Wood, from the book by Kate Summerscale. Audi�ons will be held on 15th May and full details appear in the
Audiion No�ce set out below. For this her debut produc�on with the Players, we welcome a very experienced
director, Yasmin Nixon, who will be looking for eight or more actors to bring this intriguing Victorian murder
mystery to life. The available parts vary in size and complexity so why not come along and try your hand. Yasmin is
keen to nurture new talent!
FORTHCOMING PRODUCTIONS
FOR BOOKINGS VISIT OUR WEBSITE arundelplayers.co.uk or RING THE BOX OFFICE 07523 417926
It is the Summer of 1860 and in the outside privy of an elegant country house the dead body of a small boy is
found, strangled and stabbed. Shockingly, clues point to the murderer being a member of his well to do family.
Celebrated detec�ve Jonathan Whicher from Scotland Yard is called to inves�gate but this case challenges him in
ways he never expected.
20 years later, s�ll haunted by the case and on the eve of his re�rement, Whicher visits the murderer and as they
replay the past the terrible truth is revealed.
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher is an adapta�on of the 2008 novel by Kate Summerscale; it was also made into a TV
mini-series, airing in 2013/14.
There is a cast of 20 plus characters: Maids, a cook, a Policeman, a Governess, a Vicar and even a nun!
Rehearsals will begin in late August / September 2024 and rehearsal evenings will vary according to cast
availability.
Performance Dates: 21st – 26th October 2024
Audition Date: WEDNESDAY 15th MAY AT 7.00 PM.
Directed by Yasmin Nixon
(adapted for the stage by Alexandra Wood)
THE SUSPICIONS OF MR WHICHER
AUDITION NOTICE
In the original stage produc�on of 2023, eight actors (4m and 4f) told this intriguing story, many playing different
age ranges – from 15 to 60. There are some lovely character parts with plenty of opportunity for drama and
intrigue. Parts are also adaptable to accommodate a smaller or larger cast and there are opportuni�es for anyone
new to ac�ng who would like a small part.
Two characters, one male (Jonathan Whicher) - approximately 50-60) and one female (Constance who is in her late
30s but reenacts scenes as a young girl and a young woman), remain the same throughout the play.
If you would like to see a script, or are unable to come to the audi�on, please email yasmin.nixon@me.com.
Yasmin will let you have a script/arrange an alterna�ve date for audi�on.
Yasmin looks forward to seeing you all at the audi�on which is open to all whether or not you are an exis�ng
member of the Players.
FOR BOOKINGS VISIT OUR WEBSITE arundelplayers.co.uk or RING THE BOX OFFICE 07523 417926