BP News

AGM – Wednesday 21st June!!

Chairman's Corner

This will be the last Newsletter of the current season, and my last as Chairman of the Executive Committee. I have thoroughly enjoyed my 2 years in the Chair, and would like to thank the members of the Executive Committee for supporting me in this role.

One of my last tasks will be to give my Annual Report to the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday 21st June and I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

One of the items on the Agenda is 'the way forward' for the proposed new extension. It was agreed by the members that planning permission should be sought, and, as you know this has been granted. There will be a short presentation on 'where do we go from here?'. This will bring you up to date on the final details of the planning permission and the proposed next stage.

Thanks go the Tracy Hunt and her team for her production of 'Misery'. Not an easy play to produce, particularly for your first production in the main auditorium, but Tracy handled this with great assurance to produce a tense thriller. What a tour-de-force for the two actors involved, Gemma Van Praagh and Ken Torbett. It was such a pity that after all the hard work put into this production that it was only supported by small audiences on each night. Those that did, however, enjoyed an evening of fine acting from two dedicated and talented actors in this challenging production.

Before the Season finishes we have the Studio Production of 'Someone to Watch Over Me' from 14th-17th June. This play was inspired by the experiences of Brian Keenan, who was held with John McCarthy and Terry Waite in Beirut. The three hostages in this instance are Charles Plester, Stewart Thomas and Douglas Brooker who take on the roles of an American doctor, an Irish journalist and a British Academic. For Natalie Gordon this is her first role as Director. Don't be put off by the subject matter - there are many light-hearted moments in this thought-provoking superbly written play by Frank McGuiness.

Tickets for ‘The Boyfriend´ are selling well. This production is on at the beginning of July so could be classed as finishing off the current season whilst starting the next. It is also part of the Hitchin Festival so if you do not want to be disappointed then ring the Box Office now and book your tickets.

Finally it just leaves me to thank you all, members and patrons, for your continued support of the Society and the Queen Mother Theatre.