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“Anne Boleyn” by Howard Brenton, directed by Nicki Pope. Audition Dates: Tue 5th & Thu 7th March 2019 at 7.45pm Performance Dates: 17th-22nd June 2019.

Hunting through an old chest, the newly crowned James I discovers the controversial legacy of Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s notorious second wife. Time jumps back 70 years, when the witty and flirtatious Anne was not only in love with Henry, but also with the most dangerous ideas of her day. Conspiring with the exiled William Tyndale, she plots to make England Protestant – forever.

“We Happy Few” by Imogen Stubbs, directed by Charles Plester. Audition Dates: Mon 4th & Wed 6th February 2019 at 7.45pm Performance Dates: 6th-11th My 2019.

“We Happy Few” follows the story of a group of women as they perform Shakespeare in village halls and schools around the UK during the Second World War. Based on the real-life exploits of The Osiris Players this, at turns funny and serious piece, has some great female roles with the added bonus of getting the chance to perform as Henry V, Macbeth, Hamlet and Julius Caesar.

“Constellations” by Nick Payne, directed by Grace Reinhold-Gittins. Audition Dates: Tue 11th & Thu 13th December 2018 at 7.45pm Performance Dates: 13th-16th March 2019 in The Richard Whitmore Studio.

‘Constellations’ is a multi-award winning play revolving around the idea that we are all apart of a universe in which at any moment several different outcomes can exist simultaneously. The two characters meet in a variety of scenes, showing different ways in which their encounters could have turned out as a result of factors ranging from previous relationships to the tone of voice used.

Blackadder. Directed by Sally Hull. Audition Dates: Mon 8th & Wed 10th October 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates: 25th Feb to 2nd Mar 2019.

I am delighted to announce that the Bancroft Players have agreed to my “cunning plan” to direct three episodes of Blackadder in Tudor times.

The Tudor episodes I have chosen are “Bells“, “Head” and “Money“.

“Beacons” by Tabitha Mortiboy. Directed by Vivien Kerr. Audition Dates: Mon 29th & Wed 31st October 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates: 16th-19th January 2019 in the Richard Whitmore Studio.

This is a play which looks at loneliness and aloneness, experienced in different ways by its three characters. It is set on Beachy Head at the end of the Summer and beginning of Autumn.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King, by ETA Hoffman. Directed by Rosemary Bianchi. Audition Dates:Tue 4th & Thu 6th September 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates: 7th-9th and 14th-16th December 2018.

It is Christmas Eve and party time! There are presents, a magician and a magnificent tree. One of the gifts is a Nutcracker Doll, but the children soon tire of it and it is thrown out, broken and forgotten. Outside in the snow, Marie rescues the doll and takes care of it and, as in the best fairy tales, it transforms into a brave prince. Just then the evil Mouse King and his Mousy Minions attack!

Bette and Joan, by Anton Burge. Directed by Elliott Bunker. Audition Dates:Mon 9th & Wed 11th July 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates: 31st October to 3rd November 2018.

By 1962, two of the silver screen’s great leading ladies, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, were has-beens. The women – both famed for playing strong independent characters, both with difficult personal lives and both a long way past 40 – had been replaced by a new breed of perky blonde stars.

Then they got an unexpected opportunity: playing opposite each other in what was to become a cult classic, Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?

A Bunch Of Amateurs, by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman. Directed By David Lester. Audition Dates:Tue 19th & Thu 21st June 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates:21st – 29th September 2018 (8 nights, to be confirmed).

This will be a fun play to do with the added challenge of how to be convincing as an amateur actor. And it comes with acting out some scenes from King Lear!

Keen to boost his flagging career, fading Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steele arrives in England to play King Lear in Stratford – only to discover that this is not the birthplace of the Bard, but a sleepy Suffolk village. And instead of Kenneth Branagh and Dame Julie Dench, the cast are amateurs trying to save their theatre from developers. Jefferson’s ego, vanity and insecurity are tested to the limit by our enthusiastic amateur thespians. As acting worlds collide and Jefferson’s career implodes, he discovers some truths about himself.

“The Father” by Florian Zeller, translated into English by Christopher Hampton. Audition Dates: Mon 25th & Wed 27th Jun 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates: 17th – 20th Oct 2018 in the Richard Whitmore Studio.

“The Father” is a French play that deals with the gradual development of dementia of the eponymous part. During the action we see the world from inside of his head as things seem to become more and more topsy-turvy

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare. Audition Dates: Mon 12th & Wed 14th March 2018 at 7.45pm. Performance Dates:2nd-7th uly 2018.

The QMT summer production is normally a show for all-comers. We like to field a large cast and this year it is co-production between The Bancroft Players and our famous Big Spirit Youth Theatre.

A Midsummer’s Dream by William Shakespeare of course needs no introduction – it’s by far the Bard’s funniest and most summery piece of work. The show will take place in the QMT as The Dell is not open to us. However, we will bring the warmth of a lovely summer evening into the Theatre with a very special and magical production.