SOCIETY STUFF
SOCIETY STUFF
NEWSLETTER
August 2016
H
aving searched for actors among the
amateur drama societies of the south
of England, Iris is pleased to announce the
TODS cast for Equally Divided will be:
It's August, so this month it'll be the
TODS STORE TIDY
AND BARBECUE
Sunday 28th August 10am - 4pm
The store's half the size it used to be, so
we only have half the area to tidy up. Do
make the most of it and come along to
Coombe Farm, Chennell Park Road,
T N 3 0 6 XA and leave it all pristine.
After the work's done we can get
stuck into the food and drink.
If we all bring food and drink to share,
we'll have loads of chicken, chops,
bangers, kebabs and maybe halloumi.
Definitely beer and wine and chat.
Edith Taylor
Renata Taylor
Charles Mowbray
Fabian Hill
Tina Gallagher
Anna Jury
John Roberts
Barry Thomas
There's a couple of ladies to welcome back
to our Town Hall stage: Anna has not been
seen for absolutely ages (since Party Piece,
is it?) and, apart from a Members' Evening,
Tina's only had but a moment on our stage
recently, in The House of Bernarda Alba.
Good to have you both back! Sadly, we all
know John and Barry.
Rehearsals are due to start later this month
and will lead up to four performances at the
end of October. TODS members will find a
priority ticket form accompanying this
newsletter. Sling yours off to JJ as soon as
you can, this is a marvellous play.
W
ould you like to be the light of our
lives? Are you of sound mind?
Is that a yes, or even a maybe? Then
perhaps you would like to learn how to do
theatre sound and lighting...
TODS is offering you the opportunity to
learn how to set up and operate all the
technical gubbins essentail to good theatre
productions. Perhaps you are a student, or
an older person who would like to pursue a
new and rewarding hobby.
And better still, it's free! Learn on the
job from the experience of our awardwinning engineers!
Fancy giving it a go? Please call Iris on
01580 291539 for a chat about lights, the
universe and everything.
FOOTLIGHTS
It'll be, err, alright on the night...
Xena Live: Episode II, Xena
Lives!!! The Musical
(About Face Theatre, Chicago: taken
from the SM's log)
"One hour prior to opening
night curtain, an urgent call
was received from the stage
manager’s boyfriend informing
the producer that the stage
manager was too ill to call the
show. Ms Shmucker [yes, her real
name, she was the producer] was
already drunk and had never seen
the entire show, nor had she
ever heard it called before.
Just when everything was going
to fall apart, a sound engineer
tripped on a cable and erased
the entire contents of the
digitizer, which hadn't been
backed up due to last minute
changes. I, the 18-year-old ASM,
was left with the task of
preparing the show and the cast.
3800 cues later Xena saved the
evening. Every cue was wrong. No
need to keep the track."
The Stage Hand
More backstage log entries
Ohhhhh… I sing you a song
Of the jolly, jolly stage hand,
Smash, crash, bang bash, hie wallop dee!
Stomping round the stage
In our brown Doc Martins,
Cheerful happy bands of clatterers are we.
Carefree, hey ho, clatter O ree.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(adaptation)
- The ASM's headset went off at
full volume just before curtains
opened, broadcasting his argument
with a member of the lighting
team to the whole stage.
- A member of the audience at the
top of the auditorium dropped a
penny which then continued to
roll down the stairs, clinking at
every step.
- A new stage hand decided to
fart loudly in the quiet moment
just before Oberon spoke his
line. The cast had to leave stage
left in fits of laughter.
Ohhhhh… Pony tails, bleached
And ripped old denims,
Bash, smash, bang, crash, crunchery roh!
Banging up flats
And bracing them with counter-weights,
Cleating up a line with a flick, a skilful throw
By heck, clever lads, bodgery O.
Ohhhhh… One or two jars in the Red Lion
first,
Slop, slurp, swig, burp, tiddly oh aye,
In through the stage-door,
Meet up in the scene dock,
Five card stud, we're playing deuces high.
Deal lad, ante up, sloshery rye.
Ohhhhh… Whose on tabs then?
Isn't this a scene change?
Clump, clang, clink, clank, thundery-dee.
If you're passing,
Check that loose tormentor, Bill.
Up into the grid, Tom, and check on
number three,
Rostrums, treads, a-bangery mee.
Ohhhhh… When we die, sir,
We don't simply fade away,
Flag, flop, droop, drop, thumpery O!
You'll still hear us,
In our brown Doc Martins,
Lots of ghostly bumps in every every show.
Cheers lads, see you, clump away O!
West Side Story (High school
production)
At the end of the scene where
Chino tells Maria that her
brother was killed, the actor
turned to open a door to go off.
On discovering this door would
not open, he walked around the
edge of the wall to leave,
causing the audience to burst out
laughing.
Othello (adaptation)
The director would like to know
if we can make the cloths that
the actors tear down fall slower.
ASM's response: No problem!
We'll just turn gravity down
backstage.
www.tods.me.uk
tods.tenterden@btinternet.com