Reps Newsletter – August 2009

Greetings to you all. It has been some time since we had a newsletter, so here is an update on what is happening in and around Reps. It’s been chilly at night (and in the daytimes, too) of late, so numbers of people coming to the bar and the theatre have dropped, but with the hoped-for return of warmer weather in coming weeks, please get back into the habit if coming down to Reps for a drink or to see something on stage.

Bar tips
Many members have asked that a means be created to provide tips to the barmen via the membership card, so a new facility has been created on the computer for you to voluntarily put on a 25 cent tip with your card. Tell the barmen to do this or it won’t be effected. The money collected from this will be shared regularly among the barmen. Also to do with the bar, we are sourcing pies for sale from time to time – check with the barmen as to whether there are pies available when you are there. Chris Lander is also in attendance quite frequently to sell hot dogs, hamburgers and steak rolls and he gives a percentage to Reps from his sales.

Eisteddfod results bring credit to Reps members
A number of Reps people entered the recent Speech and Drama Festival and gained credit for themselves and for Reps. Well done to them all. Repteens results: Stephane Thomas (Monologue) – Honours; Craig du Preez (Monologue) – 3rd ; Stephane Thomas and Tristan Charnley (Duologue) – 3rd ; Craig du Preez and Gerald Chinyamunyore (Duologue) – 2nd ; Stephane Thomas, Tristan Charnley, Craig du Preez, Gerald Chinyamunyore, Ryan Charnley, Munyaradzi Magwara, Peter Blackburn, Alexander Blackburn (Group Improvisation) – 1st . Preps were also entered and co-ordinator Sue Evans was satisfied with results from her group. Society Secretary Erin Cooper also entered and obtained firsts for Shakespearean monologue and sonnet and shared a first with Thea Cutler for their duologue.

Wine, Women and Song in the Reps foyer
A unique entertainment is planned for August 29 and 30, when Wine, Women and Song is presented in the Reps Foyer. This is a quarterly entertainment aimed at members and the public. A line-up of female performers will present songs, music and other acts and dinner will be served, courtesy of Adrienne’s Restaurant. The bar will be open and there will be lucky ticket prizes. The cost is only $25 per person, including dinner and the entertainment. Booking can be done through The Spotlight and there are only 80 places each night, so we recommend you book early.

Coming soon
August is a quiet month on stage, but in rehearsal now are several upcoming productions: Teri Grimmel is directing the farce Funny Money, to run from September 3 to 19 on the Main Stage, while Debbie Fleming is rehearsing a large cast of singers and dancers for Broadway Hits and Musical Bits 2, which will run in the second half of October. Rehearsals will start soon for Graham Crutchley’s production of Humble Boy, to be staged in Theatre Upstairs in October, while Zane E Lucas is rehearsing a hire production to be staged in September/October – the first production of Cabaret to be staged in this country. The very amusing Funny Money replaces the planned Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and will feature Marc Thomas, Erin Cooper, Ryan Lawrence, Karen Howard-Beard and Mike Southall. BH and MB2 is a successor to Debbie’s award-winning show from August 2005 and again features songs from movies and stage shows.

Celebration time is coming
On January 13 next year the Reps Theatre complex will celebrate its 50th birthday, while the Repertory Players celebrate 80 years of performance on February 17 2011. With this in mind it has been decided to host a 13-month celebration called the 50/80 Anniversary, starting on January 13 2010 and ending on February 18 2011. A small committee made up of Stan Higgins, Teri Grimmel, Erin Cooper and Steve Bonney has been formed to steer this major commemorative period and news of their plans will start being filtered out very soon. The major, but not exclusive, focus of the celebration will be a project to upgrade Theatre Upstairs.

Reps actor makes good internationally
Wiina Msamati, well-known for his stage appearances in Harare in the 1990s and 2000s, especially under the Over The Edge banner, has achieved international fame in a number of areas. Among these are frequent performances in plays on the BBC World Service. Now he has scored his biggest success, this time using another of his first names, Lucian, as one of the stars of the No 1 Ladies Detective Agency television series, an offshoot of the successful series of novels, set in Botswana. The series is now screening on DStv’s
M-net channel on Mondays at 9.30pm, and well worth watching to see ‘one of our own’ in action on satellite television.

Did you know …
… that an appeal has gone out to seek a one-off voluntary donation from members to help Reps achieve all it needs to do in the next few months? If you can help, please advise Erin Cooper in the office – we are looking for small donations done on a voluntary basis as a one-off exercise to boost income.

Until next time, keep warm and well

Yours dramatically
Teri Grimmel, Chairman