LGP events at the Village Hall

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Hallmark February 1955 ' LGP Dinner Theatre. 'A Fete Worse than Death'

The title was on the programme, it would not be mine. We expect a good evening from any L.G.P. entertainment and we were not disappointed. Last year's Supper Theatre was on one evening only and crowded to capacity; this year we had two evenings and it was still a "sell-out". With a different arrangement of tables and the main courses served from a buffet, we were asked table by table to go up and make our selection, with the younger L.G.P. members only serving the first course and collecting the plates etc. This worked very well as far as I could see taking tables in order and reversing that for the next course was a fair and sensible way of ensuring that people did not have to wait too long either at table or at the buffet. The bar was available well before the first course of dips and crudités, after which we had the first part of the entertainment: “The Lily the Pink Singers" - a short play set in L.G. Village Hall one wet evening, based on "The Spring Song Singers” by Richard Tydeman. I could not see who had written the descriptions of the actors/characters in the programme but they were very funny and worth reading. Peter Brookhouse directed the play, which made an amusing opening to the entertainment. Relating it to our village hall and thinking, perhaps, of the local choir added to the situation and if the characters were an exaggeration on real life, we could probably fit them, Loosley, to people we know certainly they seemed to suit ‘the players. That really means they entered into their parts completely. Without singling out each actor, I must say that I enjoyed Helen Titchen as the accompanist and feel she will be missed when she leaves the village shortly, temporarily we hope.

After enjoying my choice from the buffet selection of Hot Tuna and Prawn bake, Coronation Chicken, savoury flans and ham, with salad and jacket potatoes, it was relaxing to listen to "Glad to be Grey", a musical interlude of madrigals and arrangements of what was termed “rustic music" for four voices. These were very well performed, indicating much skill and rehearsal and | think the applause spoke for the enjoyment the music gave.

"Gosforth's Féte" by Alan Ayckbourn, was the final offering when we had eaten our delicious sweets. It had a small cast: Ann-Noel Clark was Milly Carter, an earnest, not so young school teacher in charge of teas, engaged to Stuart Stokes (Ray Gosling), a stolid, convential scout/cub leader, with his baggy shorts and old-fashioned scout hat set squarely on his head. Chris Tyrer was the "caricature" Vicar we all enjoy seeing in farces - "over the top" but playing the part with gusto, misquoting the bible and rushing round, although not exactly helping the situation. Rob Lenko was Gordon Gosforth, féte organiser, debonair village Lothario, not turning out as efficient as he would like to be but trying to prevent the disaster which threatened as so much started to go wrong. Then there was Emma Pearce, the local councillor, played by Madeleine Tate, coming to open the féte and making lame excuses for her absent husband. There would not be a play if everything went swimmingly and it didn't. The cubs would climb up the scaffolding not strong enough to take them, the sound equipment unaccountably did not work, the thunderstorm eventually broke. Naturally, when the sound equipment did begin to work, it was not noticed by our charming organiser and his most intimate conversation with Milly Carter was broadcast over the field, so that her fiancé rushed in to reproach her, then took to drinking the prize sherry to drown his sorrow, making him rather belligerent. The Vicar rushed into remonstrate, then tried to help pour tea from the urn, found he could not turn off the tap and finished up frantically holding cups under and emptying them back into the urn, while all sorts of other things were going on. Emma Pearce, with exquisite expressions, had been very patronising and condescending when she first arrived but after being encouraged to walk round the field before officially opening the fete and being caught in the thunderstorm, she turned up during the chaos covered in mud and with her fancy hat all askew. It only needed the scaffolding down the other end of the field to collapse and the electric equipment to explode, with a bang and much smoke, to complete the disaster.

It was so perfectly timed and so realistically awful but exceedingly funny and | know that took not only very good directing and acting but also wonderful behind-the-scenes organisation and sound and lighting effects. The play could not be faulted in that, it was really excellent and I have not laughed so much for a long time.

Congratulations to the director, Brian Panter, and to all the cast and backstage workers, particularly Mike and Chris.

Rachel Panter organised the meal and some of her assistants were with her in the first play, a very good effort in both undertakings.

Hallmark August 1998. 'The Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom!' Report by Madeline Cleaver.

Well, it ‘appened! T’ Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom was also T’ Lacey Green Productions’ invasion of t’ Village Hall instead of t’ barn down t’ road. To accomodate a large company in a major show the stage had to be rather large and the audience reduced, so the show was spread over two weeks of three evening and one afternoon performances. The problem with that is the “putting it off’ syndrome or “I'll wait and see, there’s plenty of time”. We chose to go on the first night and it would have been good if at least another 20 had done so, as there was no question of “warming up” and “getting into the swing as the week went by”. There were no hitches, the show was absolutely ready for performance, displaying great verve and obvious enjoyment by cast and audience.

We saw familiar faces and some not so familiar, but all gave a great performance, with a few outstanding. The problem of sharing parts - good in itself to give experience to some - is that I could not judge everyone in every part they played. However, knowing the director, there would still be a good performance from everyone. Ann Gosling played Gracie Trotter, who won the hero, for most performances, but Thea Stallwood and Cathy Sayer had their chance to take that part, while Ann took Cathy’s part one evening and Marcus Ridge played Lamborghini instead of Ray Gosling for two performances. I saw Ann in her main part, which of course came up to my expectations.

It is so nice to see families involved and see how they progress from show to show. We saw Karen Gosling bossing her dad, in their parts of course, while Katie Brookhouse has often had the chance to “put down” her father and, boys and girls, it’s all legit., in the name of art, - what are you waiting for? Ray Gosling was, as usual, very funny as Julius Brutus and Fred Howard, leader of the Cloggers did well with maintaining a North country accent, which is difficult for a southerner. As Lamborghini he made a good Elvis too but having enjoyed his parts in several shows and plays it would be good to see him in a large, straight part. James Moorcroft carried his part well through the whole play and was also Musical Director, which meant that with the whole family involved one way or another, the Moorcrofts must have been taken over by the R.I. of R. Linda, while not taking part in the show, spent a long, nerve-racking time playing the music for Mike Robbins to record and then turn into the “orchestrated” version used in the show and, like most mothers, needed to be much involved because husband and three children were taking part. If a mother takes a part as well as husband and children, who still need looking after, life must seem very full. Other mothers helped in other ways, costumes, make-up and so on, and at the end of the run everyone would be pretty exhausted but no doubt had a great deal of fun.

If it is not possible to mention more than a few names, I do have to mention outstanding people not only noted by me but mentioned to me by others, such as Rachel Panter as Renata Bolom, her secretary Bimba (Mari Cheesman) and especially Tasmin Ridge as Plonka the wine waitress but particularly as Little Lil the local milk stout drinker in the Roman’s Return.

The Production and Direction team did sterling work as always, and the whole company can be congratulated on their hard work and talent, which we all hope resulted in a sum raised which was satisfying to all concerned. I hope other teenagers went to see the show and will be tempted to take part in future, particularly the fellows. There’s talent there lads, in all senses of the word!

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Hallmark 2009 'It Runs in the Family' . reporter Peter Brookhouse

“My glasses steamed up with laughter” These are just two of the critics’ comments about our next production, “It Runs in the Family” by Ray Cooney. This full length play is an incredibly funny farce set in a hospital. It played to packed houses in London's West End in the early 1990’s and is LGP’s next play for the Village Hall at the end of November.

Ray Cooney is a master of farce writing and “It Runs in the Family” contains all the necessary farce ingredients. To give you a flavour — Dr David Mortimore is about to address a neurologists convention, which will probably earn him a knighthood. While putting final touches to his speech some chickens (from his past) come home to roost. Events are complicated by the presence of a police sergeant, a wandering senile patient, an assortment of matrons (real and otherwise), a syringe full of tranquiliser and costumes for the hospital pantomime.

The play is set in the period just before Christmas. So what could be better than to see a performance of this play as LGP’s celebration of the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Millennium Hall? There will be our normal dinner theatre performances on Friday and Saturday, November 27th and 28th at 8pm. Tickets are priced £19.

Plus, to accommodate all those who would like to have come to our plays in the past but couldn't get in, there will be an extra performance on Thursday, November 26th, For, practical reasons we cannot provide dinner with the Thursday performance but the usual bar will be open. Tickets for Thursday are priced at £8.

So far in 2009, LGP has chosen to support The Mary Dolly Foundation as our charity. This young, Bromley-based charity was founded in memory of Mary Dolly. She selflessly gave of her time and energy to help those who were less well off. Today the foundation helps and supports children and young people in need. They do this by providing one-to-one counselling in schools; they provide play therapy, drama therapy and art therapy and they help support families through stressful times, in order to prevent the disintegration of the family unit. In addition, the Mary Dolly Foundation also aims to help elderly people who may be cut off from basic services and the community in which they live.