Begone 2020
A Happy New Year to you all. We hope you had a lovely if perhaps slightly weird Christmas and that you’re fit and well. I’ve just kicked 2020 into touch and said goodbye to a dreadful year. Bring on 2021 I say. Surely it can’t be any worse than 2020.
But hey, the Barn is still here and after a few first-class Zoom performances we’re now all set for more including, hopefully, a few live audiences in the main auditorium which Simon will allude to in his Comments column.
I hope you all agree that the Barn Advent Calendar was a huge success. Entertaining and full of good cheer each day. A HUGE thank-you to Louise Wallace, John Cook and Rob Wallace for putting it together and all who contributed.
Mike Smith
Editor
JANUARY 2021
From the Chair
Welcome to January’s Barn News
Happy New Year – all of us are probably saying that with more feeling than in most years after 2020. I hope you managed to find some fun and entertainment over the holiday period, whether you were working or not, and I hope you greet the new year with renewed energy. A huge thank-you to everyone involved in the Barn Advent Calendar – especially Lou Wallace and John Cook who did so much to cheer us up!
The Barn remains in good shape financially and structurally. We have done some essential work but no more over the course of the last nine months, preserving the building and our bank balance.
Speaking of bank balances, we have now received our accounts which we can finally publish and finalise a date for our online AGM – another first for the Barn. We will publicise details with a Zoom link as soon as we have finalised them. Please join us if you can as we need a certain number to be quorate, and we will make time for any questions you might have, even if we don’t have all the answers…
As you may have gathered we have pushed back our planned re-start. I’m determined that we should follow the spirit of the guidelines as well as the letter, and I do not want to put anyone at risk. However careful we might be, having people meet indoors when it’s not necessary (however important theatre is to us) is, to my mind, something we should not do. However, we do hope to bring you some more theatre in February. Originally the guidelines were that we could have had some live audience, but of course that has changed now, and when we will be able to open our doors again is anyone’s guess. Estimates vary according to which newspaper one reads, but we’ll keep working on the productions, and continue to be as nimble as we can. As soon as we judge the risk has been managed we’ll be back.
Part of being back will be to rejuvenate the use of the studio – this amazing space to work in needs more use, and we’re still looking for somebody to take on the role of Artistic Director for it. Please give it some thought – you’ll be working closely with myself and Clive, get all the support you need, and have the chance to be part of something bright, fresh and exciting. Even if you’re only vaguely thinking about it, give me a call!
Such a trying year for us all – both personally and in terms of the Barn. Thank you for sticking with us as we battle through the next few months, and I look forward to welcoming you all back in 2021.
Simon Parr
Chairman
Membership
Obituary: Pam Farlie
Pam died on 6th December.
In the Welwyn Drama Club, before the formation of the Barn Theatre Club, Eric Farlie is first mentioned lighting a production in 1957. After a flirtation with FOH jobs, Pam assisted Eric with lighting in many productions for the Drama Club.
30th June 1931 - 6th December 2020
In the period immediately after the amalgamation in 1969 Pam started as ASM for Fings Ain’t Wot They Used T’Be, the inaugural show. Forming a lighting duo to accompany Eric’s many set designs, she was involved in 34 productions in 10 years. They seemed ever-present, available, skilful and made useful suggestions to directors. Their enthusiasm can be deduced, for example, in the early summer of 1983: at the Barn they lit the spoof cartoon strip The Fosdyke Saga in March, The Dresser in April and Joe Orton’s farce Erpingham Camp for the Welwyn Festival in June. These latter two went on to play on consecutive evenings in Northampton and Buxton festivals, winning both, and playing in other locations during the month. Pam and Eric lit both, as well as their commitments to the Campus Music Hall and the occasional one-night stands of The Barnstormers. Quietly professional, they were inevitably in demand, not only because of their theatre skills but because they were a pleasure to work with. They were involved in many festivals and won a plethora of stage presentation awards.
Pam also tried her hand at stage management, very successfully. She was a quiet but firm presence. Once, when we were taking a set down on a Sunday morning, and well aware of my lack of handyman abilities, she put a hammer in my hand and said ‘Do as little damage as possible!’.
The list of productions in which she was involved, often but not always with Eric, dominates large sections of the archives. Also the archives reveal that at some time, all four of their children were involved in Barn activities. Even their choice of abode seemed Barn-oriented: their three successive houses moved closer to the Barn over the years, ending on the doorstep in Barnside. They were also with The Interluders / Hertfordshire Players from the outset in 1964.
Pam seemed a quiet personality but had a ready wit and a firm opinion. She enjoyed the social side of club affairs and the company of other members. Highly knowledgeable on theatrical matters technical, she was not afraid to air her opinions of the club’s productions. Her last outing was assisting with set construction for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in 2003.
We send our condolences to the family and her many friends. It’s easy to say that the Barn will not seem the same without her, but it’s true. We had not seen much of her for a couple of years as her health declined, but we will miss her in so many ways
Keith Thompson
Andrew Powell
We have just received news of the sad death of Andrew Powell. He first became involved with the Barn playing the lead in The Country Wife in 2002. Over the next few years he directed a festival play and appeared in Closer, The Weir, Godspell, September Tide and Hysteria. He probably remains in the memory of members for his outstanding performance as Rooster Byron in Rosemary Bianchi’s production of Jerusalem in 2012.
Johnny 'Rooster' Byron
Jerusalem 2012
Regrettably he had no further contact with us from then on, spending his time, as far as we know, further north in the county where he had his own business, and more recently in Brighton.
An interesting and knowledgeable actor, he was a valuable addition to any company. We send our sincere condolences to his family and friends.
An appreciation
Andrew Powell’s death is just so sad, and I know our thoughts and condolences are with his family. He was a real character – huge fun with a wonderful wit – and he was great company.
Andrew was also one of the finest actors to grace the Barn stage. The Barn production of Jerusalem was superb: we often hear about productions being ‘as good as the West End’ when in the vast majority of cases they are certainly not, but this production came as close as anything I’ve seen in amateur theatre, and Andrew’s performance was simply superb.
Andrew and I talked (online) about another shared passion, cars. He was full of insightful opinions and advice. I asked him a few months ago how he was coping with the lockdown and he said ‘ok’ as he felt he was ‘a natural recluse’. Clearly he wasn’t coping.
These are very difficult times and a sad reminder about the need to reach out to people, many of whom may be suffering, often in silence
Barn Council minutes December
George Blee
We heard recently that long-standing member George Blee, who moved to Christchurch a while ago, has had a series of falls at home and is currently in hospital. After being admitted he contracted Covid although apparently not with the most serious symptoms.
We wish him well.
Thank you Barn!
Generous Barn members have boosted the funds of Friends of Herts Young Homeless by sending in photos of their Christmas decorations, accompanied by a donation. The group was to have benefited from the City of Tomorrow charity preview, programmed for 23rd April – and we all know what happened to that!
So, in an effort to raise much-needed funds, Friends of HYH mounted a competition for the best dressed Christmas tree and asked Simon Parr, your Chairman, if it would be possible to send out the appeal to Barn members, alongside the City of Tomorrow publicity. He agreed, and you’ve responded – with a total of £540 to date, and rising!
Dorothy Smith, one of the group founders, said: ‘The Friends of HYH send huge thanks to the many Barn members who supported our Christmas tree competition, and to the Chairman for his support in promoting the event.
‘We’re a small group, operating from Welwyn Garden City and Harpenden, set up by volunteers to raise much-needed funds for specific Herts Young Homeless projects. Our current campaign will help to support local youngsters as they move on from temporary accommodation.’
Closing date for the competition was the 5th January, but you can still send in a donation and make a difference anyway – it’ll go to a good home!
If you’d like to know more about the work of Friends of Herts Young Homeless, or make a donation, please contact [email protected]
Thank you!
Carol Bush
City of Tomorrow update
In December the 15-strong cast gave two live, streamed readings from their own homes. If you missed it, the recorded version will soon be available, courtesy of the multi-talented John Cook. For details, please go to www.barntheatre.co.uk
September in the Rain
By John Godber
Directed by Cliff Francis
CAST
Jack – Simon Parr
Liz – Mary Powell
CREATIVE TEAM
Director – Cliff Francis
Stage Manager – Sharon Francis
Sound – James Rowles
Lights – Nick Mogg
Prompt – Anne Woolmington
Costumes – Anne-Marie Austin
Props – Kris Moore
Zoom play readings
One tiny part of the Barn has been keeping in touch since the first lockdown: the Daytime Play Reading Group – enjoying discovering short, out-of-copyright plays and learning how to use Zoom technology to keep drama going.
Now, with guest visits and shared tips from COPs, Digswell Players and Shattered Windscreen members, we’re enjoying our forays into Zoom theatre.
Before we say what we were up to in December, see the new dates and times. Any member is welcome to come along and ‘sit in’ prior to taking part. We now cast plays ahead of the readings to give folk a chance to practise!
Tuesday 19th January, 10.30am to 12 noon: teach-in on handling Irish accents followed by Spreading the News, written by Augusta Gregory, Director of the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, where the play was first performed on 27th December 1904.
Tuesday 16th February: teach-in on handling Shakespearean dialogue followed by an abridged version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Yvana
Most of the plays we’ve read online in recent months have been one-acters, but on Wednesday 9th December we were more ambitious, taking on a full-length drama. This was Steve Thompson’s Feed the Beast, a political play that read as if the ink were not yet dry, but was actually written in 2015. Steve kindly allowed us to use it, and supplied the file which was circulated to readers.
The play concerns an ambitious and abrasive new prime minister, contemptuous of his predecessor, jealous of his privacy, determined to avoid personality politics and focus on the issues of government. He refuses to court the press, so they go digging. He brings in a new press officer – ruthless, Machiavellian – who makes problems disappear, whose methods it were better not to know. You might think of Thomas Cromwell, or – more recently – what was his name? The one who revitalised the tourist industry of Barnard Castle. You know the one.
Given the length of the play (not especially, but time does funny things on Zoom) we changed actors in midstream, having no fewer than four incarnations of the one prime minister – a bit like Doctor Who (a nod to another entry in Steve’s CV). This worked remarkably smoothly – we were told beforehand which scenes we would be in, and when to hand over, and we took notice, remembering when to turn on, and off, our microphones and video cameras.
Many of us have learnt a lot this year. There’s a world of difference between turning up at the Barn to be given a library copy of a play and booting up a device and arranging its screen to display a text on one side and a talking face on the other. People still new to it turn up, flummoxed, with varied kit – laptops, iPads, smartphones – and are initiated with ad hoc tutorials.
Plans are currently being laid for the first play-readings of the new year – watch this space!
Christmas cornucopia
‘Tiers 4’ was on the horizon, with designs to interrupt Christmas on 16th December, when we met to share poems, songs and readings – all designed to see in winter with a smile.
Songs such as Little Road to Bethlehem sung by Rachel Thomas, poems such as Smile by Spike Milligan, read by Steph Dunn, and A Christmas Carol usually sung by Tom Lehrer but read for us by Derek Palmer. Readings such as Bah! Humbug about a grumpy Father Christmas, read by Stuart Handysides, and Nativity by Joyce Grenfel, read by Hazel Halliday.
After topping up our plates with pies and rolls and our cups with coffee or tipple, it was time for Dickens who, after all, some consider ‘invented’ Christmas.
Parts were shared out then and there as an adapted extract from The Pickwick Papers had been delivered to our emails just in time for our gathering. Stuart Handysides had edited so many of those Dickensian flourishes to give us Christmas Day in Dingley Dell to enjoy. Gender-blind casting meant actors tried out their manly or girlish tones, Trevor Watkins channelled his posh for Mr Pickwick and Paul Russell his cockney for Sam Weller, while Jan Palmer Sayer ably set the atmosphere of the scenes and Derek Palmer gave us his mellow Dickens. Lovely stuff.
We slipped in The Ghost of Christmas Present read by Sandra Mantella from Digswell and finished with a singalong of A Winter Wonderland led by Rachel before switching off all that Zoom jollity, removing our Christmas costumes and returning to reality.
Yvana Reeves
Barn Review: The Best Man
Danny Swanson – thankfully trousered – stars in The Best Man, a one-man dark comedy streaming live nightly over Zoom. Swanson depicts Bailey, the seemingly bubbly best man at his oldest friend’s wedding. What begins as a classic best man’s speech, featuring anecdotes about childhood and ‘the Alpha Boys’, rapidly descends into something altogether darker – and more interesting. Revelations are ever more engrossing as the groom’s deeply disturbing past is revealed and, as the show’s description states, ‘the future not so much toasted as roasted’.
Swanson’s Bailey proves a captivating figure throughout the play, his longstanding resentment gradually seeping through as his speech begins to turn. Even watching on a laptop screen, it’s impossible to look away. Occasionally, the lack of live audience is apparent. Bailey’s best man one-liners would likely have elicited laughs in a full theatre but are here met only with silence.
However, Glyn Maxwell’s brilliant poetic verse – coupled with Swanson’s assured performance – ensures the pace never drops. There is a constant feeling throughout The Best Man that you’re in safe hands. Aforementioned writer Glyn Maxwell ably takes on directing duties for the first time, while leading man Danny Swanson directed the show in its previous runs. These are clearly two men with complete knowledge and control of their material, and it shows on the stage.
To have put on a show of this polish at a local theatre, however, is no mean feat. This represents the first time the Barn have filmed in a three-camera setup, and the directing is never anything other than spot-on. The set – as ever for the Barn – is highly impressive. The stage could genuinely have passed for a real wedding venue over camera, with the illusion not broken once over the one-hour duration of the play.
It may be worth reporting that, even for this error-prone technophobe, accessing this live stream over Zoom proved simple. A few clicks, no need to install anything, and I was away. Dare I say, a simpler experience than actually going to the theatre. Most crucially, this piece proves that – even if we should remain in the grip of this pandemic for a while yet – the Barn Theatre will be well-positioned to provide a bumper year of live theatre in 2021.
I’ll iron my pants.
Singers at the Barn
20 years of friendship
Here we are, full of Christmas pudding and the big promise of a more constructive New Year.
I keep my fingers crossed that eventually there will be light at the end of this long tunnel for all Barn activities to return, and Singers at the Barn will once again welcome talented performers to sing at this wonderful venue.
I have been so blessed over 20 years to witness many friendships being made at the Barn and a few going on to become sincere relationships. To have the chance to share your passion of singing with another person or two can be so positive, fun and very uplifting. It comes highly recommended.
So here are my last few pictures showing a few singing partnerships through the years as we begin to look to a bright future of making more friends at the Barn with new performances, music and song.
I raise a glass to you all and wish you a happy safe New Year.
Lesley Thomas
Spotlight on Siobhán Hill Elam
Actor, director, ancestry nerd, besotted granny
What is your favourite show and why?
I think that when it comes to a particularly special memory, the one that finally gets chosen must be Julius Caesar, directed by Jack Wood. It was the year 2000 so, unlike other shows, I always remember when we did it! Jack had made the (somewhat ahead of his time) decision to cast the roles not as men or women, but simply people, so all the best parts were open to be played by actors of either gender.
As a result, when we went to the Felixstowe Drama Festival, I had the great good fortune to pick up the Best Actress Award for playing Mark Antony. I didn’t know this, however, until a week after the event. I’d booked to go on holiday before we got our date at Felixstowe, so had to leave before the end of the adjudication to get down to Gatwick. On my return from Italy, there was a message left by Jack on the answerphone, which consisted mostly of deliberately created interference sounds, so that he could string it along as long as possible. Only when I rang him back did I get the result, which was immensely gratifying. Especially as it was the only acting award I ever won!
What’s the best show you’ve been involved in?
It’s always difficult when asked to give any response that involves the word ‘best’. Different shows are great for so many different reasons. One show that I enjoyed enormously was not just because of what we did on stage, but for what we did together elsewhere. We had a lovely company spirit with this one, and that was Gigi, directed by Jan While. I had the great fun of playing Gigi’s mother, a would-be singer, who was truly dreadful, so I didn’t have to try too hard with that aspect of her character! The really great extra thing about the production was our trip on Eurostar, in the depths of January, when there was snow on the ground, to Paris, where we visited so many places associated with Colette, the author of the play.
What story does your family always tell about you?
This is a hard one, because I don’t come from that sort of family. Perhaps my answer is best illustrated by the response I once got from my mother when I said, in a grumpy mood one day, that she never said anything nice about me. ‘Yes, I do,’ she said, ‘I always say nice things about you behind your back!’
If you could have lunch with any three people (real or fictitious/dead or alive) which three people would you choose and why?
I’ve thought about this before and have had different choices over the years. Sometimes I think it would be nice to meet your heroes and see what they’re really like behind the public persona, but then again, perhaps not. I do think I’d probably like to meet William Shakespeare, because he’s such a mysterious person when it comes to our biographical knowledge, but his works more than hint at a fascinating and very wise person. There are lots of questions I’d like to ask him. Then, one of his contemporaries, Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Ireland’s charismatic lost leader. From the world of fiction, it would probably be the gloriously laconic and world-weary New York detective Lennie Briscoe, so beautifully played by Jerry Garcia over many episodes of Law and Order. (If he wanted to bring along his nice friend Detective Ed Green aka Jesse L Martin, I’d be happy to draw up an extra chair…)
If given complete freedom to start afresh, what profession would you choose and why?
Once upon a time I would have answered this question easily, and said that I would have chosen to act professionally. When I was young, it was not an option for a number of reasons and so it had to be a hobby. Now, with my sensible old head on, I wouldn’t dream of it, as I know I don’t have the sort of personality that you need to have to sustain yourself in that very difficult world where, unless you’re very lucky indeed, you won’t make a living. Also, I’m quite wary, given the old advice about not turning something you love into the means of earning your living because you’ll stop enjoying it. So, that rules out a lot of stuff! I think I’m pretty satisfied with the choice that I made.
What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
It has to be my decision to join the Metropolitan Police. My mother laughed when she heard I wanted to do it, and old school friends fell off bar stools laughing when they heard I’d actually done it. I think that’s all that needs to be said!
If you were to change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
A very dear friend of mine, who sadly died this year, always used to take the mickey out of me for my cautiousness. (My response that, given that I had in the past chosen to go out with HIM, so that was hardly true, never cut any ice!) So, maybe that’s it, that I could be slightly less risk-averse. But that’s the only one I’m prepared to admit to!
If you were stranded on a lonely beach, what are the five things you’d want to have with you?
A decent bed, mattress and warm bedclothes. Camping has never been my style. (Does that count as three?) Reading glasses and enough books to last me for the duration. A toolbox of tools to build a hut (see above!).
What is one of your favourite quotes?
A few years ago, I practised as a hypnotherapist for a while, and picked up all sorts of inspirational quotes, many of which I’m still very fond of. One of these is attributed to Calvin Coolidge, US president from 1923 to 1929. He said ‘Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent’.
What is your most cherished childhood memory?
Without a shadow of a doubt, my happiest times as a child were the weeks spent every summer with my maternal grandparents. While my brothers and I were born and bred in Dublin, my mother came from Kent, and had only gone to live in Ireland after she and my father married. Every summer, we got the boat to Liverpool, an overnight trip in a very cosy little cabin, followed by a long train journey from Lime Street down to the Medway towns. We spent four weeks there, the only time in the year we ever saw any of our relatives. It was heaven. Also, the English weather was much better!
If given a chance to skip work for a day, how would you spend the entire day?
Hard to say, really, given that I haven’t done a decent day’s work for nearly 16 years! Having contributed for 30 years to a good pension scheme, I was one of those who was lucky enough to be able to retire early. As is said by so many people now in that privileged position, I really don’t know where I ever found the time to go to work!
The critics’ Christmas crackers
FROM THE USA…
Re Uncle Vanya: ‘If you were to ask me what Uncle Vanya is about, I would say about as much as I can take’.
Re a Broadway comedy: ‘The play opened at 8.40 sharp and closed at 10.40 dull’.
Robert Benchley, master of the short criticism. Re Abie’s Irish Rose, he wrote: ‘See Hebrews 13.8’. (For those Barn members without a bible handy, this verse reads ‘Jesus Christ. The same yesterday, today and forever’.)
Re Pride and Prejudice on Broadway: ‘Farley Granger played Mr Darcy with all the flexibility of a telegraph pole’.
Re Vincent Price as Abraham Lincoln: ‘Had Booth not taken the job on himself, he would have been shot by every dramatic critic in Ford’s Theatre on that fateful night’.
AND THE WEST END…
Ian McKellen as Hamlet: ‘The best thing about Mr McKellen’s Hamlet is his curtain call’.
Laurence Olivier as Lear: ‘He handicapped himself by wearing a beard and mane so stupendous that his voice came to me as though he were talking through a tree’.
Re Evita: ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina is inferior as a melody to the ones I used when a boy to hear improvised on a saxophone outside the Albert Hall by a busker with only three fingers on his left hand’.
The revival of Godspell: ‘For those who missed it the first time, this is your golden opportunity: you can miss it again’.
Alternative Dialogue
The Editor would welcome any new photos and captions for next month.
Please email them to us here:
Hover over the images below to see our ideas…
Comedy Corner
A Barnsley couple who had been going to Blackpool for 40 years decided they should try Spain for a change. They booked up and the day arrived. They’re in the queue for checking in and the wife says ‘How exciting, 2 weeks in the sun’. The husband says ‘Yes, great but we should have brought the piano’. She says ‘Piano? Why?’. He says ‘I’ve left the tickets on top of it’.
Just done my good deed for today! I’ve just come back from Tesco where I was behind an old lady in the queue. Her bill came to £56.83, but when she counted out all her change, she only had just under £40. I thought she was probably someone’s Nan, and I’d like to think someone would help my Nan in that situation. She didn’t want me to help her, but I insisted, and in no time we had all her shopping back on the shelves…
A group of guys, all turning 40, discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was agreed they would meet at Wetherspoons in St Albans because the waitresses had big breasts and wore mini-skirts. 10 years later, at age 50, the friends again discussed where they should meet for lunch. Finally it was decided they would meet at Wetherspoons in St Albans because the waitresses were attractive, the food and service was good, and the beer selection was excellent. 10 years later, at age 60, the friends again discussed where to have lunch. Finally it was decided they should meet at Wetherspoons in St Albans because there was plenty of parking, they could dine in peace and quiet with no loud music, and it was good value for money. 10 years later, at age 70, the friends again discussed where to have lunch. Finally it was decided they should meet at Wetherspoons in St Albans because it was wheelchair-friendly and there was a toilet for the disabled. 10 years later, at age 80, the friends again discussed where to have lunch. Finally it was decided they should meet at Wetherspoons in St Albans because they’d never been there before.
A friend told me he managed to buy a new perfume for his wife for Christmas. He asked me if I knew if it was any good. It was called Tester.
Clive’s Advent Quiz
The questions
1 What connects the Barn’s Christmas offerings in 2005 and 2015?
2 Wham’s Last Christmas was actually a double A-side single. What was the other song?
3 How many birds in total were gifted in The Twelve Days of Christmas?
4 A manger is normally found in a barn (but not ours!). But what’s normally found in a manger?
5 In The Nightmare Before Christmas what is the name of Jack Skellington’s dog?
6 Which classic play, from our 2005 season, opens with the lines ‘Hide the Christmas tree carefully, Helen. Be sure the children do not see it until this evening, when it is dressed’?
7 Which Alan Ayckbourn play features a puppet performance of The Three Little Pigs?
8 How many ghosts visit Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol?
9 Which historic play from the Barn’s 2019 season takes place at Christmas?
10 What is the festive connection between the protagonist of the film Kes; the antagonist of Disney’s The Aristocats; and the protagonist of the stage musical Spring Awakening?
The answers
1 Both were by Lewis Carroll: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass
2 Everything She Wants
3 184 (cumulatively) or I allowed 23: one partridge, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds, six geese and seven swans
4 Hay or other feed for horses or cattle
5 Zero
6 A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen
7 Season’s Greetings
8 Four (Jacob Marley is the first. And all four are referred to by Dickens as ‘ghosts’)
9 The Lion in Winter by James Goldman (the word ‘historic’ in the question ruled out The Priory and The Railway Children)
10 They share their names with the Three Wise Men, or Three Kings, or Magi: (Billy) Casper, (Edgar) Balthazar, and Melchior (Gabor). Okay, the first magus spelled his name Caspar but it’s close enough!
