Haunting Julia
What is it with shows about spooks this season? No sooner has that ghost train departed than there’s another supernatural being pulling up and wandering in the wings. One might assume, dear reader, that being a spectre is suddenly in vogue again, and that the emergence of THIS grey lady is somehow influencing the strange occurrences being acted out upon our stage. Either that, or there’s some selenium in our roof beams and the Barn has become a super-conductive antenna for pulling in spiritual turbulence!
So what of this Julia who is currently haunting the backstage area of the Barn? She comes with some incredible credentials, having been created by one of the country’s most prolific playwrights, Alan Ayckbourn, and the director, Maureen Davies, has proclaimed her to be much scarier than The Woman in Black – quite a bold claim indeed!
What I’ve been able to glean, from listening in to the conversations between the three wise men who now occupy Room 1, is that her death was both tragic and untimely; that she was a gifted young musician – a 19-year-old prodigy who was composing symphonies from the age of eight. Twelve years after her death, these three men are still haunted by memories of her.
‘But who are these men?’, I hear you ask. Well, one of them, Joe, is Julia’s father, and he’s never really come to terms with her death. He has convened a meeting with her former boyfriend, Andy, and a local psychic, Ken, in her old home. He insists her death was not suicide: they say it was, and that he’s living in the past.
I decide to tap up Maureen for some more answers. She discovered the play back in 2009, when she was directing Sugar Daddies; it was in the same Ayckbourn anthology and she was intrigued by it. “I thought the story was very good,” she says. “Although it’s a ghost story, the story itself is very moving. I knew straight away that I wanted to direct it.” She then saw the play in performance at the Riverside Studios and she was completely engrossed. “You could literally have heard a pin drop”, she reminisces. “There wasn’t a sound from the audience; no-one coughing, or moving, except when a certain piece of action made them jump out of their seats! They really were captivated by the play.”
Rehearsals are going very well: the three actors are gelling well together and are really getting into their characters. Both Doug Brooker and Neil Harrison are newcomers to the Barn; they play Joe and Ken respectively. They are joined by Harry Harding, who returns to the Barn stage after a couple of years’ absence, playing the boyfriend, Andy. Maureen tells me: “I think the challenge with a three-hander play is to keep it interesting. With so few actors on stage and limited amount of movement, it could become boring. But fortunately, I have three excellent actors and they’ve brought each character to life. The play zips along and holds the interest and the story of the play together.”
“So why should audiences come to see this show?” I tentatively ask. “Because it’s a ghost story, a very scary ghost story. It’s beautifully written and if you’re one of the many who like a good ghost story, then you’ll love this. On top of that, the Barn is the perfect venue for such a play as I’m given to believe that the Barn has its own ghost…”
I don’t know what, or who, she means!
Until next time, readers…
November 2022
From the Chair
Welcome to November’s Barn News
We’re already two shows into this season, with Blackadder upon us, and The Ghost Train in our wake, and we have just enjoyed Parlour Song… What an amazing variety of theatre we put on – but could we do more with the building?
Is there space for more art? Art exhibitions? Poetry reading? Outside theatre companies performing? Council this month will be looking at some themes for next year – as I’ve said, we’re already thinking about sustainability, inclusion, growing our membership, and growing membership involvement. I’ve had a couple of thought-provoking messages already but please do get in touch with any ideas.
Many of these things have occupied Council before – membership, more members volunteering, the right balance across the season, but inclusion is, perhaps, a new one to think about. I’ve briefly touched on this before – we often say our theatre is for everyone, and I genuinely think we mean it, but I still think there’s more we could do to recognise that just as we’ve changed a little over the years, society has changed round us, and we will need to react.
In the meantime, back to members getting involved…I’m going to repeat my advertisement from last month.
Finally HELP WANTED! Lucy Winston has, for the last few years, been doing a wonderful job running the administration for Barn Youth, but now needs to stand down. Please will you consider spending a few hours a week looking after class numbers, fees and the like. If you’d like to find out more, get in touch with Lucy at [email protected]
See you for Blackadder Goes Forth!
Simon Parr
Chairman
Membership & Council
Minutes for the Council Meeting September 2022
Please find the minutes of the meeting of the Barn Theatre Council held on
13th September 2022
Our membership news depends on information we get from YOU
New members
Alfie Hart
Membership level: Ordinary
Interests: acting, directing, lighting, stewarding
Valerie Kane
Membership level: Ordinary
Interests: bar tending, wardrobe
Welcome to the Barn!
Matilda Jr. - Who's who!
Katherine Barry – Director
Katherine was born into a theatrical family and has spent her entire life involved in theatre and television both on stage/screen and off. As a professional performer her theatre credits include Cabaret and South Pacific, both in the West End. After having her children she became Principal of performing arts school Stagecoach Watford in 1996 and retired from that in March this year. As a theatre director for the Company of Ten at the Abbey Theatre in St Albans her credits include The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, Tom’s Midnight Garden and, most recently, The Borrowers. Katherine holds a chaperone licence and has recently been working on the rehearsals with the new cast of Matilda in the West End. She’s delighted to be directing Matilda Jr for the Barn and hopes to do more in the future.
Emma Barry – Musical Director
Emma gained a first class degree in music then went on to do a postgraduate course in musical theatre at Mountview Academy. Since graduating she’s worked as an actor/musician and credits include Footloose (UK tour and West End) and Once (UK tour). She has also worked extensively as a musical director, most recently on Dear Steve, a tribute to Stephen Sondheim, and will be heading off to Yeovil at the end of November to MD Dick Whittington at the Octagon Theatre. Emma has also worked for many local stage schools across Hertfordshire, including Stagecoach Watford, and has loved working with this cast of incredibly talented children!
Matilda Jr. cast and crew
Team Elsa
Matilda – Lilianne Swaile
Mrs Wormwood – Gabriela Bailey
Mr Wormwood – Max Dimitrova
Miss Honey – Sydney Bernitz
Agatha Trunchbull – Elsa Wang
Mrs Phelps – Scarlett Wake
Eric – Millie Arnold
Tommy – Kylas Setty
Amanda – Aine Walker
Bruce – Jack Rawlings
Lavender – Alice Butler
Alice – Charlie Stebbing
Hortensia – Annabelle Winston
Nigel – Isaac Lockyear
Michael – Amelia Dimitrova
Rudolpho – Jacob Townley
Acrobat – Amelia Dimitrova
Escapologist / Sergei – Isaac Geut
Ensemble – Bonnie Frith, Anya Moustapha
Performance Dates
15th at 7.30pm
17th at 2.30pm
18th at 5pm
20th at 7.30pm
22nd at 7.30pm
27th at 2.30pm
Team Lily
Matilda – Keira Searles
Mrs Wormwood – Ava Blackett
Mr Wormwood – Max Dimitrova
Miss Honey – Madison Scully
Agatha Trunchbull – Lily Abbott
Mrs Phelps – Anastasia Apostoli
Eric – Philippa Thompson
Tommy – Sebastian Hilas
Amanda – Pippa Kidd
Bruce – Dylan Woods
Lavender – Mia Wildman
Alice – Vaani Panesar
Hortensia – Charlotte Winston
Nigel – Tom Hopley
Michael – Anastasia Apostoli
Rudolpho – Tom Hopley
Acrobat – Emilia Yeremenko
Escapologist / Sergei – Eva Harrison
Ensemble – Mollie Seaman, Eve Malone, Clara Jacoby
Performance Dates
16th at 7.30pm
17th at 5pm
18th at 2.30pm
21st at 7.30pm
23rd at 7.30pm
27th at 5pm
Crew
Director – Katherine Barry
Musical Director – Emma Barry
Choreographer – Joyce Smith
Production Manager – Lucy Winston
Production Assistant – Suzie Major
Stage Manager – Sharon Francis
Sound Operator – Michael Merry
Sound – James Rowles
Lighting – John Cude
Props – Sheila Grimmant, Georgie Palmer
Costumes – Yvonne Bartlett, Anne-Marie Austin
Set Design / Effects / ASM – Tristan Cameron
The Ghost Train - review
What a good choice to open the season! The Ghost Train, written in 1923 by Arnold Ridley, was probably taken fairly seriously by its first audiences as a scary thriller but, over the near-century since it premiered, more sophisticated punters have enjoyed it as a comedy thriller. But whether you were frightened or chuckling or more likely both, it was clear the Barn audience were lapping it up.
The storyline (spoiler alert!) is about a plot to smuggle guns for terrorists by train, keeping the local busybodies away by fabricating a ghost story about a phantom train. A group of passengers is marooned at the Cornish station overnight and subjected to an ordeal in an effort to get them to leave.
Filmed twice, once with Claude Hulbert and a second time with Arthur Askey and Richard Murdoch, the plot was also used in the famous Will Hay comedy set in Ireland, Oh, Mr Porter!
Period costumes were excellent (Anne Mawer and Yvonne Bartlett) and the set was suitably faded and distressed, as a tired old out-of-the-way station would have been (Rosemary Bianchi and Peter and Kris Moore). Train noises and gunshots were well cued by James Rowles and Devi Smart, and props were managed by Sheila Grimmant and Lesley Payne.
As befits a ghost story, the lighting was critical: sudden blackouts and passing trains, fabricated by Nick Mogg and Clifton Hoyle. These, plus strange faces at the windows, panic at the realisation they were apparently trapped for the night, and the recounting of the ghost story circumstances elicited frequent opportunities for the ladies in the cast to scream, leading me to wonder if the director, Cliff Francis, had held special auditions for screaming, as it was so pronounced at the required moments.
The key to the plot is that one of the passengers is a police detective ‘on the case’. Teddie Deakin is apparently a ‘sillly-ass’ type, capering and japing through the play, until, very late in the proceedings, he is revealed. I say ‘he’: director Cliff made a bold decision and cast Sarah Gennoe as Teddie. Clad in a Prince Edward check suit and bowler hat, Sarah gave a strong and successful central performance with pace and energy.
Saul Hodgkin is the elderly stationmaster played convincingly by Barry Grossman, tasked early in the play with recounting the details of the past horrors, and breaking down when his part in the deception is uncovered.
The passengers are Richard and Elsie Winthrop, a wealthy couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and the coldness of their relationship was maintained very well by David Smith and Stephanie Cotter. Alongside them, a honeymoon couple, the Murdocks, played by Alfie Hart (Charles) and Lauren Ryan (Peggy). Irritated by the interruption to their nuptials and struggling to cope with the frightening deception about the train, Charles bravely tries to offer solutions, but Peggy is often scared and panicky, hence the screams. Miss Bourne (Sarah Haverson) was very well played as the exhausted and tipsy spinster with the parrot (never uncovered).
In Act II Julia Price appears (Jessica Drucker), frightened and seeking sanctuary and protection. Almost immediately she is followed by Price (Tallan Cameron) and Sterling (Keith MacDougall), mysterious characters offering a false tale of the reasons for her fears. These three are unmasked by Teddie in an exciting and surprising ending. No more plot revelations! Suffice to say that two policemen (Keith Thompson and Stephen Kahn) arrive near the end of the play to arrest the miscreants.
After a fairly lengthy exposition as the characters are introduced the plot unfolds in alternating moments of fear and discussions about their dilemma, what it is, and how to escape. Although fairly repetitive, this balance between comedy and thrills / horror was well judged. Basically there was no need to play in any comic way because the plot development and the characters portrayed, in the upper-middle-class 20s style dominant in the theatre of that period, carried the evening. This company deserved their applause.
Janet Campion
Box office - we need you!
With the implementation of a new simpler ticketing system, we’re looking for volunteers to run the Barn box office on the evenings of performances.
To run the box office, the key skills you need are patience, customer service and not being afraid of a computer!
If you think you can spare a couple of hours once a month to run the box office, please do get in touch. We’re a small team, but vital to the smooth running of an evening’s theatre.
Contact Michael on [email protected] or call on 07973 238346.
Michael Merry
Box Office Director
Bakers, you have four weeks - BAKE!
I’m thrilled to announce that the Barn will be hosting a Macmillan Coffee Morning on Friday 9th December, between 9am and 12 noon. The event will raise vital funds for the fantastic charity, Macmillan Cancer Support, but will also give new and potential new members the chance to meet others and be introduced to the Barn in a relaxed, social setting.
We’ll be using the coffee bar, and supplying coffee and tea – but we need bakers! If you could rustle up a Victoria sponge or a tray of rock cakes to donate, I’d love to hear from you. We also need a few volunteers to help welcome people, chat and maybe show them round the building. If the event’s a success, we hope to run two similar coffee mornings a year, the next for Marie Curie Cancer Care around the time of Calendar Girls in May, and aim to support other charities in future.
If you can help in any way – cake-baking or meeting-greeting – please get in touch! Email [email protected] or call 07885 421051.
Sharon Francis
Audition notice - Treasure Island
By Bryony Lavery
Directed by Laura Eddy and Rosemary Bianchi
BEAT TO QUARTERS!
Brave buccaneers
Actors with and without sea legs
Swarthy old and young sea dogs
Upper-class heroes
Lower-class heroes
Yarn tellers
Dead men tell no tales; the theatre does.
The Admiral Benbow Inn… Bill Bones, a terrifying stranger… a sea chest he guards with his life… young Jim paid a silver fourpenny to keep “a weather-eye open for a seafaring man with one leg”.
The adventure unfolds from the cold, stormy West Country to the Hispaniola, crewed by a brigade of cut-throats and desperados to the midst of an island, a Treasure Island!
It’s every man, woman and parrot for themselves…
AVAST!
You don’t need telling who can be what or should be he or she! No parts are gender-specific. So, here be the characters, Barn yarn tellers – you choose…
Jim Hawkins – A teenager and storyteller
Grandma Hawkins – GSOH
Doctor Livesey – Doctor, magistrate, busy
Squire Trelawney – Upper-class, big mouth, posh
Crossley – Driven by church and booze
Red Ruth – Willing bystander, brave
Lucky Micky – Willing bystander, important
Job Anderson – Willing bystander, crucial
Shanty Band Person – Sings a lot, loud and proud
Bill Bones – Haunted villain, troubled past
Black Dog – Eight-fingered villain, octopus?
Blind Pew – Delivers the Black Spot, plot kick-off
Captain Smollett – Commanding sailor
Long John Silver – One-legged cook, crook and charmer
Joan the Goat – Headbutter extraordinaire
Isreal Hands – Clumsy Brazilian, waxed
Dick the Dandy – Pirate voguist, RuPaul fan
Killigrew the Kind – Gentle killer, pre-Covid
George Badger – Malcontent, moans
Captain Flint – Feathered, puppet
Grey – Forgettable – not a puppet
Ben Gunn – Marooned, hair growth, excessive wig
“Fifteen men on a dead man’s chest,
Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum,
Drink and the Devil have done for the rest,
Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum!”
More details from Captains Eddy and Bianchi, on the lookout for actors who can fill these roles. Scripts from Bos’n Keogh.
Directors
Laura Eddy – [email protected]
Rosemary Bianchi – [email protected]
Production Manager – John Keogh – [email protected]
Costumes – Tiffany Breeze and Penny Coyston
Stage Manager – Brenda Onyon
Laura Eddy
Director
Social Scene
More Jazz...
An evening of jazz returns to the Barn on Friday 18th November! After our first extremely successful jazz evening, we’re excited to welcome you back for what’s sure to be a lovely evening full of talent and entertainment.
Matt Ward and his brilliant quartet gave our appreciative audience a memorable evening and we look forward to another great evening on the 18th with the Jack Dawkins Quintet. It will start at 8pm with doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets are £7 and can be purchased from the Barn Theatre website – and there’s only a few left so grab yours now!
Performing at this event are: Jack Dawkins (tenor sax), Matt Ward (trumpet/flugelhorn), Russell Williams (piano), Dan Hemsley (double bass) and Max Wright (drums).
…and magic in the air!
Join us on Saturday 12th November at 8pm for Spellbinding: an evening of guaranteed entertainment and talent from professional magician/illusionist, Darren McQuade. Darren will be here for one night only and will be performing a mix of close-up magic and illusions from the extended stage in the Clubroom. Bar open from 7.30pm for an 8pm start.
As previously mentioned, this event will be open to the public as well as members and all tickets are £5. The link is now live for non-members and it’s selling well, so please grab your tickets early to avoid disappointment.
A showreel of Darren’s work can be found below for an idea of what to expect.
Hope to see you at both!
Hannah Humbles
Social Director
The Height of the Storm
Cast and crew
Cast
André – Jim Markey
Madeleine – Suzy Major
Man – Andy Hill
Élise – Francine Ross
Woman – Victoria Rive
Anne – Natalie Gordon
Crew
Director – John Davies
Production Manager – Carol Bush
APM – Georgie Palmer
Stage Manager – Nigel Rive
ASM – Sarah Gennoe
Lighting – Clifton Hoyle
Wardrobe – Carol Bush, Georgie Palmer
Set Design – Ian Bage
Set Builders – Ian Bage, Norman Merry
Set Dressing – Kris Moore
Rehearsal Prompt – Annie Woolmington
Props – Sheila Grimmant
Press – Simon Wallace
Posters and Programmes – John Cook, Clive Weatherley
Peep
Cast and crew
Cast
Caitlin – Julia Riley
May – Emily Fairman
Crew (…so far)
Stage Manager – Derek Palmer
Props – Sheila Grimmant
Lighting – Tristan Cameron
Playing away
Jan Palmer Sayer is directing an adaptation of three of D H Lawrence’s dramas, Husbands and Sons, at CoPS from 11th – 19th November. The cast includes Darren Barsby, Pete Dawson, Hazel Halliday, Josie Melton, Brenda Onyon, Mary Powell and Hannah Sayer.
Audition Notice - Alys, Always
By Lucinda Coxon, from the novel by Harriet Lane
Directed by Mel Powell
Playing dates: 14th – 22nd April 2023
Audition dates:
Wednesday 7th December at 8pm in Room 1
Thursday 8th December at 8pm in Room 1
Sunday 11th December at 3pm in the Studio
The play
Alys, Always is a gripping modern thriller, with shades of Hitchcock, The Talented Mr Ripley and even Dear Evan Hansen. It was first staged at the Bridge Theatre in London in 2019.
It tells the story of Frances, a lowly subeditor and general dogsbody on the books desk of a Sunday newspaper who, via a twist of fate, inveigles her way into the heart of the family of a famous novelist, and plots her steely self-advancement into their world of privilege and entitlement.
It’s a fast-moving play and I’m planning to stage it with a minimalist abstract set, that I hope will offer us a mix of space and inviting nooks and crannies. We’ll be relying on great lighting and sound design and some atmospheric projection to help the actors conjure up the multiple settings needed.
The characters
I’m looking for around a dozen talented actors.
Frances Thorpe – This fantastic role offers a wonderful opportunity for someone to explore the central character’s arc, from innocent bystander through charming plausibility to rat-like cunning as our unreliable narrator spins her web of deceit. Hardly off the stage. Probably mid 30s but could be 20s or 40s
Laurence Kyte – A smug, solipsistic novelist totally absorbed in himself and blinkered by his literary success. Falls for Frances. Probably 50s or 60s Laurence’s two entitled children:
Polly – Spoiled little rich girl and messed-up drama student who needily latches on to
Frances – Probably late teens / early 20s
Teddy – Her hostile and suspicious brother who is the major obstacle to Frances’ ambitions. Probably late teens / early 20s
Charlotte – Laurence’s loyal and protective literary agent and a long-standing, close friend of the family. Probably 60s or older.
Mary – Frances’ monstrous books editor boss at the Sunday paper who veers from savage put-downs to smarmy sycophancy once she sniffs out Frances’ connection to the Kyte family. Probably 50s or 60s
Oliver – Journalist rival to Frances who somewhat unwisely has his focus on travel freebies and getting ‘off his t*ts on coke’ at launch parties. Probably 30s / 40s / 50s
Other roles
Alys Kyte – wife of Laurence (voice only)
Mrs Thorpe – Frances’ mum
Mr Thorpe – Frances’ dad
Sid – Frances’ friend and colleague in the TV and Travel section
Robin – chief editor at the paper
Audrey – boss at a rival paper
Receptionist (voice only)
There will be some doubling, particularly of the smaller roles, with various police officers, couriers, waiters, co-workers, partygoers, etc. and indeed the whole cast will be busy as an ensemble throughout the play, helping to conjure up the various scenes.
I’m sure this will be great fun to rehearse and perform. Let me know on 07971 112549 or [email protected] if you’d like to see a script, or if you’d like to audition, but can’t make the dates.
Mel Powell
Director
Box Office reminder
Member tickets are £11 on the opening Friday of most main-stage productions. To access the member price, customers will need the password ‘APPLE’.
Box office telephone: 01707 324300 (Mon to Sat, 9am to 5pm) – a £2 booking fee will apply for all telephone bookings.
The theatre box office will also be open every Sunday from 1pm to 3pm (from 3rd September).
Michael Merry
Box Office Director
All photos used in Barn News are courtesy of John Davies and Simon Wallace (MeltingPot Pictures)
Dates for your diary
Auditions
Treasure Island
by Bryony Lavery
Directed by Laura Eddy and Rosemary Bianchi
Wednesday 9th November at 7.30pm in Room 1
Thursday 10th November at 7.30pm in the Studio
Sunday 13th November at 10.30am in Room 1
Alys, Always
by Lucinda Coxon
Directed by Mel Powell
Wednesday 7th December at 8pm in Room 1
Thursday 8th December at 8pm in Room 1
Sunday 11th December at 3pm in the Studio
Performances
Blackadder Goes Forth
by Richard Curtis and Ben Elton
Directed by Keith Thompson
Friday 28th October to Saturday 5th November at 8pm
Matinee Saturday 5th November at 2.30pm
Haunting Julia
by Alan Ayckbourn
Directed by Maureen Davies
Friday 25th November to Saturday 3rd December at 8pm
Matinee Saturday 3rd December at 2.30pm
Matilda Jr
by Dennis Kelly and Tim Minchin
Directed by Katherine Barry
Thursday 15th and Friday 16th December at 7.30pm
Saturday 17th and Sunday18th December at 2.30pm and 5pm
Tuesday 20th to Friday 23rd December at 7.30pm
Tuesday 27th December at 2.30pm and 5pm
The Height of The Storm
by Florian Zeller
Directed by John Davies
Friday 13th to Saturday 21st January at 8pm
Matinee Saturday 21st January at 2.30pm
Social events
Jazz at the Barn
Friday 18th November at 8pm
Spellbinding: Magic at the Barn
Saturday 12th November 8pm
Singers at the Barn re-launch
Sunday 4th December, 7pm for 7.30pm
Bar reminder
Barn bar opening hours
Fridays: 8pm to 11pm
Sundays: 1pm to 3pm