Zut alors! Bon Marché! Tour de France! Où est la plume de ma tante?!
What a week we had at Café René. Big audiences… huge laughs… enormous cucumbers!
Photos from the show itself coming soon – watch this space!
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Tag Archives: ODS
Taking comedy very seriously
We take our comedy very seriously at BaCStage. You have to play comedy absolutely straight or it just isn’t funny.
‘Allo ‘Allo presents some interesting new challenges, not least of which is to portray a group of characters who are well known and much loved from off the telly (explainer for our young reader: “the telly” is “YouTube for old people”). We can’t just impersonate the originals; we must find the characters for ourselves.
Some of the cast are going to great lengths to find their characters. Chairman Ron, for example, has already been on three holidays this year. Historical accounts of World War II don’t give much detail on how long the occupying German forces in France spent topping up their suntans, but Ron generally knows what he’s doing so far be it from me to question his methods.
Our Herr Flick, meanwhile, has been all the way to Berlin in search of inspiration (good luck claiming that on expenses – Ed). We’re not sure he’s read the stage directions, or even the script at all for that matter, but on the other hand should the Peaky Blinders ever decamp to Germany he’ll be in with a good shout of getting a part.
Back at the Old Day School rehearsals have been progressing, but not always in the right direction. One of us thought we were putting on Das Boot, while some others decided to enact Brexit through the medium of interpretive dance.
However, Herr Direktor Gordon is on the case. When the actors step out of line he gets off the case, gets onto the stage and directs with ruthless efficiency.
BaCStage presents ‘Allo ‘Allo ~ April 2019
This amateur production of ‘Allo ‘Allo is presented by special arrangement with SAMUEL FRENCH LTD.
Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once (more)
We have just one more audition for ‘Allo ‘Allo, on Tuesday evening. All are welcome to come along any time between 7:30pm and 9:30pm. It’s been great to see new faces at both of the auditions we’ve held so far, and we’re well on the way to casting the show, but it’s not too late to get involved!
Extra audition – Tuesday November 27th, 7:30pm
Download the ‘Allo ‘Allo Audition Pack for more details, including a description of each of the characters.
Tempted to audition? Just turn up!
We had some new faces at our first audition for ‘Allo ‘Allo last night. We have two more auditions, on Saturday morning and Tuesday evening. If you fancy giving acting a go, just turn up – you don’t need any previous acting experience, you don’t need to bring anything – you don’t even need to tell us you’re coming. We like surprises at BaCStage!
Open auditions for our next production ‘Allo ‘Allo are taking place next week at the Old Day School in Bluntisham.
Saturday November 24th, 10:30am
Extra audition – Tuesday November 27th, 7:30pm
Download the ‘Allo ‘Allo Audition Pack for more details, including a description of each of the characters.
Sound Men
These two are two sound men.
You might be looking at that picture and thinking that they look decidedly unsound. You may also be wondering why they are manning a bric-a-brac stall at a church fete (other denominations, including the absence thereof, are available).
This though, is the sound effects table for our next production, It’s a Wonderful Life. While the actors are doing their thing on one half of the stage these two gentlemen will be creating most of the sound effects live on the other half of the stage, using a varied assortment of items, and that is what makes them “sound men”.
They won’t be creating all of the sound effects. We are not, for example, allowed to park an actual 1940’s taxi in the village hall, nor are we allowed to break a couple of actual windows per performance. It is also not possible to authentically recreate the sound of a man hurling himself off a bridge into the raging torrent below, in the midst of a howling gale, without contravening more Health and Safety regulations than you could shake a stick at, the shaking of said stick adding an extra H & S violation. Tricky.
Among the sounds they will be creating, live and without a safety net, are: family dinner time, shop door bell, a variety of doors opening, closing, locked and being bolted, an old-fashioned type-writer, a mynah bird shaking its feathers, ice cracking, walking through snow and a naked woman in a hydrangea bush (these are sound effects only, remember).
We are told that the baseball bat is also needed purely for the creation of sound effects, but one can’t help wondering whether it is a desperate ploy on the part of the director to corral the acting talent into learning their lines and not larking about during rehearsals. Only time will tell.
Back to our “sound men”; how will they be creating all of these sound effects live on stage? We don’t have to wait long to find out. They will be performing these audible marvels in less than two months, when It’s a Wonderful Life takes to the stage. There will also be some acting, and some singing too – fear not though, our “sound men” will not be attempting to harmonize at any point during the show!
Sound.
It’s a Wonderful Life
~ October 18th – 20th 2018 ~
Bluntisham Village Hall
BaCStage needs your help: Treasurer and DIY-ers wanted
BaCStage are looking for a new treasurer to look after our finances for us. Previous experience of book-keeping would be useful but not essential. Our current treasurer, Jane, would like to hand the role over to someone else to give her more time for the various other things she does for us. She is more than happy to help bring the new person up to speed.
We are also looking for some DIY-ers to help us with the ongoing project of maintaining our home, the Old Day School in Bluntisham. As you may know, the ODS is a Victorian building and as such it is old and a bit crumbly round the edges (like some of our actors – yoof Ed). Our next day of cleaning, tidying, painting, decorating and general maintenance is on Saturday August 11th and any help will be much appreciated.
If you can help us out with either our books or our maintenance we’d love to hear from you – leave us a comment here or on our facebook page, or mail us at bacstage.amdram@gmail.com.
What’s in it for you? Well, along with the warm fuzzy feeling you’ll get from helping out your local am-dram group, you will also become part of the BaCStage social circle which ranges from regular post-rehearsal pub trips to the Green Man in Colne to the more ambitious adventures we sometimes undertake. Those of us who “do” BaCStage do it for the drama, and also for the socialising. In case you’re wondering, helping us out behind the scenes doesn’t mean you’ll be press-ganged into getting up on stage but if you ever decide you fancy trying a bit of acting, you’ll be in the perfect place!
Auditions this week!
We’re holding auditions for our next production, It’s a Wonderful Life, this Thursday evening at 7:30pm at the ODS.
What?! Don’t you people know there’s a World Cup on? It’s England v Belgium on Thursday night! What were you thinking of, having your auditions then? – Sports Ed.
Fear not sports fans, for we have a second audition on Saturday morning at 10, also at the ODS.
Both are open auditions – anyone is welcome to come along. Don’t worry if you don’t know the story or what part you might play – Peter the director will tell you all about it and suggest roles you might be interested in.
We hope to see you there!
18 and counting…
18 dead deceased murdered copses? That would be going some with a cast of only 10 characters. Many secondary causes of death there…
18 days till opening night? As it happens, at the time of writing there are, but we’re not having a balloon countdown every day.
An 18th birthday? Could be – but who? Is it Cardew, with the dagger? (Don’t start that again – Ed)
It was in fact Captain Henrietta with the cake. After three everyone:
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday Captainhenriettawoolmercardington,
Happy birthday to you.
Now stop that and get back to rehearsals. We’ve got a show to put on in… how many days?
Don’t mention the War
What’s going on here then?
Does this actor have dodgy knees? Possibly.
Are his trousers overly starchy? Perhaps.
Or is there something altogether more sinister going on?
Come along to BaCStage’s next show Secondary Cause of Death and find out! Tickets on sale now.
You can buy your tickets online at TicketSource
or in person at Bluntisham Service StationTickets are £8 in advance, or £8.50 on the door.
I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it.
SECONDARY CAUSE OF DEATH
(the sequel to Murdered to Death)
by Peter Gordon
April 19th, 20th & 21st 2018 ~ Bluntisham Village Hall
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with
Josef Weinberger Limited
Somebody’s body
This week we took delivery of the Bagshot House sofa. Our green sofa has done an excellent job as understudy through rehearsals so far, but now we have the real thing. We’d like to say a big thank you to the good people of Emmaus Cambridge for lending us the sofa, and also a bookcase; after all, a library isn’t a library without a bookcase.
So here it is, for the first time ever – Colonel Craddock’s new old sofa.
Very nice! But what is that on the sofa, hidden beneath Inspector Pratt’s trademark overcoat?
Has Inspector Pratt fallen asleep? Never! He never falls asleep on the job, although he has been known to rest his frontal cranial lobotomy area after a hard day’s detection.
Perhaps it is somebody’s body. Maybe it’s nobody’s body.
There’s only one way to find out – book yourself in for a stay at Bagshot House Hotel and join us for an evening of murder, mystery, mayhem, double agents, double crossing, double entendres, and Pratt. Tickets on sale now!
You can buy your tickets online at TicketSource
or in person at Bluntisham Service StationTickets are £8 in advance, or £8.50 on the door.
SECONDARY CAUSE OF DEATH
(the sequel to Murdered to Death)
by Peter Gordon
April 19th, 20th & 21st 2018 ~ Bluntisham Village Hall
This amateur production is presented by arrangement with
Josef Weinberger Limited
