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Updated: 28 May 2013
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Tim Willis
Artistic Director,
Loft Theatre Company
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Calendar Girls, as with shows such as Brassed
Off, Stepping Out, The Full Monty and
other popular fare is always going to be an audience favourite, and it
would have been very easy to present a production that just simply
traded off audience goodwill. However, standing ovations speak for
themselves, and full credit therefore must go to director Gus
MacDonald and his team for going the extra miles and delivering a
production of quality that will be remembered for all the right
reasons. A box office smash – our third show to play to well
over 90% this season – it attracted a mix of new and experienced
actors to our stage as well as many new and welcome faces to our
audience. Here’s hoping they can be tempted back sometime soon
– more than likely if the feedback I have received is anything
to go by!
Next up – in complete contrast, and demonstrating how varied our
programme can be – is William Wilkinson’s production of
Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, an enduring, ageless
and rewarding world classic by the master playwright that balances
comic scenarios with just the right level of melancholy.
Production announcements and auditions are now coming thick and fast.
I am delighted to confirm that our October/November main house show
will be April De Angelis’ adaptation of Emily
Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights to be
directed by David Hankins, followed in mid November by a Douglas Ford
Studio production of Harold Pinter’s Betrayal,
which is to be directed by Sue Moore. Vanessa Comer directs
Coward’s Private Lives, our December production,
with Darren Scott getting 2014 under way with Terry Johnson’s
Hitchcock Blonde, a play that goes some way to explaining
the Master’s fascination for his peroxide muses! Gordon Vallins
will then direct The Plough and the Stars, the third of
Sean O’Casey’s epic ‘Dublin Trilogy’ plays.
Details of auditions for several of these shows can be found
here.
Following on from Calendar Girls, late May also saw the
fifth and final Warwick University Drama Society outing of the 2012/13
season in the Douglas Ford Studio – a well-attended double bill of
one-act plays from Harold Pinter and Caryl Churchill. Negotiations
for next season are already under way, with plans for our first
one-nighters also due to be confirmed shortly.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you wish to comment on or
discuss what we are doing here at the Loft – I’m
interested in what you have to say and am always willing to learn how
we can improve on things.
You can call me on 07818 032752, or email
ad@loft-theatre.co.uk.
Tim Willis
Artistic Director
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