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The uncut X-Beacon files November 2001
Painswick Players Bring Polish to Spirited Performance of Quirky Christmas Carol.“This show needs polish…” muses Kevin Parker, director of Painswick Players next production, The Farnsdale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s production of A Christmas Carol, during a break in rehearsals. I quickly point out that there are still five weeks before we open on 29th November at The Painswick Centre for four performances including a Saturday matinee on 1st December. That should leave plenty of time to get it polished. “No, not polished. Polish. As in Poland. According to the script, there’s a part for a Polish student” he continues, “Where am I supposed to get one of those from? I mean, I can’t expect the door to open and a Polish student to walk in, can I?” At that moment, the door opened and a Polish student walked in. And thus, Eliza, a genuine student from Poland visiting Painswick to improve her English, found herself in the cast. Such is the magic of the theatrical experience. Just what the experience will do for her English is anyone’s guess. Incidentally, if you’re wondering why an adaptation of A Christmas Carol should require a Polish student, it’s probably best not to think too hard about such things. Suffice to say that The Farnsdale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s production of A Christmas Carol is a decidedly quirky adaptation. All the production lacks now is the odd ghost and a doorknocker with spiritual aspirations. Apparently, our intrepid technical team is having difficulty getting the spirit level. That joke is on a subsidised outing from an old jokes home. Anyway, from the gales of laughter drifting from the Painswick Centre, I can only assume that rehearsals are proceeding hilariously well. Or (perhaps) hilariously badly, because the whole point of the Farnsdale etc Dram Soc is that its productions contain all that is most side-splittingly awful about these dramatics that we call amateur. A challenge indeed for a polished group like ours! Just remember the dates and the details: · Thursday 29th Friday 30th November, Saturday 1st December · Evening performances at 7.30 pm, Saturday matinee at 2.30 pm · Tickets £6.00 (£5.00 for the matinee) available from the Shetland Shop and Painswick Post Office. Looking further ahead and just to prove how organised we have become, our May 2002 production (Thursday 9th to Saturday 11th May) will be the very funny Richard Harris comedy, Stepping Out. Stepping Out follows the progress of a tap dancing class of hopeful hoofers from their first tentative trips to their final triumphant performance. One key requirement is that everyone in the cast needs to be able to tap dance or be willing to learn. Such is the enthusiasm to take part that there is already a dedicated Painswick Players tap class each Saturday morning! Auditions will be sometime in January, so there’s still
time for one or two others to join in, particularly men. Contact Jean Burgess
(01452-812167 or jean.burgess@dial.pipex.com) to find out more. And to be
absolutely true to the script, we also need a ‘comfortably built’ tap
dancing lady of Afro-Caribbean extraction and of a certain age. After the Polish student triumph, that should be a doddle! Jack Burgess, |
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