News Page

Short notice, due to computer things, sorry. However, this morning at 11 am (30th May) our cabaret team, Deja Revue, will be on 10Radio with a broadcast edition of the first show Your Starter for Ten. To listen, go to the 10 radio website. If you miss it, it will be repeated at least twice. The first repeat will probably be on Sunday 1st June at midday.

Last Saturday, 17th May, You're in Room Eight got knocked out of the AETF semi finals at Verwood in Dorset. Cast and director feel a mixture of sadness and relief; sadness that once again we've fallen at this hurdle, relief that we can now concentrate on The Rivals. The sadness is further tempered by a lot of praise from the adjudicator and by Matt Webber and Jane Edwards winning the Sam and Madge Williams Trophy. Aside from the winners' trophy, this is the only award at the festival, and is in the adjudicator's gift for the thing that impressed him most. In this case, it was the creation of Roger and Edna and their portrayal by Matt and Jane.

As well as the two Box Office sites in Taunton, and the sales at the venues, you can now buy tickets for The Rivals online from THIS PAGE. Tour dates and venues are here, and a cast list here. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Personnel changes on the Committee has made it necessary to change this page. Ray Court stepped down as Treasurer at the AGM, but has been holding the post until a replacement could be found. The Committee is very grateful to him for all the effort he put in throughout his term in office. Andrew Miller has stepped up to the crease as Treasurer, and therefore stood down as Chair, so Tony Venn takes over in that post.
Finally, Carolynn Jureidini has moved away from the area, so has had to stand down too. We'll miss her a lot, as she has been a very useful and dynamic member of the society.

Taunton Thespians are very pleased to announce that their production of Les Clarke's You're in Room 8 has won another round in the AETF competition. We beat off strong challengers to lift the Quarter Finals, held in The Princes Hall, Clevedon. Next round is at the Verwood Hub in Hampshire on the 17th of May. More details will follow...

With the auditions for The Rivals approaching fast (14th & 15th April 2008), the Webmaster has abstracted the audition pieces selected by Director Peter Norbury and uploaded them to the site. You can download them from THIS PAGE. Thanks are in no small part due to the wonderful Gutenberg Project, from where you can also download the whole script. This will not be the edition used in the production, however. That will be the New Mermaid Edition, published by A & C Black.

Taunton Thespians' Summer Tour this year is Sheridan's classic comedy The Rivals. Auditions, as per the Diary, as on the 14th and 15th of April. Director Peter Norbury will be hosting a Workshop at The Place on Thursday 3rd of April. This isn't on the play, but gives people a chance to meet Peter, and him a chance to see us, too.
2008 is Thespians' 8th Summer Tour.

At the Somerset County Drama Festival on the 29th of March 2008, Taunton Thespians walked away with almost everything... You're In Room Eight by Les Clarke picked up awards for Best Actress (Jane Edwards), Best Actor (Matt Webber), Best Original Play and Best Production. Edward Albee's The Zoo Story took the Lydia Durston Trophy for most challenging production.
You're in Room Eight now goes on to the Quarter Finals of the AETF, to be held in Clevedon on the 19th of April.

The time: 10am, Saturday, 23rd February 2008
The place: The Place, Wilfred Road, Taunton
Your mission: To help distribute posters and flyers to the shops, cafes, pubs, hairdressers etc. of Taunton
Full training will be given, there is no remuneration, just the feeling of satisfaction in supporting the society's efforts to get people to come to see the play...

The webmaster has received an email from Nikki Court, whose car has been stolen from ouside their house on Saturday 16th Feb. It's a red Nissan Sunny reg. L39 NYA. If you see it, can you email her via the Contact page. Thanks in advance.

As you may have noticed, we've had a few (!) problems with the online Diary. First off, the ISP who host the website, Eclipse sent an email out indicatingt hat the security level on their servers was going to be enhanced. This is a Good Thing, in that the PHP script language could possibly be hijacked by nasty people to attack your computer otherwise. It was also a Bad Thing, in that the progrma we were using was horribly broken by the upgrade. The webmaster therefore went out and found another program, which tested and worked fine and cost all of a tenner. However, a further security enhancement has caused problems with this too. These problems should be fixable, so a support request has been logged and we await a reply. In the meantime, we apologise for the problem, and if you need to know stuff email us via the Contact page.

As you can see from the Archive, Taunton Thespians put on their first production 80 years ago, on the 13th of February 1928. Over the years, our local newspaper, the Somerset County Gazette, has given us valuable publicity for all our productions. They've pulled out the stops this week in celebration of our achievement. If you can't buy the paper, take a look at the feature on their website, which is a condensed version.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the online Diary has had to be changed. The new tool seems easier to manage, and colour codes the various events. Please bear with us while all the dates are reloaded. The secretary has them on paper, and is less than amused by having to type all of them out again...

Taunton Thespians' next production, Francis Durbridge's thriller Suddenly At Home, is set in 1971. Unlike the BBC, of course, Thespians haven't got the money to buy or make lots of authentic properties and furniture. The production team are currently scouring the houses of family and friends to find items that will fit the bill. Producer Carolynn Jureidini said "We need two 3-seat sofas (or a 2 and a 3 seat), a coffee table, drinks cabinet, book shelf, lamp, and telephone table. All need to be or look like they are from 1971/72. The owners of the house are very well-off, and have just had it redecorated."
One of the items already in hand is a classic piece of "modern" design from the period, a Trimphone, which director Mike Linham has already acquired. If you have something that will suit, and fancy seeing your name in the programme email props@tauntonthespians.org.uk. More details about the show, and a link to the online booking service, are on the Thespians' website at this page.
Suddenly At Home is on stage at The Brewhouse, in Taunton, from the 11th to the 15th of March, and full price tickets are only £9 each from the Box Office on 01823 283244.