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PART TWO 1986 - 2000 "Battling On" By ERIC STEVENS |
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1992: DEATH IN THE WINGS Diary January: Club: Play reading; 12th Night party, "Aladinamess". February: Club: Mini-panto; "The Glass Menagerie". March: AGM. April: Club: Play reading of "Night on the Hill"; "Wanted One Body". May: "The Proposal", Eastbourne; 1 Act Festival; Visit to "Coriolanus" at Chichester. June: Club: "Newhaven to New Zealand"; "The Anniversary". July: Club : play reading; Barbecue. August: "Romeo and Juliet"; Death of Gordon Leonard; Meeting for potential directors; BTSC's "Evergreen Fair". September: "Being of Sound Mind". October: Club: Play reading; Visit to "She Stoops to Conquer", Chichester; Barn Dance. November: Club: Pantomime workshop; "Separate Tables". December: Club: Quiz; Death of Jean Barnett. The account of 1991 ended with a mention of Gordon Leonard, and the 1992 record must start with him. In August, on the Wednesday afternoon of the run of "Romeo and Juliet", Gordon, the director of the play and Chairman of the Society, suddenly collapsed and died in his home. Everyone was stunned by the unexpected news, but the only way of coping with the shock was to continue as normally as possible for the time being. The many implications of the tragedy would have to be sorted out later, so a subdued cast played out the events of fair Verona, determined not to let Gordon down. Jonathan Clarkson (Romeo) made an announcement to the audience before the show, requesting that out of respect for Gordon, no applause should be given at the end of the play. Gordon, who was only 56, had joined us as Nym in the 1973 presentation of "The Merry Wives Of Windsor", and he went on to serve the Society with tremendous enthusiasm in a variety of posts - Committee member, Hon. Secretary and Chairman - as well as being an accomplished actor and director. In addition, he founded the JAMBATS and saw it go from strength to strength. As if all this was not enough, he was always on the lookout for fund raising schemes, and introduced us to the Webb Ivory catalogue for Christmas sales, for which he was made a life member of the Society. He brought his civil service experience to the organisation of our affairs, tightening our procedures with memoranda and Standing Orders. As a writer, he was for many years 'Chauve Souris', he produced the history of our first 50 years and adapted "A Christmas Carol" for the stage in 1986. Gordon was not the most punctual of men as many directors found out, and he did not enjoy the best of health, a duodenal ulcer causing him to withdraw from three productions, two at the last minute, to the consternation of all concerned. It was decided to commemorate his time with us in a permanent way, and we planted a silver birch in the Manor Gardens overlooking our open air theatre. Unfortunately it did not thrive and had to be replaced. The successor is still struggling to survive in the site which is now overgrown by other foliage. For many years until she died, his wife, Audrey, who had performed the planting ceremony, placed a wreath at the base of the tree during our Shakespeare week. A further commemoration was a photo montage, put together by Gordon Green, which now hangs in the Belfry. Gordon's death created a wide gap in the Society's organisation and various measures were taken to ensure that our affairs continued as smoothly as possible. Eric Stevens who had stood unsuccessfully against Gordon for the Chairmanship at the AGM was asked to step into his shoes which he filled for the rest of the year. Denis Brooke saw "Romeo and Juliet" through to its final performances, and Sheila Harper took over the Christmas catalogue. In order that such a hiatus might be avoided in future, the General Committee decided to create the post of Vice Chairman, and Denis Brooke agreed to take on this responsibility until the next AGM. We lost another valued member only four months after Gordon, when Jean Barnett died at the beginning of December. More re-allocation of tasks was needed as Jean had been a member for nine years, most of them on the General Committee, and had been a tireless worker organising theatre visits, collecting advertisers for our programmes, representing us on the Committee of the Bexhill Theatre Supporters' Club, entering us for the Eastbourne One Act Festival (see below) and being a one-woman House Committee responsible for refreshments at meetings and the cleaning of our premises. She appeared in a number of productions including "Wanted One Body" this year, and had directed "Murder on the Nile" in 1989 and "Worm's Eye View" in 1990. The role which suited her to the proverbial T, however, was Nanny in "Dear Octopus" in 1985, full of warmth, good humour and calm control. Our six major productions of the year brought in our usual mixture of success and (financial) failure. We started off with our sixth In-the-Round offering, Tennessee William's (sic - on the posters!) "The Glass Menagerie" directed by Gordon Leonard. The atmosphere of a back alley apartment in St Louis, Missouri, was admirably evoked in the Elizabeth Room of the De La Warr Pavilion, and the audience felt really involved in the action, thanks to the skills of all involved. 314 people came and our expenses were helped by a £50 donation from the Bexhill Building Society as it then was. A complete contrast in mood and style was achieved in April when Charles Dyer's comedy-thriller "Wanted One Body" was directed in the De La Warr theatre by Gordon Green. "A classic murder-mystery, set in an old dark house on the marshes, with disappearing bodies and howls in the night" was how Chauve Souris set the scene, and 700 patrons ensured a healthy profit. Gordon Green was also praised for his "deliciously doom-laden set" by the Bexhill Observer critic who also opined that "it was those who resisted the temptation to overact who stole the show." Other people disagreed, wanting a faster-paced, farcical style. In June, Joan Jeffreys directed "The Anniversary" by Bill MacIlwraith, a play dealing with a family's revolt against their formidable mother. It was a competent piece, the director was experienced and the cast not without talent, so where were the paying customers? A niggardly 291 came to see the show! Joan rightly pointed out that if all our 252 members had come along with just one friend we could have doubled the attendance. A number of explanations were put forward: 1. The play was not known. 2. It was advertised as a 'black comedy' (and someone actually asked if that meant an all-black cast!) . 3. June is a bad month for theatre attendances. 4. Bexhill Light Opera and Dramatic Society had performed the previous week. Whatever the reason, the results were very disappointing from a financial point of view - we lost nearly £100. The cast was criticised for emulating the audience at the get-in and get-out, "the task was left to just three, far from young, people," complained Chauve Souris. It is amazing how some members seem to show no interest in anything but acting, and expect the play to be put on around them and, indeed, the Society to function adequately without it being any concern of theirs. Fortunately, for the good of all concerned, there are other members who will muck in and do anything. Those who don't are missing a good deal of fun and the satisfying sense of comradeship, camaraderie and belonging that should be present in a society. "Romeo and Juliet" came next. "Apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln..." how did it go? With the wind on the opening night and the rain on the Friday. "Gusting wind boomed in the microphones and snatched the words from the less able, while two lighting failures plunged the set into darkness in which the cast could be heard continuing doggedly," reported the Bexhill Observer after Monday's performance. Sam Wanamaker and his wife made the journey down from London to see us on Friday, staying overnight so as to be able to watch the entire show. (see also 1986) Alas, the weather decided otherwise and sent a downpour in time for the interval. Nevertheless, Sam wrote us a nice letter saying that he had enjoyed his visit and hoped to see a complete production one day. Unfortunately he died before he could do so. "R& J" was not our first attempt at a Shakespeare tragedy; Alan Livermore had produced Macbeth" at the De La Warr in 1980, but it was the first one we tackled in the Manor Gardens. The Bexhill Observer's verdict was that 'the more experienced members of the cast were down-staged [sic] by the quality of the young talent the BATS have been fortunate to recruit." The sword fighting between the Capulets and Montagues was especially vigorous and exciting, as it should have been for the £385 we spent on professional coaching. In spite of this outlay we were left with a profit of just over £1000. Back under cover in September, Sheila Harper directed Brian J Burton's drama "Being Of Sound Mind". It was important to establish that the heroine was compos mentis as it was one of the conditions laid down by her father if she was to inherit his money. So, was she the victim of an elaborate plot to prevent her inheriting? 673 people came to find out, and the workshop team got a special mention in the press for their bright holiday cottage set. The enterprise brought in a welcome £466. Our final presentation was Terence Rattigan's double bill "Separate Tables," with Meryl Beamont making her debut as a director. These two plays provide the backstage crew with plenty to do, as the action constantly shifts from the hotel lounge to the dining room and back. A large team ensured that the changes were made smoothly. The Bexhill Observer said, "No matter that it has been seen (and enjoyed) many times before. A good production will still satisfy. And this, on the whole, was a good production … well worth turning out on a November night." 690 customers did turn out, and from our profit of £622 we were able to make a £300 donation to St Michael's Hospice in St Leonards in its fifth anniversary year. Our traditional two charity productions went ahead. The mini-pantomime "Aladinamess" written by Eric Stevens, of course, directed by Denis Brooke and with music by Doreen Carter, was a revival from 1982, although Denis did not direct it then, being in New Zealand. Our Lent play was "Night On The Hill" directed by Dorothy Osborne. These are 'charity productions' because we put them on without making any charge to the venues (although donations are gratefully accepted) as part of our charitable status and in keeping with one of the aims of our constitution. An innovation this year was our entering the Eastbourne One Act Festival with Chekhov's 'jest' "The Proposal". Jean Barnett was the driving force behind the enterprise, and although the production did not win any awards, the adjudicator was complimentary on the acting and setting. David Philps, who played the suitor Lomov, was close to being named best actor, being one of the six considered for this title. It is a pity that our other commitments have not allowed us to repeat the experience, and the festival itself has since ceased through lack of support. The JAMBATS continued to flourish under Vanessa Osborne, Maureen Lascelles-Spry and Sophie Bradbury, but had the misfortune to lose their main leader when Vanessa and her husband travelled to Kathmandu to do Voluntary Service Overseas. In appreciation of her hard work, Vanessa was presented with a short-wave radio so that she could continue to hear what was happening in the world beyond Nepal. Many appeals were made for a replacement, but no one came forward and the junior branch was forced to close at the end of May until a new leader could be found. On the social side there was a steady stream of events throughout 1992. The theme of the 12th Night party was 'Play Titles' which gave members plenty of scope for their ingenuity. Club Nights consisted of play readings, a panto performance, a pantomime workshop, a quiz evening and a talk by Denis Brooke "Newhaven to New Zealand". Denis had always been a keen sailor, even after serving on the North Russia convoys during the war, and on his retirement from teaching, bought a boat and sailed it to New Zealand helped by several crews. He returned by more conventional methods. The tattered remains of the pennant the Society gave him still hang in the Granary Barn. Throughout his voyage and stay 'down under' he sent us regular despatches to be circulated among his acquaintances. Strangely enough, he had never given us the illustrated account of his voyage until now, twelve years later. A Barn Dance and a barbecue were also held, and two theatre visits made to Chichester to see Kenneth Branagh in "Coriolanus" and a production of "She Stoops To Conquer." We also gave our usual support to the Bexhill Theatre Supporters Club's annual money-raiser which was called this time an "Evergreen Fair". On the business side, at the AGM, attended by 57 members, Gordon Leonard and Len Jeffreys were re-elected as Chairman and Hon. Secretary, and Len George took over the Treasury as Sally Allen wished to retire. The Granary roof continued to give cause for concern. After a lot of investigation it was sealed at a cost of £4200, just in time for one of the wettest winters on record. We were fortunate to coax the RDC into giving us a grant to cover most of the cost - they do own the building, after all. There was damp in the Wardrobe as well, but this was dealt with by inserting two air bricks and a window fan. Changes were afoot at the De La Warr Pavilion. At their request we agreed we would start our performances at 7.45 and 2.45 to bring us into line with other shows. In the interests of economy, in future they would allocate only one backstage technician to us, so we would have to supply a stage manager to deal with sound; we were assured that this person would be covered by the Council's insurance. Finally we were left wondering how the government's ideas on compulsory tendering, applied to certain aspects of the Pavilion's functioning, would affect us. It proved to be mainly concerned with the running of the bar and restaurant.
Night On The Hill, Lent Play, 1992: Marion Clarke, John Simmonds, Katie Smith, Kaye Smith, Vanessa Hall
1993: JOINING IN AND OPTING OUT. Diary January: Club: Play reading; 12th Night Party, Victorian theme; "The Beauty Of The Sleeping Wood"; Revival of 200 Club. February: Club: Panto; Visit to "Carousel" Royal National Theatre; "The Hour of the Lynx". March: AGM; JAMBATS restart; Planting of Gordon Leonard's tree; Jumble Sale; "The Second Easter". April: Club: Play reading; "The Diary of Anne Frank". May: Club: Play reading ; Barn Spring clean. June: "Blithe Spirit". July: Bodiam Castle walk; Barn painting session; Barbecue; BTSC's Fayre; Visit to "Pickwick" at Chichester. August: "The Comedy of Errors"; Garden Party. September: Club: playreading; Stall at Local Leisure Exhibition; Visit to "The Matchmaker " at Chichester; JAMBATS session for parents; Maintenance session. October: Club: Play reading; Barn Dance. November: Club: "Stage Design"; "Lettice and Lovage"; Visit to "The Madness of George III", RNT. December: Club : Play reading. At the Annual General Meeting in March, Eric Stevens was confirmed in the office of Chairman after six months temporary occupancy. He took the opportunity of setting out his aims of brevity (meetings), simplicity (undertakings) and forward planning (activities). He urged members not just to join, but to join in - get-ins and-outs, social events, housekeeping sessions - and not to see themselves solely as actors. Many of the Society's 253 members, however, preferred to opt out. Although the maintenance days were reasonably supported, as were Club Nights, the Garden Party and the walk round Bodiam, favourite functions such as the Twelfth Night Party, the Barbecue and the Barn Dance were so ill-attended that the General Committee did not feel justified in holding any of them in 1994. More serious was the reluctance to attend auditions. Two planned productions had to be cancelled, "Dark Lucy" in September and "Lady Windermere's Fan" in November. Only three people attended the auditions for the first, and hardly any men for the second - were our males lacking confidence in playing members of the aristocracy? We could do nothing about the September slot, but time did allow us to give notice of, and cast, "Lettice And Lovage" in November. Fortunately our cancellation did not involve us in any great financial loss, as the De La Warr Pavilion refrained from charging us any cancellation fees; all we lost was face. Concerned at the tailing off of support from the membership, the General Committee gave much thought to how more members could be brought into the running of the Society, and persuaded to take an active part in our activities. It was decided that a questionnaire would be sent out to the acting members giving them an opportunity to indicate from a list of options which areas they were interested in. By the end of the year one third of those contacted had replied and their forms were passed to Len George for analysis. The difficulty was in finding a way to implement the information and have it available for Department heads etc, to refer to. One lesson learned was that we had to keep all members informed about what was going on, and that they should be encouraged to join in as much as possible. A number wished to learn how they could become directors so we proposed to hold a special directors' course in 1994 if enough people were interested. Also we resolved to have a table in the foyer at our Dc La Warr productions to publicise our activities and recruit members. Our relations with the Pavilion began to undergo a period of change and uncertainty which continued into the 21st century. Hitherto we had taken our use of the theatre almost for granted, and met with very little difficulty in getting the dates we wanted and support from the staff. The first tremors undermining our complacency had already been felt at the end of 1992, and a realignment of our profit-sharing terms had to take place in 1993. This had been on a 25%/75% basis in our favour; now the Entertainments Manager was proposing 40%/60%. We were prepared to go to 35%/65% and eventually a compromise was reached at 30%/70%, which lasted for several years. Little did we know that the future of the Pavilion would be hotly debated at the end of the decade when we often did not know from one year to the next whether our provisional dates would actually be available. Fortunately, Rother District Council continued their grant towards the rent they charged us, but privatisation developments at the Manor Barn would lead to a greater financial outlay for our open-air productions. Fundraising, therefore, took on a new urgency. A jumble sale realised only £45 which was not an encouraging start. However, Sheila Harper was keen to make the Christmas catalogue sales highly profitable, and in fact brought in £254, nearly as much as the previous year. Len George proposed reviving a scheme which had run during the period covering the acquisition of our new premises: the 200 Club. 'Shares' were sold at £5 each and a monthly draw held from March to December with three prizes each time, and especially valuable ones at Christmas. The amount paid out depended on the number of subscribers, who were less plentiful this time - it became the 130 Club - but it brought in £325. January saw yet another of Eric Stevens' mini-pantomimes, "The Beauty Of The Sleeping Wood", which inspired Denis Brooke to devise an enchanting slow transformation scene to cover the 100 year sleep. The February Club Night was a performance at the Barn. Our first main production was in the Elizabeth Room in February. Much discussion had taken place prior to the publication of our 1993 brochure; over 40 suggestions had been made and a short list approved for all except the In the Round presentation. Interested directors were invited to attend a special meeting with the General Committee in August to present their ideas, and Dominic Campbell's proposal of "The Hour Of The Lynx" was chosen. Few members had heard of this play by Per Olov Enquist, first performed in Stockholm in 1988. It concerned a young man in an institution for committing a motiveless murder. He was given a cat to care for, but killed that too. The play sought to discover why in very frank terms - in fact we took the precaution of issuing an 'Adults only' warning. With a minimum of props, three chairs, a mattress and a copy of 'Playboy', the play was given without an interval which made it tough going for the cast and audience alike. Concentration was not helped by the noise from the adjacent bar during the interval of a show put on by Bexhill College which unfortunately clashed with our booking. Steps were taken to try to avoid any future repetition. The audience figures were down on the previous year and the enterprise lost £440. However, it provoked a lot of discussion about what plays we should and should not do, and demonstrated that the Society is not limited to Agatha Christie and Philip King and their ilk. The Bexhill Observer critic said that Mark Pelham's portrayal of the Boy: "Equalled on the big screen it would have been Oscar material", and he summed up the production: "'The Hour Of The Lynx' was not an experience I would wish to repeat often. But it was irrefutable evidence that given a big enough challenge the BATS can respond with stagecraft of the highest order." The same critic funked seeing our next production, "The Diary Of Anne Frank", claiming that it was too harrowing. This well-known dramatisation was made by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett and directed by Joan Jeffreys in the Pavilion theatre in April. Audience numbers, 466, were somewhat disappointing, but we ended up in profit. Chauve Souris congratulated all concerned: "A moving production with excellent ensemble playing, totally believable characters, and an exceptional performance by Len George as Mr Frank." In between "Lynx" and "Anne Frank" we toured an all-female Lent play, "The Second Easter," directed by Sheila Harper. It is set one year after the Resurrection when a Jerusalem innkeeper and her daughter become suspicious about three women staying at their establishment. Five performances were given in local churches where the play was warmly welcomed and £65 donated in appreciation. The rather serious and sombre mood established so far was cast aside in June when Denis Brooke directed Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit", our second production of this play. It was not so well received critically as our first in 1978, but Barbara Brock and Samantha Forster were commended for their portrayals of Madame Arcati and Elvira, and there were "particular congratulations to the set construction, furniture and props departments" from the reviewer in an unidentified publication in our records. A very welcome £564 profit was added to our income. Summer found us again in the Manor Gardens with another repeat production. "The Comedy Of Errors" had been first produced ten years earlier, and now Gordon Green gave it his own special touch. Problems connected with the staging of the outdoor play seem to multiply each year, end more and more safety regulations are insisted upon. There was the usual difficulty of not being able to assemble the whole cast until the dress rehearsal, but all was right on the night. The Bexhill Observer was enthusiastic, even devoting its leader column to the production.
After this encouragement it would have been nice to continue on a high note, but, as has been seen, the remainder of our programme had to be scrapped much to everyone's disappointment. Alan Livermore and Eric Stevens, the two directors involved, were commiserated with for the time they had spent preparing their productions. The September slot went unfilled, but Eric offered to direct Peter Shaffer's "Lettice And Lovage" instead of "Lady Windermere's Fan". This was quite a new experience for him as he rarely does plays by living authors, and even more rarely with a cast under double figures. "Lettice And Lovage" is almost a two-hander, and Eric found himself with time and opportunity to actually do some directing - it was rather alarming for all concerned" He did, however, have the chance of assembling a cast of 14 for the opening sequence in Fustian House. Meryl Beamont (Lettice) and Jane Deudney (Lotte) took the roles created by Maggie Smith and Margaret Tyzack in the original London production, and special mention was made of the cat Hamish who took the part of Felina, Queen of Sorrows. Hamish had been named before its owner, Virginia Beaumont, realised that it was a 'she'. Nevertheless, she was "purrfect". In spite of the play being fresh in people's minds from its London run, only 372 customers paid up, and the result was a miserable profit of £8.47, though still preferable to a loss. An advertised donation to our charity of the year, Bexhill Gateway Club (Mencap) had to be made out of general funds. The Annual General Meeting in March was well attended - 40 members were present and treated to a fire drill which succeeded in clearing the Barn, through the back door only, in three minutes. The Officers were re-elected, and four motions put before the Society: 1. Making the Officers the Trustees of our lease. 2. Empowering the General Committee to appoint from their number a Vice-Chairman. 3. Raising by £1 the subscriptions of all members. 4. Amending the Terms of Reference for the Play Selection Sub-committee so that they would choose all six productions, not just those put on in the De La Warr Pavilion. Quite a lot was done to the Granary Barn, inside and out, during the year. Spurred on by a new-corner, Les Mason, we tackled the messy job of covering the outside walls (and ourselves) in bitumen, and Les carried out a number of minor repairs on his own. We were very grateful to have his technical expertise available for several years to come. We were delighted when the JAMBATS was revived early in the year. Claire Palmer offered to lead the group with Maureen Lascelles-Spry assisting as before. The numbers were limited to twelve, and the sessions moved to Saturday mornings. The Juniors were confident enough to put on several programmes of mimes devised by themselves for which they were congratulated. Club Nights were held on a regular basis and usually took the form of a playreading, the next play to be auditioned, if possible. One exception was in November when Denis Brooke managed to fit in a fascinating talk on Stage Design before going off to New Zealand again - by conventional aeroplane this time. Extra-mural activities included theatre visits arranged by Dominic Campbell to "Carousel" and "The Madness Of George III" at the Royal National Theatre, and to Chichester for Harry Secombe's second stab at "Pickwick", and "The Matchmaker" which brought back memories of our 1984 production with its attendant brass band. We ran a stall at the 'Leisure '95 Exhibition' held in the De La Warr Pavilion. Unfortunately it brought in no new members although we handed out a lot of publicity material. Gordon Leonard's tree was duly planted in March at a small ceremony attended by Audrey and her family. In November we were represented at the unveiling of a plaque in the theatre foyer of the Pavilion in memory of Richard Burnett and Peggy Paige of the Penguin Players, who epitomised live theatre in Bexhill for a quarter of a century. The curtain was drawn aside by a former Penguin matinee idol, Robert Howard. The plaque remained on the wall until redecoration towards the end of the decade, after which it was not reinstated.
Blithe Spirit, 1993: Mark Allen, Meryl Beamont, Barbara Brock, Sally Allen, David Philps |
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