PART TWO 1986 - 2000

"Battling On"

By

ERIC STEVENS

1996: BURNT FINGERS

Diary

January: 12^th Night Party: Tramps; "Boobs In The Wood"; "Confusions" at Lewes Little Theatre.

February: Club: Mini panto; "Agnes Of God".

March: AGM; "The Vigil".

April: "The Gioconda Smile".

May: Club: Play reading; Visit to "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" at Lewes; "Move Over Mrs Markham"; Death of Patrick Cargill.

June: No events took place.

July: Club: Skiffle evening; Visit to "Beethoven's Tenth" at Chichester; Beach barbecue.

August: "The Winter's Tale"; Visit to "Two Gentlemen of Verona" at The Globe.

September: Club: Play reading; "Gaslight".

October: Visit to Chichester: "It Could Be Any One Of Us"; BTSC Bring and buy sale.

November: "Pygmalion".

December: Club: Climbing Kilimanjaro; Skiffle evening.

"After the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of 1995, 1996 was inevitably going to be a quiet year, except that the Bats never have a quiet year. When the programme is set and the machinery starts to move forward there is no break, no let-up, until the year is ended – and then, of course, we have already set the plans for the next year." Thus Denis Brooke, the Chairman, began his review of the year at the 1997 AGM. Denis had taken over the Chair on a temporary basis at the 1996 AGM when Eric Stevens stood down after 3.5 years at the helm. The Secretary and Treasurer were re-elected and Peter Bradbury was appointed Vice-Chairman. Later in the year he had to relinquish the post owing to work commitments and Michael Turnbull succeeded him. The idea of allowing proxy voting at AGMs was put forward, and discussed later in General Committee where it was decided to allow a sealed vote for Officers and committee members to be submitted beforehand. The nomination forms for 1997 were therefore circulated three months in advance with a plea for early return, but none were forthcoming so the scheme could not be implemented.

Discussions continued with the management of the De La Warr Pavilion regarding its use by us and the development of the building as an Arts Centre with an appeal to customers outside Rother District commensurate with its international architectural importance. We would continue to be most welcome, but on new financial terms: two thirds of the concessions we had enjoyed previously. This would add at least £2,500 to our expenses.1

Having successfully negotiated our celebratory year in 1995, we turned our thoughts to 2000, the year of the Millennium, and Denis Brooke was very keen that Bexhill should do something special in the way of Community Theatre. The initial response to letters he sent to local organisations was enthusiastic and supportive, and Charles Vance, the editor of "Amateur Stage", gave Denis some useful contacts which he followed up. But … it proved to be a "might have been" when Denis' illness (he was in hospital for several weeks in the Autumn) and his death in 1997 prevented his ideas from being taken further.

The Questionnaire Sub-committee continued to meet and changed its name to the Planning Sub-committee. It undertook a survey on the play preferences of the audiences, and made recommendations about the conduct of General Committee meetings and modifications to the Notes which all first time Directors receive. Somehow their suggestions seemed to be mislaid or forgotten after a time, as similar ideas were still being put forward years later. Another scheme which fizzled out was the collation and organisation of our archive material which was scattered over several locations. A sub-committee was set up, but failed to make any progress, much to the regret of the present writer whose researches might otherwise have been much simplified. Also looked into, but not pursued, was the idea of using the Community bus to get members of the audience to and from the Pavilion.

On the positive side, the exterior walls of the Barn were painted through the efforts of Les Mason and Gordon Green. The former also attended to the damp which had affected the Wardrobe since it moved downstairs: louvres were fitted to the doors and a ventilation brick inserted at the other end of the room so that air could circulate more freely. New cupboards were installed outside in the corridor to accommodate overflowing items from our constantly expanding stock. As with the Workshop, we wonder how we ever managed to cope before we had the Barn.

Starting times for our events returned to 7.30 p.m. and, as a result of our visit to the Shakespeare Globe Project in London, we decided to become a Friend in order to take advantage of advanced booking facilities. 1996 was the "prologue year" for the Globe when a number of performances of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" were given to try-out at the theatre. We succeeded with some difficulty, in getting seats through Gordon Green's membership and so were among the first to see Shakespeare in this re-created setting, a fascinating experience. Other theatre visits were paid to Lewes Little Theatre for "Confusions" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest", and to Chichester for "Beethoven's Tenth" in the main theatre, and a new play by Alan Ayckbourn, "It Could Be Any One Of Us", in the Minerva studio.

Among the deaths we sadly recorded were Mary Batty who designed the splendidly evocative set for "My Three Angels" in 1977 and several programme covers; Michael Sinclair who directed "Dangerous Corner" last year; and Hugh Pritchard who appeared in many productions in the 70s and 80s and only "retired" in his 90s when deafness made it impossible for him to continue. He left us £60 in his will, and we spent this on some more electric candles. 1996 also saw the death of one of our founder members and most famous protégé, Patrick Cargill, star of the 52 episodes of "Father, Dear Father" on TV. He made his debut for us in "Roadhouse" in 1936 when a teenager, although he confessed later that he could not remember much about it. We came into contact with him occasionally during his professional life, the latest being last year (see p57).

Club nights and social activities continued, although on a lesser scale than in 1995. 34 BATs enjoyed a bangers-and-mash Tramps Supper at our Twelfth Night Party. There was a skiffle evening in June featuring the talented Bradbury family, Peter, Sophie and Jezz, ably supported by Gordon Green and his briefcase – he couldn't get a wash board. In November Eric Stevens took us "Climbing Kilimanjaro" (although he had to be carried part of the way down on a mobile stretcher). Less hazardous was the barbecue which the Wells family hosted on the beach. Son Luke was an enthusiastic member during his late teens, ending with a splendid production of Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads", before he went off to West Sussex to become a Buddhist monk. And Christmas was celebrated early with mince pies, mulled wine and the skiffle group.

So to the productions. The "old firm" of Brooke and Stevens resurrected "Boobs In The Wood" as the mini-pantomime, which, in spite of its title, was a good deal less controversial than our February In the Round offering, "Agnes of God". This play by the American John Pielmeier was in the experienced hands of Val Major and presented in the newly refurbished, but as yet uncurtained, Elizabeth Room. The title is a play on "agnus dei" (Lamb of God) and the plot concerns a young nun who gives birth to a baby which she tries to conceal in a wastepaper basket. She is brought to trial for manslaughter, but questions arise about the possibilities of miracles. "It was a very ambitious project for the BATS to choose" said the Bexhill Observer critic, "and the cast of three did well to keep the complex play interesting and the pace alive …. The end of the play …. is shocking and leaves the audience with a feeling of numbness which borders on depression. But this polished production was a resounding success." Unfortunately, artistic merit did not meet with financial reward, and we lost nearly £600; fortunately, the other main productions had an excess of income over expenditure. The play was recorded for broadcasting on Hastings Hospital radio – one wonders what the patients thought.

In April our usual Lent play toured the local churches. This was another revival, excerpts from "The Vigil" by Ladislas Fodor, last done by us in 1989 with no trouble at all. This time a laconic note in the minutes of the March General Committee meeting says: "There had been problems with French's over royalties but Dorothy Osborne had sorted them out." The full story can now be revealed. All plays whose authors have been dead less than 75 years – it used to be 50 – are protected by copyright, and a licence has to be obtained to perform them and a fee (royalty) paid. The licence allows the company to put the play on as it is written, and, strictly speaking, no cuts or alterations should be made without consulting the author or his agent. There was a great to-do in 1999 at a one act drama festival when one competing group wanted to do half of "Waiting For Godot". They were not allowed to, and had to undertake to perform the whole play on the same evening. This resulted in the "missing" act having to be done after the evening's proceedings! Sometimes it is difficult to determine what the correct text is; when we did "Lettice and Lovage" we discovered three versions, two of them published by Samuel French. Other restrictions include an author such as Ira Levin insisting that his name always comes above the title, and some plays have music especially composed for them which has to be paid for whether it is used or not. This happened with "Agnes of God" and again in 1999 with "The Canterbury Tales". In 1983 we were in trouble with "The Owl And The Pussycat" whose music was thought to be too difficult for us, so Doreen Carter composed some more. Samuel French found out and was not pleased, although they did not, as they might have done, withdraw the licence. Copyright crops up in all sorts of unexpected places. "Happy Birthday To You" is copyright, so are Walt Disney's names for the Seven Dwarfs, and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" had to be sung to the tune of "Here We Go Round The Mulberry Bush" to avoid paying a royalty for every performance. That play, incidentally, is not licensed for amateur performance. In the case of "The Vigil" we were using an adaptation not sanctioned by Samuel French, but the firm settled on a fee of £20 per performance. "We shall not be presenting this play again, ever" said Chauve Souris, having the last word as usual.

Happily our next presentations were trouble free and uncomplicated. "The Gioconda Smile", which Aldous Huxley adapted from one of his short stories, came next, directed by Winifred Atkins. "A valiant and thorough staging", "a highly creditable production, skilfully directed", "stage sets of high quality", "near word-perfect performances", were amongst the plaudits in the Bexhill Observer review and "lack of pace" and "lack of zest" two of the brickbats. However, Nick Cearns and Meryl Beamont were praised for their portrayals of the two leading characters. 470 people came to see the show – rather disappointing – but we nearly recouped our previous loss.

"Naughty nonsense at its greatest" was how director Joan Jeffreys introduced her production of the farce "Move Over Mrs Markham" by Ray Cooney and John Chapman, our late Spring choice. It was well received, but for some reason not reviewed in the local press. Needless to say, Chauve Souris was appreciative and congratulated all concerned "particularly the girls who took clothes off". (It is not clear whether he was referring to the action or its result). The audience was an improved 600.

A certain sense of failure pervaded the Society in the Summer in spite of quite favourable reviews. The Chairman, Denis Brooke, felt constrained in the July newsletter to comment on the need for lines to be learned: "Again and again recent productions have failed to reach their full potential. All the components of an excellent show have been assembled – a capable director, a talented cast, a good script, an experienced design team and at the reading it sounds wonderful. Then, frustratingly, the whole thing falls apart – the director can't direct, the actors can't act – because lines haven't been learnt. Word perfect at the first rehearsal, as Coward demanded, is not expected, but how can we get the polish, the pace, the emotion, the timing of which we are capable, when attention is constantly drawn to the prompt corner? There is no magic about learning lines; it is unadulterated slog, over and over again but without it there is no magic on stage." If only this were the last time these thoughts needed to be expressed!

Our sojourn in the Manor Gardens this year was with "The Winter's Tale". Gordon Green directed and Denis Brooke produced (i.e. made all the arrangements). "Ever brave" said the Bexhill Observer, "the BATS … chose one of the Bard's lesser-known plays at the risk of leaving the audience in unfamiliar territory". The writer underestimates our faithful following! He enjoyed the production and thought it worth enduring the discomfort of the deck chairs, although he was scathing about one performance: the bear. A "fancy-dress beast being neither funny enough to be comedy, nor scary enough to look anything but out of context." At least it had a decent head this time; for our first attempt of the play the animal wore the head of a badger. The fair scene in the second half was brightened by a garland dance provided by four ladies from the Sussex Weavers folk-dance display team, whose men had performed a stick dance in Gordon's production of "She Stoops To Conquer" in 1986. The show was well supported, some people coming twice. There was even one lady who achieved 100% attendance, but she was the mother of one of the cast and had come all the way from Italy! We profited from our venture by a lovely £1,407.

In September we were back in the comfort of the De La Warr Pavilion with another classic thriller, Patrick Hamilton's eerie "Gaslight" directed by Kate Walsgrove. The press thought "the sets and costumes were well up to BATS' standards and the production was good entertainment although perhaps lacking in malevolence." We had two audience reactions in the letters columns. A local producer wrote "The polished acting and imaginative use of staging and lighting captured admirably the mood and period of the play so essential to its success" and a visitor from Harrow said that his visit to the town was enhanced by his evening in the theatre. "We thought the performance was most professional and a credit to the company." It is nice to get reactions such as these. From the proceeds we were able to make a generous donation to our charity of the year, the Hastings and Rother branch of the Alzheimer's Disease Society.

Finally, we presented a play which needs no introduction: Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion", Joan Jeffreys' second production of the year. "A Shaw-fire Hit" was the Bexhill Observer's headline to one of its pre-production pieces. In its critique they praised above all the Eliza Doolittle of Jo Taylor who later went on to train professionally. There were times when they thought a song would have livened things up and the opening was drowned by the rain not in Spain but in Covent Garden. We had hoped that we would break box office records as we did with our 1976 presentation, but in the end the attendance was about average for the mid-nineties. Overall, our six main productions had brought in £4,320 and the Treasurer purred audibly.

A Winter’s Tale, 1996: Nick Cearns, Gordon Green, Verena Jacob, Eric Stevens, James Jeffreys, Luke Wells, Meryl Beamont, Eric Brown, Denis Brooke, Paul Reynolds, Daphne Ekins, Claire Willett

1997: "LIKE A MAN WHO HAS LOST AN EYE"

Diary

January: 12^th Night Party; "Goody Two-Trainers; We join the Friends of Shakespeare's Globe.

February: Club: Panto; "Betrayal".

March: AGM; "In The Garden".

April: Club: Gordon Green's 100^th; "Jane Eyre"; Visit to "Racing Demon" at Lewes.

May: Visit to "The Admirable Crichton" at Chichester; JAMBATS re-start; Visit to "Henry V" at the Globe; Denis Brooke in hospital.

June: "Absent Friends".

July: Visit to "Blithe Spirit" at Chichester; Visit to "A Chorus of Disapproval" at Lewes.

August: "Henry IV Part 1"; Death of Denis Brooke; Garden Party; BTSC Garden Party; Beach Party; Set-building course; JAMBATS barbecue.

September: Skiffle evening; "Duet For Two Hands".

October: Article on Patrick Cargill in "Amateur Stage".

November: Club: Poetry evening; "Hobson's Choice"; Visit to Fishmongers Hall, Drury Lane and "The Mousetrap".

December: Club: Pepys At the Playhouse; Denis Brooke evening; JAMBATS "Hiss The Villain"; Sussex Brass concert; Skiffle evening.

The one event of 1997, which affected practically every member in a personal way, was the death of Denis Brooke. He had been ill for some time and, indeed, spent some days in hospital last year. This year he had to go in again in June, was let out in July only to have to return. His condition gradually deteriorated and on the night of August 12-13, during a period of wind, rain and thunder, he left us, aged 78.

Denis' death was by far the most influential of our recent bereavements. Unlike Gordon Leonard, whose contribution had been mainly on the administrative and production sides, and Alan Livermore, who had relinquished most of his direction of our affairs, Denis' interests and responsibilities touched, and were still touching, most non-financial aspects of the Society. The frequency with which his name has featured in these pages and the variety of the contexts will already have made that plain. He was working on our behalf almost to the end. As producer for "Henry IV" he organised everything from his hospital bed, summoning various people to cover this aspect, attend to that detail or bring him some vital piece of information. It was a great pity that he was not well enough to see the result of his labours.

He had been a member of Bats for some 45 years and was recognised as an authority on our procedures. He had held most offices and positions, and was always ready to step in if there was a sudden vacancy for a director or Chairman. Of late he had been responsible for our publicity but that did not stop him being the producer for the open-air productions, designing and painting sets, designing costumes, stage-managing, acting and directing. His knowledge of costume was thorough and he would often shake his head if some detail was not quite right. He was a fine calligrapher which stood him in good stead when preparing programme and poster designs. As an actor he was a Wardrobe Mistress's dream, being not too tall or too short or too fat. He looked well in whatever costume he donned – even as Caliban when his outfit was practically non-existent – because he "wore" it, unlike many Charlie Snodgrasses (his own favourite exemplar) who, no matter what they have on, from Roman to Edwardian, look like themselves in fancy dress. Denis assumed the costume like the character he was portraying, never to better advantage than as the ebullient Bob Acres in "The Rivals". His acting rarely disappointed – his Canon Chasuble was one instance where the style eluded him – even though in his later years the lines did not come quickly enough and were liberally interspersed with 'er's while he waited for the next word to emerge.

Perhaps his favourite activity was the Sunday workshop sessions with Gordon Green and Barbara Selby. He would happily spend hours with a paint brush in his hand, working on some fiddly part of the scenery. Straight lines did not interest him, they were left to the less skilful helpers; he delighted in curlicues and swirls of complicated Victorian wallpaper patterns at which he worked carefully and painstakingly. The Charlie Snodgrasses would finish drawing in the panels on a door, or the (fairly) straight skirting board, and ask what to do next, and Denis would still be finishing off the same detail he was working on when they started. He would not be hurried, no matter how near the get-in date, and would often still be working on the set minutes before the curtain rose. And everything would stop for Sunday afternoon tea, with crumpets in season, one of his trademarks, like the fish pie at the after-show parties.

Denis was a good personal friend to many BATs, always ready with help and advice and never judgmental about people. It was impossible not to like and admire him, and only once did he fall out with a fellow-member and give him the sharp edge of his tongue. Everybody was treated with courtesy and he had a way of making newcomers feel welcome and at home in the Society. His successor as Chairman, Michael Turnbull, said in his tribute in the Bexhill Observer:

• "I suspect very few people know how much he actually did for the Society for Denis just quietly got on with the task in hand. He was never a person who sought thanks from others. In my view he was a gentleman of the old school in all his dealings with people. He was polite, courteous and thoughtful. He was equally at ease directing 10 year-olds in a pantomime or dealing with people older than himself. He drew on the past for many lessons of life but never dwelt in the past … Denis enjoyed very good health virtually all his life. I suspect he was "sixty-something" for about 40 years of his life! He seemed ageless to many people."

There was a large turnout for his funeral, not only of BATs but former teaching colleagues, members of the North Russia Club (see p11) and the Shipwreck Centre in Hastings where he used to put in one day every week in the summer. At his request his ashes were scattered at sea off Hastings and his estate disposed of in favour of the Lifeboat Institute. As a final tribute, we organised a celebratory afternoon at the Barn in December when a display of artwork and mementos was arranged and people from all his interests were invited to come along for a chat. 40-50 attended and a collection was made – for the Lifeboat Institute, of course. His various jobs and responsibilities were distributed among members of the General Committee, but it was a long time before the hiatus caused by his departure was overcome. To adapt two lines from a poem by E.V. Lucas

• "He never came back,
• And the Society was like a man who has lost an eye"

To turn to happier events.

1997 was the year Gordon Green turned 100 – not in years, but in the number of productions he had been associated with in Bexhill where he began his dramatic career with the now defunct Sidley Players. To mark his ton-up he gave us an evening of reminiscences in April, with memories of plays, players and places interspersed with recorded musical items.

The JAMBATS rose again, phoenix-like, when Tamsyn Webb, a former one herself, and her sister Josephine Turnbull offered to revive the group on Saturday mornings. There was, of course, no chance of the offer being rejected, and with a nucleus of ten youngsters, soon to be added to, the activities got under way. They held a barbecue in August and were able to put on a performance of "Hiss The Villain" in December, when their enthusiasm made up for their lack of expertise. Tamsyn and Jojo continued to run the group with occasional help from others for the rest of the century, although towards the end they began to feel that they had been at the helm long enough.

The Planning Sub-committee continued to be active and came up with some useful ideas, even if one or two did not get past the theoretical stage. Among the topics they examined were six spheres of administration: programmes, social activities, fund-raising, Barn maintenance, publicity and refreshments. The idea was to attempt to involve more people in the running of the society. Gordon Green often lamented that he could do with more help with the scenery so that occasionally he could have a sabbatical, and to this end a Set Production and Stage Management course was organised for the Sundays in August. One of the practical aims of the course was to build and paint the set for the September production, which gave the participants an insight into the problems involved, and the satisfaction of seeing their work in use on the De La Warr Pavilion stage. As is usual, not everybody stayed the course, but it was a very worthwhile exercise at the time, though there was the inevitable question of how to build on this initial interest. Gordon had conducted most of the sessions, but there were also contributions on set design by Eric Stevens – if only it could have been Denis! – and Jim Craddock from the celebrated Questors Theatre in Ealing, who talked about stage management. Verena Jacob kept everyone happy with refreshments and lunches.

Our two tame dramatists each provided new works for us. Eric Stevens penned his thirteenth pantomime "Goody Two-Trainers" (Denis' last direction) and Meryl Beamont her second Lent play "In The Garden." Both were well received at the various venues, and the local police force did their own adaptation (with the author's permission) of "Goody" in aid of the Macmillan nurses.

In the Round this year was "Betrayal" by Harold Pinter, directed by Dominic Campbell. The complicated state of affairs is that Emma has an affair with Jerry who is Robert's best friend and that Robert is married to Emma. The plot starts at the end of the affair and works backwards - a novel approach which the author justifies by saying "You have two people in a pub and you wonder where they first met. Where was it?" There was some difficulty with the staging as the Pavilion caterers were using the Elizabeth Room, and we had to move our equipment out after certain performances. The Bexhill Observer was delighted the production and noted that extra seating had to be brought in on the Friday night. "Tamsyn Webb, Mark Pelham and actor/ director Dominic Campbell - skilfully exploiting Pinter's use of the pregnant pause and the understated glance - made this a compelling evening... By no stretch of the imagination could the BATS have been said to have betrayed Pinter. They did him justice."

One aspect of our productions that is often taken for granted by the public and usually overlooked by the press in their reviews, is the set. The only reward that the workshop crew get, apart from their own satisfaction, is possibly a round of applause when the curtain rises. Even then, certain conditions have to be met. (a) the setting must be instantly recognisable (b) it must be fully lit and (c) nothing must be happening on the stage. It does not matter whether the set is appropriate or not, or how clever and imaginative it is, if it is in semi-darkness, non-realistic, or hidden by actors, the audience will not clap (some directors have been known to start the applause themselves!) The audience for "Jane Eyre", our April presentation, arrived to find an open stage, so, of course, did not do anything when the lights went down. A play's designer always works in close co-operation with the director and to the latter's specifications regarding the position of entrances and furniture. Often this amounts to adapting the plan and photograph found in the acting edition, but there are times when the designer has to use his own imagination. Eric Stevens, whose first attempt at designing a set for someone else's production this was, re-read the novel and was struck by the elements of the 18th century Gothic Horror Novel which Charlotte Bronte had brought into her story - a gloomy castellated mansion, mysterious noises in the night, a handsome, brooding hero - and so he attempted to emphasise this aspect. In the background, rising above the main set, was the silhouetted exterior of the house with a single tower in which was a window. A light glowed in this whenever the unfortunate Mrs Rochester was alluded to. Another basic idea was to concentrate the audience's attention on the characters, so the library was kept as simple as possible - just panelled walls, with a fireplace, two trompe-l'oeil bookcases and a glimpse of the hall and staircase when the double doors were open. It was all straight lines with no curlicues for Denis - he had to make do with a broken pediment over the door. Dressing was limited to a clock and two candlesticks on the mantelpiece, and the furniture reduced to an absolute minimum. The lighting also concentrated on the actors and was dramatic rather than realistic. For example, when Rochester sits alone and blind in the final scene, the lighting went down to a single spot during his soliloquy, returning to full with Jane's entrance and the happy ending. Sheila Harper's production was a very enjoyable one and she was well served by her cast. The adaptation was by Charles Vance who had been a guest speaker at our Diamond Jubilee dinner, which helped to keep the production 'in the family'. The Bexhill Observer (ignoring the set!) was impressed, if not rapturous, in its report, praising Nick Cearns and Rachel Earnshaw for conveying "the sexual tension between the arrogant Mr Rochester and a shy yet passionate Jane Eyre" although at the end "their passion was somehow weak and unbelievable." "The rest of the cast gave good performances in conveying a household trying to carry on as normal yet faintly aware of a dark secret beneath the surface." Included in the praise was Grace Poole for her portrayal of the "snivelling, deceitful carer" of the mad wife. This amused Pearl Adams who had actually played Grace Poole, the carer. Although the review did not mention her, we thought that Amy Stevens gave a very creditable performance as Adele Varens, the young French girl adopted by Mr Rochester, coping admirably with the French language and accent.

After this success, seen by 586 people, things began to go amiss with the next three shows. June's presentation was "Absent Friends" by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Meryl Beaumont. They certainly were absent to start with; only seven attended the reading and just two the auditions. With a cast of six required it looked as though we might have to cancel. However, a rallying cry went out and after much negotiating on the telephone all the parts were filled, and rehearsals began. The Bexhill Observer did not like the play, calling it "wretched material." "Those friends who were absent from the De La Warr Pavilion were the lucky ones. The tragedy of the situation is that the hapless BATS made rather a good job out of ghastly material." The acting and direction were praised. "But the sum total of this stagecraft could not raise more than a titter among an audience who found Ayckbourn's paper-thin play gave them nothing of substance on which to chew." Nevertheless, the box office receipts were only just below those for "Jane Eyre" and we were able to donate £200 to the League of Friends of Bexhill Hospital.

There were no initial problems of casting our first attempt at Shakespeare history, "Henry IV Part 1", directed by Lawry Rhodes. Instead, the other director's nightmare occurred when Falstaff had to withdraw shortly after rehearsals began. That universal understudy, the director himself, had to step unto the breach, managing to control a large and mainly youthful cast and put in a creditable performance at the same time. As with "Romeo and Juliet" in 1992, a special fight instructor was engaged, and £200 worth of equipment was hired. Costumes, especially chain mail, also had to be hired, so it was not surprising that expenditure exceeded receipts; what was surprising was that the difference was only £3.73! The production was meticulously planned, with credits being given in the programme to such things as Welsh coaching and lyrics research (Gerald Witts) and Heraldry and Costume research (Colin and Christine Torode). "BATS win battle against odds" was the headline the Bexhill Observer gave to its review, regarding the lack of manpower in the battle scenes (Advice to critics: "On your imaginary forces work... Think, when we talk of horses, that you see them / Printing their proud hoofs i' the receiving earth, etc"). Lawry was commended for his dual capacities and many other dramatic strengths were found in the show. "Henry IV is an ambitious undertaking for any amateur company, requiring the filling of upwards of 30 roles, many of them exacting. It is to the BATS' credit that they did not flinch from the task. Their clear message to the wag who defaced their Manor Gardens poster with a 'thank God there is no Part II' message is how wrong can you get." For the first time, but, alas, not the last, there was a clash of interests between us and the Manor Barn. As it has been taken over by the Old Town Preservation Society it has to be made as commercially viable as possible, so we could not use the premises for refreshments on the Saturday night, a wedding reception and disco having been booked. However, thanks to our good friends Stanley and Pauline Bullock, who have feet in both camps, a compromise was reached: the hirers of the Barn agreed to keep the doors and windows shut until our performance finished. This has been the arrangement ever since, and it has worked well.

Fate struck several blows to "Duet For Two Hands" which was very unfortunate for Joy Bryant whose first direction it was for us. Denis Brooke was intended to be her 'minder' to steer her gently through the complicated business of putting on a play at the Pavilion. In the confused aftermath of his death, a replacement was not appointed, and Joy had to find her own way to a large extent. On top of this, she lost her stage manager when Pearl Adams had to withdraw owing to family illness, and her leading man to a feeling of inadequacy the week before the show. Josephine Turnbull assumed the first responsibility and Nick Cearns was able and willing to take over the acting role, although, understandably, he had to have the book in his hand for most of the time. This need not detract from the audience's enjoyment, as, once they have accepted the situation, the presence of the script is forgotten, as happened on this occasion. Mary Hayley Bell's macabre tale of ghostly revenge set in the Orkneys dates from 1945. The local critic thought it was past its sell-by date. "The BATS, under the direction of Joy Bryant, made a very creditable attempt at this play but it was one of those occasions where the cast's talents outshone the script. In some places melodramatic, in others limp, the lines too often were long-winded, pompous and tedious." Sadly, it was the only production of the year to make a loss.

Our season concluded with a crisisless classic, "Hobson's Choice" by Harold Brighouse, first put on by us in 1954, and again in 1978. The sole survivor from the second production, Eric Stevens, repeated his role of Dr. Macfarlane, though this time his Scots accent did not cause havoc with the Lancastrian of the rest of the cast. Eric also designed the sets, and had great fun with a large Lowryesque smokescape at the back of the stage. This did not prevent Gordon Green adding the traditional rabbit which features somewhere out of sight on all our sets. The Bexhill Observer's review was very favourable: "Though a trifle ponderous, this was - fittingly - a gritty industrious interpretation under director Joan Jeffreys." Alma Mann as Maggie, Nick Cearns as Will Mossop and Peter Bradbury as Henry Hobson were commended, and the reviewer enjoyed "vignettes such as the wedding night scene when Maggie hauled the reluctant Will off by the ear to perform his marital duty." As a final tribute to Denis Brooke, his 1978 design for the programme cover was reproduced. 674 people came and a satisfying profit resulted. In an arrangement which was mutually beneficial, staff and students from Hastings College of Art and Technology were responsible for the hair and make-up.

This was the first year in which we had to pay £450 for the hire of the Pavilion theatre for each production, a 25% concession on the normal £1,800. Even so, our plays showed an over-all profit, although nothing like our Diamond Jubilee accumulation, and less than half that of 1996.

In spite of all our activity at home, Sheila Harper organised several away visits: two to Chichester, two to Lewes Little Theatre and one to the opening season at Shakespeare's Globe, whose Friends we had joined earlier in the year. A later multi-cultural trip to London involved a conducted tour of the elegant Fishmongers Hall led by our own Meryl Beamont, a backstage tour of Drury Lane Theatre (disappointing, we never saw the stage) and "The Mousetrap".

Socially, we had a Twelfth Night party dressed as historical characters, and dined anachronistically on fish and chips, and a very full August with our Garden Party, a beach party arranged by Sheila Harper at her Cooden hut, the JAMBATS barbecue and the annual Bexhill Theatre Supporters Club's fund-raising fayre. Two skiffle evenings were provided by the Rock Island Band (Gordon Green had his drums this time) and we found time to take part with Sussex Brass in a concert at St Barnabas church with readings between the musical items. Gordon also teamed up with Eric Stevens for an evening of "Pepys At The Playhouse" in which he read excerpts from the famous diary and Eric filled in the background details. It is a good job that we take our theatre visits much more decorously these days! November's Club Night took the form of another of our very popular evenings of prose and poetry. This time it was organised by Daphne Ekins and attracted an attendance of 30 who somehow squeezed into the Belfry.

At the Annual General Meeting, Michael Turnbull took over as Chairman from Denis Brooke, and it was proposed, later adopted into the Constitution, that the length of time members other than Officers should serve on the General Committee should be limited to three years. In the Barn new bookcases were erected to replace the sagging shelves groaning under our collection of play scripts and other theatrical volumes. Pressure on shelving space was intensified when the General Committee decided that scripts should be provided free of charge to the casts; if an actor wished to keep his copy he would pay £3 for it. Finally, the "Amateur Stage" launched a series of 'They Started With Us' features in which societies were invited to contribute accounts of the humble beginnings of famous names. We sent in an article on Patrick Cargill which appeared as the second -and final - one. The editor must have been annoyed when people failed to respond to his request, but, of course, that sort of thing never happens in the BATS, does it?

Jane Eyre, 1997: Nick Cearns, Amy Stevens, Rachel Earnshaw

Denis Brooke’s programme illustration for Hobson’s Choice, 1978 and 1997