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7. “Last scene of all that ends this ... History”
The Society entered its 50th (Jubilee) year in the relatively comfortable position of having repaid within the year all the money borrowed on interest free loans from members, with balances of £3,000 in the Bexhill Building Society and £300 in the bank. The total membership stood at 226 - 56 Adult Acting Members, 6 Student Actors, 36 JAMBATS, 91 Theatre Associate Members and 37 Associate.
The programme for the year had been chosen by the Committee during the previous year, with the emphasis being on plays of a celebratory nature. Suggestions had been sought from the membership, but the Committee as usual had the difficult task of reconciling differing opinions. The resulting programme was not to everyone’s liking despite the amount of time and effort which went into its selection. This is however an annual problem merely highlighted by the special occasion. The play choices have at various times been made by the whole committee, or a sub-committee, influenced by the suggestions of would-be producers, and with or without an input by the acting membership. The programme was evidently overall to the liking of that mysterious and capricious body, the Bexhill theatre going public, the tastes of which some oracles claim to understand.
The first of the season, Neil Simon’s comedy “Barefoot In The Park”, drew 904 paying customers, just under the 1,000 mark that we have come to consider par for our productions. “The Importance Of Being Earnest” on the other hand, which was first presented by the BATS in 1949, saw the audience figure fall to 697. This was a play which most people were keen to perform, and which we had previously had to postpone, so that we expected it to be very popular. The low attendance has not been satisfactorily explained The great disappointment was the torrential rain which fell on the open air revival of the BATS first Shakespeare “The Taming Of The Shrew” and reduced the spectators to a very low 482. The two autumn plays were a resounding success at the box office. Gordon Green’s first full length production for the BATS of “Intent To Murder” pulled in 1,290 customers and established a post-TV record. This was immediately overtaken by “Dear Octopus” with Winifred Atkins producing for us for the first time, which established a new record of 1,327. It will be interesting to see by what and when this figure is surpassed, if this is indeed possible.
The BATS wardrobe mistress, Julia Dance, was another who was delighted by the move to the Granary Barn. The old pigeon loft above the “Belfry” inner sanctum became the new home for the vast collection of dresses, suits, shoes, hats, and other items which we had acquired, converted or made, with a place for everything and everything hopefully in its place. Julia adeptly created costumes for some productions and adapted others to suit productions. Working to designs created by Denis Brooke she made, largely from scratch, the costumes for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, which were later sold to another amateur company. Also to Denis’ design, supplemented by her own creative imagination, were the lovely costumes for the BATS only venture into musicals - the 1983 “The Owl And The Pussycat Went To See...”, written by David Wood from the verses of Edward Lear. Julia designed, and largely created, a costume set for Christopher Lacey’s production of “Twelfth Night” in Cavalier/Roundhead style. And as previously mentioned she created the costumes for the JAMBATS Jubilee Year production of “Winnie The Pooh” in addition to playing a leading role in the play. Two of the BATS leading actresses, Julia and Sheila Hawkins finally made a flag for the BATS in Jubilee Year, to a design from Denis Brooke. This project had been mooted for several years, but in the 50th it proudly flew at the Pavilion (floodlit) for every production of the year by the Society.
Social events were also a prime feature of Jubilee year. A barbecue/ treasure hunt outside the Granary in June was followed in September by a Barn Dance inside, whilst in November we held a special Jubilee Dinner Dance at the Manor Barn which was attended by prominent ex-BATS as well as current members. Also during the year we were looking at the programme for 1986 productions.
Christopher Lacey, who had been Hon Secretary for the past 5 years, retired at the AGM in view of an impending domestic move and his commitments professionally as a teacher. He was replaced by Gordon Leonard. The Committee agreed to try an extension of the consultation with active members begun by Chris, with a view to a more positive application of the result. It was also agreed, in conjunction with this, to again appoint a sub-committee to consider play choices and make recommendations to the main committee. Denis Brooke has agreed to produce a pamphlet on our 1986 programme, on similar lines to the one he produced for our Jubilee year, and this was to become a regular feature as an aid in presenting our productions to the theatre-going public.
Gordon concluded: The method of selecting plays and the criteria for making choices, are matters that hopefully will continue to be hotly debated by members. Most people would consider it a healthy sign of the vitality of any group, that its future policies should be the subject of rational debate and democratic discussion between its officers, committee members, actors and associates. This Society has been noted in the past for its innovative spirit, and all those who wish it well will hope that this continues. This implies a readiness to accept change where this can be seen to benefit the Society, or as an intelligent response to prevailing factors. The BATS was born at a time when amateur theatre was expanding, and has remained in being whilst other groups, both locally and elsewhere, have found themselves no longer viable. The amateur scene is to a large extent dependent upon the professional stage for its material and methods. Both amateur and professional have been affected by television’s impact on theatre attendance. Many repertory companies have ceased to exist, including locally the Penguins and Theatre South East, and cost factors amongst others have reduced the size of casts in commercially written plays. Theatres and companies which concentrate on excellence and ‘star’ names - notably the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company are likely to continue to thrive (in spite of temporary problems). In the provincial theatre area it appears that only those theatres and groups which have a positive approach in their choice of presentation have a chance of survival. This positive appraisal of the product and the market, to use commercial terms, will surely he the determining factor in deciding whether or not amateur groups will survive, along with the pursuit of excellence.
In any amateur group one finds a relatively small number of people who are willing to give of their time and effort to make it function. What is probably crucial is that this core does not become too small. There is always a loss of younger members and these must be replaced, whilst more senior members become older and needs must make way for their replacements. This is fairly obvious in terms of actors, but replacement is also needed of producers, stage managers, scenery and costume creators, and people with technical and building skills. There is also a need to renovate the premises of the Barn, to prepare for events and clear up afterwards, and volunteers for catering and coffee making. The BATS will continue to welcome members prepared to involve themselves in any activity of production or social functions.
The Society has entertained Bexhillians and visitors for the past fifty years, and during that time has grown in activity and prospered. It will continue to pursue the ideal of ‘amateur excellence’ that is to aim at a professional standard of performance from its actors and production teams albeit that they are part-timers only. Given wise and imaginative leadership, backed by a team spirit which is the product of involvement, there is no reason to suppose that the BATS will fail to grow in quality and quantity for the next fifty years.
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Intent to Murder, 1985: Alan Livermore, Marion Clarke, Don Mitchell,
Dominic Campbell, Rita Pike, Barbara Selby, Gordon Green, Julia Green, Mark Feakins |
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