For
archival material click on Memories and follow the links
Memories
are made of this
17th
December 2014
It
just so happens that December 16 2014 is the centenary
of the bombing of Scarborough by the German Navy in World
War One. So watching ‘Wartime
Upstairs Downstairs’on the exact
day this happened just a few miles down the coast a 100
years ago to the day gave added poignancy to this hugely
entertaining show.
The
boys and girls of the Bridlington Amateur Operatic and
Dramatic Society were in fine fettle as they sang, danced
and clowned their way through an entire music box of songs
from the days when twitter was something only birds did.
Kicking
off the first act in the guise of the folks below stairs,
they opened with a rousing version of Food Glorious Food
as they gathered around the Big House’s kitchen
table. After the interval, evening dress was de rigueur
as the cast went Upstairs and up-market and welcomed back
the audience with ‘A Grand Night for Singing’
set in the ballroom of an Edwardian mansion.
From
melodic tunes to comedy skits, marching songs to patriotic
anthems, there was something for everyone – including
a Christmas Carol sing-a-long.
It
was fun, it was festive and frankly, as jolly as a snowman
with a shiny new top hat. You can’t ask more than
that from a Christmas show.
Photos from top and L to R:
Bob Downing and Mike Sheldon in the Flanagan
and Allen medley
‘I Need a Man’ was the plea
of Pauline Woodcock, Marina Spark, Janet Atkinson, and
Ann Clough.
The Company trip the light fantastic
Northern
Lights Youth Theatre Group
15th
December
Spotlight
theatre is pleased to announce that, following the successful
formation of the children's theatre group SPOTS ( showing
potential on the stage), the next stage of encouraging
young people into theatre is the creation of a new
youththeatre
group, based at Spotlight,for young adults
between the age of 14 and 25.
The
group will be managed by
Rachael Drew, professional theatre director,
with credits from the Edinburgh Fringe and Stephen Joseph
Theatre, Scarborough, plus Emily
Whittington, drama teacher and
Todd Johnson as musical director, both
members of Bridlington School staff. As all three tutors
have degrees in music, musical theatre and drama a high
standard of performance from the group will be their aim.
Any young person who is interested in joining this exciting
group to receive professional
tuition is invited to come along to Spotlight
Theatre, West Street, Bridlington, on
Wednesday, January 7th at 7.00 pm to meet
the team, and learn more about what is proposed.
Solving
the Pinter puzzle.
31st
October
Monday
evening after the first day of a busy week ahead is usually
spent relaxing in front of the telly. Swapping the soaps
for a double bill of Pinter was a shock to the system.
Notoriously tricky to interpret, Mr Pinter, in modern
parlance can do your head in.
So
it was a brave move on the part of the Spotlight team
to serve up a fiendishly tricky double bill from the Nobel
prize-winning author. And it really paid off.
First
up was The Dumb Waiter. Set in the basement
of an anonymous building, two hit men wait for their orders
to carry out a job. They read a newspaper. They fail to
make a cuppa. They wait for direction. And when they come,
we’re left wondering if they’ll be carried
out. Was this a metaphor or was it real-life? What was
the significance of the dumb waiter, and why did it deliver
an apparently random series of food orders?
There
was sterling work from two-man cast, managing to be both at
times both menacing and pathetic. And the physical threat was
ever present with an underlying sense of violence just under
the surface.
After
a much needed cuppa, the second half focussed on a three person
relationship in the form of A Slight Ache.
A middle-age couple invite a match-selling tramp into their
affluent home and pour out their fears and desires to him –
although he never replies to anything they say.
Again
the cast were excellent bringing a palpable sense of the concerns
that ageing brings with it. The dying of passions. The waning
of hope. And perhaps even an anger about the loss of physical
faculties.
But
there were definitely more questions than answers. Or rather
there were a lot of possible answers. But the effect of all
this was intriguing rather than confusing.
And
the questions kept coming long after we’d left the theatre.
So who was the matchseller? And what is the significance of
matches anyway? Were the hitmen just symbols of a power-crazy
system? Did the hitmen actually carry out their ‘hit’?
I’m still working on the answers.
Not
so wedded bliss.
3rd
August
I
really had high hopes for this show. The set looked authentic
and with a couple of singers belting out Andrews Sisters
songs and other 40s classics as the audience took its
seats, it boded well.
Sadly,
five minutes in, it felt as flat as the vinegar cake baked
without eggs mentioned in the first scene.
Having
said that, l must add right now that I was probably in
a minority of one in not really enjoying this show. In
fact, the enthusiastic applause from the sell-out audience
makes me wonder if I actually saw a different performance
in a parallel universe.
But,
in my humble opinion, this was little more than a play
for school children studying the War Years and designed
to ‘tick all the boxes’ in order to receive
arts funding.
There
was no real plot other than somebody got married, the
characters were mere shadows and the songs were…OK.
The
script felt little more than a list of facts useful for
a Year 6 project on ‘Life in War Time Britain’
-like the use of clothing coupons, growing your own veg,
single ATS girls being posted abroad and cardboard wedding
cake covers.
Being
a glass-half-full person, there’s always something
to like whatever you go see – and in this instance
it was Rover, the stuffed dog on wheels who really had
all the best laughs.
If
this sounds harsh, you can make up your own mind by seeing
the show when it returns to our neck of the woods next
week. It’s at the Evron Centre Filey on August 7.
An
enjoyable weekend
5th
June
I
always think the phrase, ‘I know what I like, and
I like what I know’ was created for John Godber
plays. So while last night’s performance of ‘Weekend
Breaks’ didn’t hold any surprises,
it did make for an entertaining 90 minutes.
There
was the working class Mam and Dad and the educated son
who was now moving in different circles - the crux of
the play being the friction this has created between them.
It seemed familiar fare but the banter between the family
was sharp and funny.
The
three actors were convincing characters and managed to
conjour up the Lake District with no more than three chairs
– no mean feat. And the deeper message of how little
we really know our parents and how like them we can be
despite our best intentions, made a poignant point despite
the laughs.
Looking
good
5th
June
It’s
not just the theatre that is looking particularly
smart right now. The front of house team were sporting
matching outfits last night as they sold programmes
and served interval drinks.
Sheila
and Pauline’s scarves mirrored the colour
of the new upholstery to bring a real sense of style
to the occasion.
The
new décor, designed by Cynthia Brownsword
and executed by Dale Ibbotson, along with the new
seating was unveiled for the first time at a performance
of ‘A Little In Tents’ in April. And
the reaction from the public has been hugely positive
– the seating is much more comfortable, the
theatre itself more contemporary… and the
ladies even more gorgeous. Come and see for yourself
Spotlight
refurbishment
2nd
May
The
first phase of Spotlight's refurbishment was completed
with the installation of new seating and redecoration
of the interior.
(Click on images for virtual tour)
"
An Evening with The Real Calendar Girls"
17th
March
The
Spotlight Theatre audience was delighted with a truly
wonderful and inspirational evening, when four of the
original Calendar Girls talked about their experiences
since 1999, when an Alternative WI Calendar was first
discussed.
Since
the making of the film, they have met Prince Charles,
Helen Mirren, Julie Walters, John Alderton and many more
famous people, they have been to Buckingham Palace, Clarence
House, The Royal Albert Hall and have also visited many
different countries including America and New Zealand.
They
spoke with passion about what they believed in; raising
money for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, which today
stands at over £4,000,000.
They
are famous, but still have their feet on the ground, so much
so that they came to Spotlight Theatre all the way from North
Yorkshire free of charge. They recognised that Spotlight Theatre
had donated £2000 to Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research,
from their production of “Calendar Girls”, last
October.
It
was a wonderful, memorable night at Spotlight, with the “Girls”
enjoying it too. They took a walk on the harbour in the afternoon,
with fish and chips for tea. They said that it was bliss and
they even took a dressed crab home!
Their parting words were , “Can we come back”.
The
photo shows four of our Calendar Girls meeting four of the original
Calendar Girls with Director Pauline Pope, presenting a cheque
for £300.00
Bed
time story
12th
March
So
do we ever get over our first love? Against the odds,
can we ever find true love?
‘My
Romantic History’ brought Spotlight favourites,
Reform Theatre, back to West Street to try to shed some
light on these universal questions.
This
office-based rom-com had its moments – the awkwardness
of the morning-after-the-night-before with a colleague;
the embarrassing drunken encounter with someone from the
past that you can’t forget.
But
like the copies from the Xerox machine on the third floor,
it all felt a bit samey.
The
story told twice from two characters’ perspectives is
familiar territory for Reform. Likewise, speeches delivered
direct to the audience. We’d kind of seen it all before.
The boy-meets, loses, wins back-girl story line didn’t
really bring any new insights to the trials and tribulations
of finding Ms or Mr Right either.
The
performances though were solid and the dialogue at times razor
sharp – although some of it seemed to lose the ring of
truth in an attempt to get a laugh (how many women about to
undergo an abortion would refer to the doctor as ‘The
Terminator. or, perhaps more bizarrely, invite the baby’s
father to her Mother’s wedding minutes before the operation.)
As
a one-night stand, it was fine. But I’m not sure it would’ve
got a second date.
A
winning Winter’s Tale
22nd
February
You
don’t really expect to see a job interview
in the middle of a Shakespearian classic. But it
didn’t seem out of place in Common Ground’s
quirky production of ‘A Winter’s Tale’.
So when a servant of a mis-guided King is ordered
to dispose of his boss’s daughter (whom the
King wrongly believes someone else fathered), it
seems entirely plausible that the scene should switch
to a recruitment consultancy as the desperate bloke
tries to find alternative employment.
This
was typical of the approach the company took to
interpreting one of the lesser-known works by Stratford’s
finest.
Just
four actors managed, more-or-less-successfully,
to take on a multitude of roles – sometimes
having to resort to labelling hi-visibility jackets
with names of characters to avoid confusion. Props
doubled-up too – a step ladder being used
as a throne one minute and a statue’s plinth
the next. It was inventive stuff. But arguably,
anyone not familiar with the plot may have struggled
to follow the storyline though the ‘Yorkshire
translation’ of some of the speeches did help
and was funny to boot.
It
was a playful and spirited approach that grabbed
the imagination of the audience and went to town
with it. And if anyone out there thinks the Bard
is boring, Common Ground are the folk to change
your mind.
Take
your seats please !
22nd
January
New
seating, carpeting and wall-panelling plus re-modelling
of the entrance and box office, as well as a new bar and
coffee shop, are all part of a £20,000 refurbishment
plan to attract even more people to Spotlight.
The
new seating is the same as that in the Royal Albert Hall
and the new Leeds Arena , and will offer more leg room
plus easier accessibility, following the revamping of
the seating areas.
The
improvement to customers comfort will also greatly improve
storage space for props and back-cloths which will be
kept under the seats.
Chairman
Mike Sheldon said “ The refurbishment really gives
people that extra level of comfort, and makes sure that
they will enjoy our shows fully”
Pic:
Bridlington Free Press: Bob Downing tries out the seating
!
.jpg)
.JPG)
.JPG)
