Whatever your interest in the theatre, we can offer you great opportunities to get involved, and share skills and experience. Above all, the theatre is a society for its members and you will be able to meet a great number of warm, like-minded individuals.

Acting

We produce twelve shows in each season and always need new faces and exciting talent. Details of auditions for up-and-coming shows are published in our monthly newsletter “Scene”. The process is really quite simple – either you can telephone the director who will be happy to discuss the play with you and your suitability for parts, or you can just turn up to the audition.

There is also the option of taking part in the General Audition (held every summer) where you perform two pieces of your own choice, the details of which are then placed in the Actors' Register for the directors in the society to access in order to help them cast shows.

Rehearsals for shows are concentrated into a five to six week schedule leading up to the production which will usually run for one week. This does therefore require a regular commitment to attend rehearsals for many weekday evenings during this period.

Production

Collecting together props for a production involves providing all the things (from tortoises to dead rabbits, from telephones to cups of tea, from bottles of obscure foreign spirits to shopping bags from well-known American stores) that are needed for that particular play to be performed. For some productions, props personnel will help the set designer ‘dress’ the set. Set ‘dressing’ is anything that is not used during a performance but improves the appearance of the setting (ornaments, photographs, vases of flowers).

Seeking out, borrowing, or making props can be a challenging and fascinating task. The props team must then ensure that everything is either set in place on the stage, or available in the wings at the appropriate time and place to be brought on by the actor. After the production the props team returns everything to its owner or to the props cupboards. Two or three people normally form the props team for a production and between them attend all rehearsals and performances.

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Prompting

Prompters attend rehearsals and, following the script closely, will feed lines to an actor whenever he/she has a lapse of memory. During a performance, the prompter will give a word or line if (a very rare occurrence) the actor forgets. It’s a very important role, needing patience and concentration but can be and often is fun.

Backstage & Crewing

The backstage crew is vital to the success of all our shows. Each production needs a team of people to assist in rehearsals, assist with providing or making properties, and construct and dismantle the set. New members often find this an excellent way to integrate themselves into the society.

The Stage Manager is responsible for overseeing all practical aspects of the production and for managing the show on stage during the technical and the performance weeks. The Assistant Stage Manager keeps “the book” in rehearsals in which all the actors’ moves are recorded. The ASM also coordinates lighting, sound and stage effects throughout each performance. The Technical Stage Manager supervises the construction of the set.

Crewing is an essential part of every theatre and everyone is welcome to take part in ‘fit-ups’ (set construction) and ‘strikes’ (set dismantling), whatever their practical ability.

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Lighting & Sound

The theatre is fortunate in having very up-to-date computerised lighting and sound systems. The people already working in these areas will be only too happy to pass on their skills to you, or indeed to accept any knowledge and help you can offer.

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Wardrobe

A wide variety of costumes are made by the Wardrobe Department. This, together with fitting, altering and dressing the cast during a performance, keeps a large team of members very busy. If your inclination is towards costume design and costume making, you will always be more than welcome.

Costume Hire

The theatre has a very large, comprehensive stock of costumes, which we put to productive use through our Costume Hire enterprise. We supply fancy dress to the public, as well as hiring costumes to other amateur dramatic and operatic societies. So, if you like clothes and costumes and can work with the public, you may like to join the Costume Hire Department.

Front of House

We all know that first impressions count a great deal and the Front of House team of House Managers, Stewards, Programme Sellers and Box Office personnel are the front-line members who meet and greet our audience face to face. A one night commitment during a run can be fun and is a great way of getting involved if you only have a limited amount of free time.

Theatre Workshops

New and old members meet on a weekly basis for a two hour workshop incorporating the basics of acting, voice technique, sight-reading, diction, projection, poetry and prose, monologues, audition pieces, mime, movement and improvisation.

During the season we will also touch on crew skills, stage-management, sound and lighting as well as make-up. All levels are catered for.

The Studio

The Studio Theatre is an exciting and intimate space enabling the society to produce more modem and avant-garde shows, whilst allowing members the scope to broaden their expertise in all areas of stage craft, whether acting, directing or backstage.

bct@lds-mail.net