Thame Players have’ Much Ado’ This Summer!

DURING the last few months, Thame’s dedicated theatre company, Thame Players, has been busy fundraising in aid of their Building A Better Theatre project and is moving closer to its target of £203,000. This means that the money received so far is enough to enable the improvement work to go ahead this summer.

This means that, while the work is being carried out, The Players Theatre will remain closed to the public from Monday, May 19, until Tuesday, September 9, when it will re-open for the autumn season.

During the summer months, local building company R B Dymott will move in and get started on the major work involved in enlarging the stage and moving it further back, improving the lighting, adding a new row of seats and reconfiguring the balcony. All these improvements will mean that more people can be accommodated to see more shows; audiences will get a better view from anywhere in the theatre and, because of the larger stage area, more ambitious productions can be put on, so audiences can enjoy a greater variety of theatrical and cinema entertainment, as well as visiting musical and celebrity acts.

While the theatre is closed, Thame Players Theatre Company, whose 70th anniversary falls this year, will not be idle: they are staging an open-air production of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing in the gardens of The Elms in Thame, from July 8 – 12. Rectory Homes, as principal sponsor of this production, has given permission for Thame Players to use The Elms, which is owned by them and dates back to the Edwardian era. To complement the Edwardian setting, Thame Players’ production of Much Ado About Nothing – considered to be one of the Bard’s best comedies – will be set in the ‘Roaring Twenties’, a time of swing, jazz, and the Charleston – complete with flappers.

Helen Johns, speaking on behalf of Thame Players, said: “Besides Rectory Homes, Thame Players are grateful for the generous sponsorship of other local businesses: Reaston Brown, the property agents, Wills & Trusts Chartered Financial Planners, Pearson Insurance Services, Abbotts Office Solutions, XT Brewing and others yet to be confirmed.

“We are also extremely grateful for grants and donations from South Oxfordshire District Council, Thame Town Council, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, The Oxfordshire Community Foundation, The Doris Field Trust, The Pye Charitable Settlement, The Mayor of Thame’s Charitable Fund, The Rotary Club of Thame, other community organisations, local businesses and private donors, all of whom have been generous with their support of the Building A Better Theatre project. “

The next Thame Players’ production when theatre re-opens on September 9, will be Quartet by Ronald Harwood, which will run until September 13.

PLEASE NOTE: Towersey Festival Launch event, which was planned for May 17, at Thame Players Theatre, has been cancelled due to poor ticket sales.