Peep behind the Scenes at Thame’s Arts and Heritage venues

THE Players Theatre and Thame Museum have come together to jointly hold an Open Day, offering a golden opportunity to visit the main arts and heritage venues of Thame and see what goes on behind the scenes.

Discover the secrets of running a busy museum and find out what it’s like to stage a play at Thame’s only dedicated theatre. At each venue, visitors will be shown around and hear about what goes into putting on a museum exhibition or a theatre production. There will be short presentations in each location every hour, on the hour, between 11 am and 3 pm. At the theatre, there will be informative sound and light demonstrations, while at the museum you’ll discover how an Elizabethan merchant got a complete make-over – and so much else besides!

You might be amazed to learn that both these well-regarded venues are registered charities, run entirely by volunteers, and the services they provide would not be possible without the help of volunteers who involve themselves in tasks both large and small. As well as increasing awareness of Thame’s precious arts and culture venues, the organiseers hope to whet the appetites of new volunteers who would like to help with duties ranging from running front of house to creating sets or installing exhibition displays.

If you’re thinking about taking up a career in the arts, you’ll learn much that will give you practical insights and an appreciation of the work involved in making small theatres or town museums successful attractions. If, on the other hand, you’ve retired and fancy contributing to the cultural life of our community, Saturday, October 26, 2019, is the day to find out how you could help.

There’ll be complimentary soft drinks or tea and coffee at both venues, and you’ll receive the warmest of welcomes!

Thame Museum held their first Open Day in July, and it was a great success – so it is hoped that, on this joint Open Day, there’ll be lots of people walking up and down between the Players Theatre and the Museum.

A spokesperson for the event said: “It’s going to be a fun day, so please join us any time between 10 am and 4pm!”

• Thame Museum, 79 High Street, Thame, OX9 3AE, www.thamemuseum.org. For more information contact info@thamemuseum.org.
• The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, OX9 2DP, www.thameplayers.co.uk. For more information contact thameplayers@gmail.com