Players celebrate 70 yrs of ‘top drawer’ entertainment

THAME Players Theatre Company has been providing the town with first class, amateur dramatics, pantomime, one-man (and one-woman) shows and hosting visiting professional touring companies, for 70 years.

Thame Players Theatre patron, Nicholas Parsons, hosting ‘Just a Minute’

On Friday, October 3, two of Thame Players’ celebrity patrons, Nicholas Parsons, famed host of BBC Radio 4’s Just A Minute, and Bruce Alexander, the actor best known for his role as Inspector Mullett in A Touch of Frost, joined close to 100 members, friends and supporters at The Spread Eagle in Thame, to celebrate.

The distinguished company also included the Mayor of Thame, Jeanette Matelot Green, and the Chairman of South Oxfordshire District Council, Ann Midwinter.

The Mayor Consort, James Green (lower left) and other guests enjoying the repartee of Nicholas Parsons, during the 70th Anniversary birthday party of Thame Players

After a welcoming glass of bubbly to get the party underway, all took their places at tables named after Thame Players’ productions through the decades, including April Fools (1949), Gaslight (1950), Billy Liar (1966), Camelot (1983), Oliver (2001) and, more recently, Arcadia (2012) and Quartet (2014).

Music was provided by Rob Grimwood on keyboards and Nicki Rochford of Towersey Festival’s Songs of the Urban Past, themed to reflect the passing decades from 1944 until the present, with wartime numbers such as Swinging on a Star and classic pieces from musicals such as My Fair Lady, Les Miserables, and Wicked.

Taking pride of place was a display with posters and reviews of past productions, representing the history of Thame Players since 1944, and another collection of images showing refurbishment projects undertaken since Thame Players acquired the freehold of the theatre building in 1997 – a former church hall which was 100 years old last year. The most notable projects were undertaken in 2002 and this summer 2014, with £200,000 raised from public and private sources, including SODC and Thame Town Council.

A highlight of the evening was the auction, which was led by Nicholas Parsons with skill and humour in equal measure. The tempting lots on offer included a week in Tuscany, best-in-house tickets to see The Lion King (donated by Sir Tim Rice), and a case of fine wines donated by The Alliance des Crus Bourgeois du Médoc.

Bruce Alexander, besides running the raffle, entertained the assembled company by reciting The Wild Things of Thame, a poem he had written specially for the occasion, celebrating Thame Players as the wild things of Thame, providing a window on the world through the medium of theatre.

Sadly, the evening had to come to a close, but everyone took happy memories away with them of helping Thame Players celebrate their first 70 years and look forward to the next 70. There was icing on the cake too: the auction and raffle had raised the princely sum of £3,500 towards the theatre development fund – there is still renovation work planned for 2015.

This Birthday Bash was a fitting 70th tribute and to see the guests go home with delighted smiles on their faces was indeed an inspiration for the future of theatre in Thame.

SOURCE: Contributed by Helen Johns

NB
Thame Players is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers offering a varied range of productions all year round, from serious theatre to comedy and pantomime, including their own productions, visiting shows, and film screenings by Thame Cinema for All. The theatre is also used as a venue during Thame Food Festival and the Thame Arts & Literature Festival.

Thame Players’ next production will be Sleeping Beauty, the annual pantomime, from 5th to 7th and 10th to 14th December, matinees 2 pm and 5.30 pm, evenings 7.45 pm. Tickets cost £9 and £8 (concessions) from Tickets Anywhere Greyhound Walk Thame, Tel 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk (booking fee applies). Party discounts are available – details on request from thameplayers@gmail.com or 07938 857291.

For more information about Thame Players visit www.thameplayers.co.uk
Thame Players are still fundraising: to donate any amount, large or small, to the Building A Better Theatre project, please contact Helen Johns, fundraising committee, on 0771 743 4983