News and Diary

Dates for your Diary - 2012

Monday 13 February 7.45 PM	Workshop. Helen and Matt will lead this workshop about physical aspects of performance such as breathing and posture. Gladys Tetley room, AWMA.
Saturday 25 February	Hell Has Three Gates by Pat Riley- Murder Mystery production - see Future Plays PLEASE NOTE: NOW SOLD OUT.
Monday 12 March 7.45 PM	Workshop. Beth will lead this workshop on stage makeup. Gladys Tetley room, AWMA.
25-28 April	Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring Directed by Dianne Newby - see Future Plays

Hall Improvements

Summer and Autmn 2011 has seen some more major improvements at Adel Memorial Hall with brand new flooring in the hall and a whole new central heating being installed in the building, promising comfortable and cosy rehearsal spaces and performance hall for the chilly months ahead.  The dressing rooms are now refurbished and storage facilities improved.  Now is the time to come and visit us, as a potential member or as audience, as it's not just the cast that are shining!

UPDATE - DECEMBER 2011!  Many helpers made for light work painting the hall walls, which are now fresh and modern.  Dianne and David Newby alone worked their socks off transforming the gents' dressing room area.

The Big Tidy

August saw a gathering at Adel Memorial Hall, home of our rehearsals and performances, as Adel Players members spent a full day sorting, clearing, cleaning and putting up shelves.  With the hall about to get a brand new floor and the men's dressing room ready to be improved, a team of happy helpers repair scenery flats, improved the storage in the loft and generally had a good old sort out.  Thankfully there was a plentiful supply of bacon butties and mugs of tea and coffee to keep the workers fully fueled!

Two awards for Someone Waiting

Adel Players have received two awards at the Wharfedale Festival of Theatre for Someone Waiting:

• Best Cameo went to Carol Crossfield
• Jack Pitts trophy for coming third in the Drama (Adults) category

Congratulations to Carol and the cast, crew and director for these awards.  They are very well deserved.

Congratulations also to Adel Players member Pat Riley who received an award for Best Supporting Actress in her role of the Earl of Kent in King Lear with the Hope Theatre Group.

For more details of the awards, go to http://www.wharfedaletheatrefest.org.uk/. 

Carol Crossfield, Best Cameo winner, in action as Mrs Danecourt!		Carol receiving her award
Pat Riley accepting her award		The Adel Players table

Mike Andrews awarded by the AWMA

Congratulations to longtime member Mike Andrews who was presented on 16th February with the Adel War Memorial Association's Bray Award.  This was for services to the AWMA, of whom the Adel Players belong, over the last 35 years.  Many Adel Players members surprised Mike by waiting for him to come out of his rehearsal for Someone Waiting and into the bar, where Chair Dianne Newby presented the award to him on behalf of the AWMA. 

Mike is a fantastic and active member of Adel Players, both onstage and backstage, and a much loved friend to everyone in the group.  He thanked group members by saying, "I have always been very proud of the Players and most importantly our role in the community.  We provide quality productions that make our audiences laugh and cry, and probably groan at times!  Our members are a great team who work together to ensure every play is a success.  I see this award as for the whole of Adel Players and a recognition of the strength of the group, particularly in recent years".

Gents' dressing-room gets a makeover

The backstage men's dressing-room is currently being improved to allow for more space and improved facilities for the cast to use during productions.  This follows the massive improvements to the ladies' dressing-room a while ago.  Both dressing-rooms have also received fabulous new light-up mirrors to help get all the greasepaint and wigs just right!

Four Wharfedale Festival of Theatre Awards for The Cherry Orchard

Saturday 10th July saw thirty amateur dramatics groups coming together to celebrate local amdram.  Following a tasty buffet and a presentation of photographs from the year's festival entries, Chair Malcolm Pinder proceeded to present the many well-deserved awards.  There were no luvvie-darling speeches (fortunately) but plenty of nice frocks and a lot of celebrating and applause.  Adel Players were delighted to receive four awards for our 2009-10 festival entry The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov:

• Best Newcomer - Helen Duce (Anya)
• Best Supporting Actor (tied) - Bernard Riley (Firs)
  
• Runner-up Best Supporting Actress - Claire Lipman (Varya)
  
• The Telegraph & Argus Trophy for the accomplished performance and imaginative staging of a challenging play - Adel Players

Congratulations to all individual award winners and to the entire cast and crew for these fab achievements!

Click on pictures below to enlarge.

Helen Duce - Best Newcomer	Bernard Riley - Best Supporting Actor	Chair Dianne Newby with The Telegraph and Argus Trophy
Wharfedale Festival of Theatre Chair - Malcolm Pinder	The Adel Players table	Dianne wonders if the trophy cup might make a useful piece of costume for forthcoming production 'Allo! 'Allo!

Eileen Routledge

Long time active member and dear friend to all Eileen Routledge sadly passed away in February 2010 after much illness, during which she showed great courage and a never-faltering continued compassion for Adel Players and all her friends within the group.  She will be greatly missed and forever loved.  Our thoughts are with her family.  We will each cherish our memories of this dear lady.

Please be seated...

Our most exciting addition to the Adel Players' performances are the very fine new chairs that we have been so kindly given by an anonymous donor within the Adel Memorial Association.  We now have 168 beautiful padded seats to replace our less elegant plastic chairs.  Our very sincere thanks for this wonderful gift.  Now we can truly say to our audience, "if you are sitting comfortably, we shall begin..."!

Website regularly updated

We hope you are enjoying browsing the pages of our website for current news, past memories and future plans, whether you are a member of Adel Players, a member of the audience or a prospective member of either.  Adel Players is thriving with a loyal audience and increasing interest and a rise in membership.  We hope that the website will help inform and entertain potential members, our audiences and members alike.  If you have any feedback about the website or would like to see anything else here please contact David at webmaster@adel-players.org.uk.  All contributions, whether written memories, cuttings and particularly photographs from past productions and social events are always very welcome!