From the Committee – October Update

The committee met in October with plenty to discuss as the new season gathers pace. There’s lots happening both on stage and behind the scenes, so here are some of the key updates we thought members would like to know about.

Brassed Off

Preparations for Brassed Off are continuing, with rehearsals well underway and work progressing on all the practical elements of the production.

Ticket sales have been particularly encouraging with tickets sold out long ago. As one member said its easier to get a Glastonbury ticket than a Brassed Off ticket!!

We’ve also had two newer members volunteering to get involved backstage. Lesley Izzard will be working as ASM and shadowing Keith Parkinson, while Matt Cooke is getting involved with lighting and sound. It’s great to see new members keen to become part of the technical side of our productions as well as appearing on stage.

Looking ahead to 2027

Our programme for next year continues to develop.

Cheshire Cats is confirmed in place of Abigail's Party and auditions have been held. More to follow on this soon!

Unfortunately, the performance rights for our originally planned May production, Strangers on a Train, are not available. The Play Reading Group has therefore been looking at alternatives, with Glorious! by Peter Quilter emerging as a strong possibility. We’ll let everyone know once the May production is confirmed.

Our regular play readings are continuing too. The next is Notes from a Small Island, based on Bill Bryson’s much-loved book, on 16 November. The Radcliffe Room at Grange Hall has now been booked for play readings through to February 2027.

Auditions

We’ve also looked again at our audition process.

The aim isn’t to introduce lots of rules, but to make the process clearer and more consistent for members and directors. In particular, we want audition dates to be announced as early as possible and all auditions to remain genuinely open.

Some simple guidance for directors will be developed, while still allowing each director the freedom to run auditions in the way that best suits their production.

Front of House

We’ve also been looking again at our Front of House arrangements.

Rather than making major changes immediately, the priority will be to ensure that everyone helping on show nights has clear, straightforward information about procedures – particularly evacuation and fire safety.

Keith Parkinson has offered to act as Fire Officer and produce simple guidance for show nights. Committee members will act as Duty/House Managers during productions and we’re also looking at arranging First Aid training. Front of House volunteers will have the opportunity to take part in the training too.

Workshops and training

We’re keen to offer members more opportunities to develop their theatrical skills outside our main productions.

Plans are now progressing for acting and accent workshops at St Mary’s Church Hall. These will give members the chance to work on areas including acting technique, character, voice and accents.

Full details are in the Events section of the Members part of the website and this is part of our wider aim of offering more activities, training and opportunities to get involved throughout the year.

NANDA

The committee has agreed that ROTDG will rejoin NANDA – the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Drama Association.

Membership offers a number of benefits and opportunities to connect with the wider amateur theatre community.

Investing in the group

The group remains in a healthy financial position and the committee is looking at how some of our funds can be used to improve our equipment and facilities.

Ideas being considered include better wardrobe storage, improvements to lighting, a rolling programme to replace some of our stage flats, and tackling damp in the Bunker which is beginning to damage stored items.

We’re also exploring the potential for improved projection facilities at the back of the stage.

Keeping everyone informed

The new website is increasingly becoming the main place to find out what’s happening across ROTDG, with productions, auditions, workshops, play readings, theatre trips and social events all being added as they are confirmed.

Committee updates like this one will continue too. We’ve been pleased to hear that members have found them useful – so we’ll keep publishing them after committee meetings.

As ever, none of this happens without members getting involved – whether that’s acting, helping backstage, Front of House, attending a workshop or reading, or simply coming along and supporting an event.

Thank you to everyone who continues to contribute to ROTDG.