Just when you thought it was safe to open your newsletter...
Yes, folks, it's subscription time! If you look at your address label you should see the year when you were last a paid up member. Some will state 'SO' which means you pay by standing order and your Treasurer loves you very much. Those of you who have not paid know who you are (and in case you don't, the enclosed Standing Order form will be a little bit of a clue!).
The Club's subscription rates are extremely reasonable and they go a little way towards annual running costs, including those of this bi-monthly newsletter. You will doubtless have read elsewhere in this newsletter of the launch of www.fromedramaclub.com and this has involved set up and running costs too. So, we need your support.
A standing order for £5.00 or £7.50 per year shouldn't break the bank but would be so appreciated by the Club.
Go on, you know you want to. Frome Drama Club - be part of it.
Frome Drama Club’s AGMs often attract just a scattering of Committee Members but this year’s – on January 5th - was well attended and the back bar of the Packhorse was full of people and bonhomie. Gillie’s comments as Chairman about a new confidence and enthusiasm in the Club seem well founded.
There wasn’t a great deal of business – certainly nothing contentious anyway – and our main concern was to replace Lisbeth as Secretary (she is moving to Liverpool in the next couple of months, and will be much missed). Fortunately Allyson Maryon (you will remember that she did Props for our Autumn Production) was spotted skulking in a corner and had her arm twisted into taking over.
Also new to the Committee this year is Tony Atkinson, Val’s husband. Neither Allyson or Tony want to appear onstage but both are keen to develop backstage careers, and are therefore doubly welcome!
Lisbeth’s report of the Club’s activities appears overleaf, as does Michael’s Treasurer’s Report.
The big news for the new year is that FDC is now on-line thanks to sterling work by the Web-site sub-committee, consisting of Geoff Hunt and Martin Coat, who have been working with web-wizard Adam Bowman. Between them they have created a really useful site – well worth a regular visit by all Club Members.
As well as news about recent, current and future productions, you can read this Newsletter on-line. We are hoping to save on postage if more of our members elect to receive it this way in future.
Playreadings have become an established feature of Club life – not only are they an excellent way of testing interest in ideas for future productions but they have also proved to be a very good way of recruiting new members. Almost every reading has produced a crop of new faces, many of whom have gone on to take part in productions. Our current venture – Cold Comfort Farm, being staged at the Merlin mid-April – has no less than nine, in a cast of 20+, who are completely new to the Club.
As Gillie said in her summing up at the AGM – these are exciting times for FDC! Ed
Frome Drama Club had a busy year in 2004, with continued emphasis on building our profile.
Geoff Hunt directed Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter for the Merlin One Act Play Festival, which took place on 27thand 28th March. He took it on a small tour and it was performed at The Undercroft on 10th and 24th April, and 8th May, and in Codford on 28th May.
The Spring Production was a dark thriller called Night Must Fall by Emlyn Rees, directed by Philip de Glanville. It was performed at the Merlin Theatre on 20th to 22nd May. The audiences, although enthusiastic, were smaller than the Club would have wished for and the production was unprofitable.
A barbecue arranged by Philip and Heather de Glanville was held on Sunday 7th June, followed by a viewing of NMF on video. There were hopes in the summer that the Autumn production might be Romeo and Juliet and to this end there was a screening of the Zefferelli film on 7th July and a well-attended workshop was held shortly afterwards. Unfortunately due to casting problems the idea of Romeo and Juliet had to be shelved.
There was a play reading of Cold Comfort Farm on 15th September, which was both enjoyable and successful, with a number of interested non-members attending.
A reading of Of Mice and Men on 13th October, and then on 10th November a play reading of Dracula, took place at the Packhorse Inn. Michael Hoskinson directed the Autumn Production, Pack of Lies by Hugh Whitemore. It played on 25th to 27th November for three nights, to reasonably sized and appreciative audiences. The play featured mainly new members to the club and provisional figures indicated that it had made a profit.
A Charades Night was held on 8th December at The Packhorse Inn to celebrate Christmas. The club introduced a scheme for paying subscriptions by standing order which has proved successful, plus a Friends scheme where members who did not want to be active but still wished to retain their support of the club could pay a reduced fee.
The campaign to introduce new members to the club spearheaded by Geoff Hunt has been continued with leaflets advertising the group being displayed in the Merlin Theatre foyer. Quite a number of new members have joined the club this year and the committee was delighted that some of them were able to perform in, or help backstage with, the autumn production.
The club is soon to have a webpage, which is currently under construction and should be live early in 2005.
The Committee was greatly saddened to hear of the sudden death of Mike Palfrey in March, who was a huge loss to the club, both as a member, in his role as treasurer and as a friend to many of the club’s members. LR
This is my first report as Treasurer, sadly following in the footsteps of Mike Palfrey in whose efficient footprints I fear to tread. Indeed, in the space of only a few months I seem to have managed to double the club’s loss from last year!
Such loss is attributable principally to the usual suspect – our production costs. Almost 75% of the past year’s loss is down to what we exist for i.e. the putting on of plays. As a club we have to try to strike a balance between productions with integrity and polish on the one hand and solvency on the other.
Our bank balance as at 28th December 2004 stood at £1,471.29. Needless to say, the margin for losses gets tighter with every year and if the current trend continued for the next two years we would be without funds.
Our last production, ‘Pack Of Lies’, attracted occupancy of only 40% and yet the front of house staff at the Merlin commented how good the houses had been. With the exception of syllabus-orientated plays, I think it is prudent to budget in the future for a maximum of 40% bums on seats. The awaited budget for ‘Cold Comfort Farm’ is not expected to be a modest one and I suspect we cannot look to this production to turn in much of a profit. With my Treasurer’s hat on, I strongly recommend that the Autumn production is a popular syllabus choice.
Finally, what of the other 25% loss? I have chosen to list the miscellaneous expenditure so it can be seen where the money goes. Certainly, there are some one-off payments which should not be repeated but there are some constants which more than account for our current subscription receipts. We might like to think about fund raising activities and I will look into possible grants and even some sponsorship. The possibility of charitable status has been raised and I am investigating this.
For the second year running the accounts have not been audited. Two years ago Mike Palfrey was going to sound out Mervyn Box but if he was unable to do so then Hilary Daniel offered his services. Last year (when the AGM shifted to January) the submitted accounts were not audited but it was agreed that if the Committee was happy with the accounts then they could be approved without auditing as indeed they were. MH