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1996, a group of Library staff, who had previously had experience with the annual pantos and other groups outside
the Library decided to form a drama group with the intention of entering into a local one act festival.
Since then, the British Library Players have gone on to perform in six other festivals and had a memorable UK
tour in 1997.
Unlike other groups, I have never 'acted' on stage for the BL Players, largely because all those actors involved with
the group are considerably better than I am. The majority of the productions we perform are adjudicated, which means
that a drama critic will give his of her opinion on the performance (both good and bad!) This is something that I daren't
subject myself to with my total lack of natural talent.
I therefore restrict myself to the production and execution of sound and music. This is something that I can handle,
though I have had some spectacular failures that I won't go into...
The details of all the productions that the BL Players have undertaken (and I don't mean buried) are given below. Those
from festivals that have been adjudicated, are located on this page while the other miscellaneous productions are given a
page of their own page here.
Adjudicated festivals
1996: Harrogate Theatre Festival of Drama
The play chosen was Last Tango in Little Grimley by David Tristram. This is an extremely funny play
about a dying drama group resorting to putting on a play about sex in order to get an audience. I was not involved with the
group for this production. This didn't stop them from bringing back the silverware as Jean, Lorraine and Mark jointly
won the prize for best supporting performance.
1997: Last Tango on Tour '97
For the 1997 All England Theatre Festival of One Act Plays the group decided to enter the same play and cast as
Harrogate 1996. Two additional people were brought on for the ride, myself and Dermot, and little did we know just
where it would take us.
The city of Ripon was our first location where we swept the board with Andrew winning best actor, Jean best actress,
Lionel best director and the group winning best production. Needless to say we qualified for the next round. the
performance was characterised by the appearance of an unscheduled guest appearance. A rather large spider wandered
aimlessly across the stage during the play. It was fortunate that Lorraine didn't have her glasses on (she didn't see it)
and that it came nowhere near me, I was on a podium doing the sound.
The rather nice Frazer Theatre in Knarsborough was the location of the next round where we performed. We were up
against a badly produced translation of an Italian farce that involved lots of people shouting and a dire piece of
drivel set in a garden. Not much of a contest then. Not really, especially when during the adjudication, Irene Rostron
simply gushed over Andrew playing the part of the producer. There was only one prize to win here, the overall best
production. I'll never forget the joy in the eyes of Dewsbury Arts Theatre as they shook the hands of what they thought
was an undisciplined bunch of amateurs...
Next stop Ulverston in Cumbria, famous for being the birthplace of Stan Laurel and for its rain. It bucketed it down
all day but nothing was going to stop this merry band of troubadours from having a good time. After a rather nice tea
where we all took turns on mocking Mark's choice of milk as a drink we set about the business of winning. The
Coronation Hall was a splendid location with beautiful bas relief effect above the proscenium arch. We came away with
best actor, Andrew, best producer, Lionel and overall best production. There was nothing to touch that moment when the
adjudicator read out that we were going into the final.
By far the best moment at this time was during the allotted one hour rehearsal time when Lionel, getting more than a bit
heated, was screaming instructions. Ian and I, seventy feet away at the back of the auditorium peered through a small
glass opening saying to each other 'What's he saying? I can't hear him' Eventually through a complicated system
involving an intercom and two relay persons the messages got through.
Hey, all good things must come to an end and so did the grand tour at the English Final in Southport. On a blisteringly
hot Saturday, the cast set off in their air conditioned Toyota Previa. Dermot and I had gone earlier in the van and once
arrived, we checked straight into a Pizza Hut for some lunch (just like all the roadies do!) The performance itself was OK,
but not as good as Ulverston. We lost out to a rather dodgy decision involving the production of the first act of a two
act play, something that was against the spirit of the festival, if not the actual rules. To be honest, we'd had such
a good time that we didn't mind. In fact if we had won, it would have the hassle of organising a trip to Ireland for the
British final.
1998: Perfect Partners
This was a bit of a let down for a number of reasons. Firstly the play wasn't too well liked by the cast and crew. We
knew that we needed something for the festival, and chose this due to running out of time to find something suitable.
Consequentially, although approached in a professional manner, it never had that 'loved' quality that Tango had. Secondly the
facilities at Pateley Bridge left a lot to be desired. At a personal level, the evening was a bit of a trauma as the
location of the sound equipment was perched eerie like up among the rafters with a number of very suspicious cobwebs and I
really hate spiders. Needless to say, we didn't make it through any rounds, and weren't too bothered. We did go on to
perform the play in a festival at Sheffield later on in the year.
1999: Office Song
What a difference a year makes. The play, written by Nick Warburton, was excellent. I had actually bought a copy
several months before it was chosen and had thought that it was good; similarly the cast all liked it. It tells the
tale of the systematic deconstruction of a shy male employee by two women at an office party. It's rather humourous
for the first half but becomes rather darker towards the end. There is a scene where the man has just finished the
song that he was egged on to sing and is so emotionally charged that he dances and finally kisses the woman who was
encouraging him. She unemotionally slaps him twice and he breaks down.
After the mess with the facilities and organisation that we had had the previous year we moved to a different area,
allowing us to perform in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York (a proper theatre rather than a sports or village hall.)
Overall, the performance was good, although I do remember there being a number of sentences missed out. We swept the
board again with best actor, best actress, best play and best stagecraft (I collected that one!)
The location of the sound equipment is at the back of the hall which afforded me with an excellent view of the
proceedings. The moment when Jean and Andrew acted out the scene described above is the best piece of amateur theatre
that I have ever seen. Not just the acting but the audience reaction. Up until that point there were a great number of
laughs from those watching. On the second slap you could actually feel that the everyone in the audience just thought
'wait a minute, what am I laughing for? This is not funny.' It was a truly magical moment.
Next stop was North Ferreby (near Hull.) Like Ulverston, it rained all day but unlike Ulverston, we didn't progress
to the next round. We lost out to a play about a mentally handicapped young man and his two sisters. Our comment on
these types of play is 'One that wins festivals, but closes theatres.'
2000: Feeding the Ducks
What a difference a year makes. Hey, I've used that line before. Searching for a play to perform is always a tough
job and this year was no exception. Lorraine had decided to take over the production duties from Lionel and picked a play
written by a friend of her's. Aside from the neat twist in the tale, it is a rather pedestrian play that never seems to
achieve anything from the characters.
We did our best with it, including a nice opening and closing piece to performed to Perfect Day by Kirsty McColl, but
didn't even manage to make it through the first round. The adjudicator didn't like the way in which the female lead had
been portrayed and we lost to a play involving lots of old people running around shouting.
To be honest, for Dermot, and I the play lost all seriousness when Mark, by using careful hand gestures, explained how
the title of the play can be used for a synonym for a certain 'gentleman's pastime'. Sad but true.
I understand that the play is being performed again in July at Clifford, where the majority of the BL Players have
their other drama home. Thankfully, I am busy.
Well, that's it up to date. No indication on what the 2001 entry will be other than I won't be acting in it.
I you haven't already been then do go to the second external site where the productions
are not as stressed (yeah, right!) and are produced just for fun (and money!) You will also hear the sad and lonely tale
of the Reverend Donald Halibut.
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