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Happy New Year! And Happy Birthday - Oxfordshire Theatre Company is now officially 30 years old!

As the heating is turned back on in our base, after the festive season, and the actors have just set out for their first performance of ‘Hansel and Gretel’ of 2009, I thought it would be a good moment to reflect on my first few months as Artistic Director and share a few thoughts about what I hope to be doing over the coming months.

It really has been such a wonderful company to work with. Throughout the autumn I have had the privilege to not only work with some fantastic creative artists but have had incredible support from our administrative team. Further, I have been so encouraged by the warmth of the arts officers, the enthusiasm of the promoters in the village halls and community venues, and most importantly the fantastic reception and appreciation of the company’s work from all our audiences.

‘Hansel and Gretel’ was great fun to work on. There were a number of nights when the lights were still on at our base on Meadow Lane, as the production team worked tirelessly, to realise the set, costumes and lighting for the show. I’m also sure that Louise, Amy and Heather in our office were able to sing every song in the show as the very theatrical score composed by Andrew Dodge started to ingrain its self in all our minds! I’m not sure that singing, “What I enjoy is a boy!” at 3.30am is necessarily the best thing to be repeating as one is in bed and trying to get a good night’s sleep! The actors, Caroline Woodruff, David Levine, Emma-Jean Jeffries and Chris Taliman were terribly hard-working, singing, dancing and acting alongside operating our other character, a puppet mouse. Hugh Jones, the stage manager kept us all in order, baking cakes and making dinners in his handy slow cooker. I had never seen such a feat of organisational skill!

Anyway, we finally opened in Begbroke Village Hall on 13 Nov to a full house, and going by the comments in our feedback book, managing to scare everyone ‘just’ enough to have some real family show fun! The production toured Oxfordshire for six weeks and with the New Year, now it’s the turn of our national venues. Yes, our van will be winding down icy B-roads, as far south as Sussex and as far north as Lincolnshire and Shropshire before we head back to Oxfordshire in February.

February is going to be a busy month as I start directing ‘River’s Up’ by Alex Jones. I have been working with Laura McEwen on the Design, and Jon Nicholls on a sound-score. It’s proving an interesting challenge as all of Act 2 takes place in a dinghy out at sea. The rehearsals should be intimate! I saw some great actors for the two roles of Tom and Sally Millington back in the autumn. Alex and I both saw a number of really good actors but we were unanimous in casting, the very talented, Richard Stone and Nicki Goldy whom will bring great humour and warmth to the production. Hugh is staying on as stage manager. Well someone has to make us all a decent dinner! Look out for the production. Alex tells me it has won major awards in Venice, Italy. Lets try and ensue it gets one here in the UK! Join us on our opening night in Dorchester on 5 March or look at the tour details on the website for all the other dates.

I have also been considering our new artistic programme for the coming year with the team and am going to make some changes for the New Year. This should mean that even more people see our work. I really love the fact that the company has taken seriously the needs of many, many people who would normally struggle to see high quality theatre. Well I want to continue to do this and have been investigating productions that can excite theatrically, will appeal to a very wide section of the community whilst creating more than a few surprises for you all.

Whilst the actual programme is to be announced in February, I can say that I shall be including an adventure story from the far east, a tap dancing evacuee from the east-end of London, an adaptation from one of the countries award-winning contemporary novelists, and a production that weaves the stories of local women in Oxfordshire with the lives of women from far away. Oh and we will also be touring through the summer in 2009 so you can catch our work now all year round!

We are also working with a wonderful graphic designer so that the company will also look a little different on paper from spring 2009! Watch this space...

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