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VOLUME 7, ISSUE 1  FEBRUARY 2004A PLEA! Dear members, Anchor Players has existed since 1947 and it has provided our community and our neighbouring community with entertainment 4 times per year over the last 56 years. It has also given many of us the opportunity to showcase our talents and in some small way, to live out our dreams. It is a non-profitable organisation and has always been run by a small group of hard working and dedicated volunteers who are/were passionate about the Theatre. But, it is more than that. To the people of Simon's Town it is our heritage. As a 6th generation Simonstonian, it is certainly mine. Amateur dramatics goes a long way to keeping Theatre alive.The combination of new professional, old professionals and experienced amateurs, give our shows a competitive edge. So many people in our community are as yet not even aware of us, but what is really sad, is the lack of support coming from our members. We have a very small committee at present, among them, people who do not have the time, but remain on board rather than see Anchor Players 'sink'. We have struggled to meet all the demands such an organisation is making of us and admittedly have not managed to do so. This is a serious plea to members, old and new, young and old, to come forward and offer assistance. As potential committee members with portfolios or just offering a couple of hours per month in the ways expressed further in this letter. We have a theatre, we are an established society, and it would be an embarrassment and a shame on our community should we let the Anchor Players slip. Thank you for your renewed involvement. Belinda Burchell-Batt. PURPOSE OF THIS NEWSLETTER There has been confusion, misunderstanding, and a number of rumours going about regarding the position of Anchor Players and the intentions or inactivity of the present committee. I wish to use this newsletter as a platform to enlighten our members as to the struggle of the past 2 years and to give some indication as to our attitude towards the future. I also wish to defend the committee against unfounded comments, clear the air and hopefully get us all onto a fresh start for the New Year. GOOD NEWS 2003 offered our members very little in the way of entertainment, Members evenings, or newsletters. Members who paid membership fees in 2003 will have their contributions moved on to 2004. If you feel that you would like to pay again this year as support or a donation, you are most welcome to do so. Obviously if you are joining for the first time this year, then a membership fee is applicable. Our new membership fees are as follows; Trophy winners of Feb 2003 may enjoy their trophies for the year of 2004 as we had no relevant productions in 2003. Those who do not have their trophies will be receiving them, as soon as possible. For the same reason as above, we do not qualify for any prestigious awards this year. THE PORTFOLIOS TO WHICH YOU COULD OFFER YOUR SUPPORT
THE LAST TWO YEARS In the year 2002, a small committee of hard working volunteers, took the bull by the horns and pushed on as a team to, serve as committee members and against all odds, put on shows. The committee had the unusual task of having to serve in all areas of the production themselves, as directors, actors, and co-ordinators, as well as carry out all the usual responsibilities of a committee, in order to keep the flame of Anchor Players burning. Nobody outside the committee was interested in coming forward and directing at the time. Anchor Players was at a low ebb with regard to members and volunteers. These committee members were people with very full, busy lives outside of Anchor Players, but they all felt they could provide a stop-gap until things improved. We forged ahead and put on CENTRE STAGE, JEFF BATT LIVE BUT LIMPING SLIGHTLY, and of course CINDERELLA. We also housed the African Children's Choir, whom we supported and assisted in their productions. They had however neglected to tell us that they would not have an interval, even though they had asked us to do front of house for them. As a result front of house lost out badly. Our chairman and vice chairman worked hard to build a magnificent extension to the apron of our stage. We also got a small grant from the WESTERN CAPE CULTURAL COMMISSION, thanks to the hard work, initiative and negotiation by our Chairman Jeff Batt. A stipulation for the grant was that Anchor Players must run an office from where all administrative issues would be dealt with. Obviously a large part of the grant would be for this purpose. And so a depleted and exhausted committee saw Anchor Players through 2002. AGM 2003 Although we had good attendance and all looked positive, we had a difficult time finding members who were willing to come forward and serve on the committee.
ALBERT LINTVELT, BELINDA BATT, HANNIE WHEELER, all agreed to serve on the committee to fill stop gaps, but were not willing to carry complete portfolios. JANICE BUDD also offered to serve on the committee in the same capacity. Two members volunteered to come forward later in the year to relieve Niel Beer of the position of treasurer and secretary. They found they were not able to do so. MAJOR V KAKANA joined the committee to represent the Navy. We began 2003 with the loss of two hard working committee members. Lynn and Jenny Moss. They had served their time and had to move on to more pressing commitments. We are grateful for their input and they are sorely missed. Fearing alienation from the Navy, resulting in possibly losing the Theatre, we felt it time to work closer with the Navy. Admiral Louw had a concept that needed promoting and on further discussion with our chairman Jeff Batt, they came to the joint decision that Anchor Players was a useful tool for the application. The cause was a good one and getting involved could only work in favour of the society. The PADA campaign was born (Partners Against Domestic Abuse). The logistics, directing and planning of the campaign, including all the publicity was handled by Jeff Batt on behalf of the SA Navy and Anchor Players. This was and enormous task for someone to undertake (for no remuneration) but he nevertheless forged ahead. The Navy then informed us, that we would have to give up our existing committee room. It became essential for Anchor Players to find the office that the WCC wanted us to have. After much negotiating, we were generously offered a room above the Simon's Town Library, an excellent position for our cause. The task of Anchor Players in this campaign was to provide the Navy with a protest/educational drama dealing with the subject of domestic abuse. The players would all be Navy personnel. Anchor Players approached the late Mrs Jill Fletcher and asked her if she would write the play. This she did for us with all her usual enthusiasm and before long we had an excellent and hard-hitting script. Jeff Batt sourced and contacted all the 'main players' and worked hard at bringing relevant organisations together to back the campaign. He designed the logo, brochures and posters. He did all the preliminary work required, and did this with very little support from any of the 'main players'. He worked hard at directing and piecing together a play, which under normal circumstances would have taken our members about 2 months to put together and present. But because he was working with people who (mostly) had little or no experience of the theatre, lived far a field, and were bound by previous commitments relating to their employment in the Navy, it actually took about 6 months to finally come together. Eventually a few more members of the Navy personal got involved and began assisting in small ways. The navy announced very suddenly, the dates on which they intended to open this production. We were given no time to advertise it for the benefit of our members and the community. Tickets had been handed out to various involved organisations and to the players, to sell. Because we were given no time to publicise it, we suggested that the tickets were called back before being sold and that we rather have a small invited preview. Unfortunately, instead of stopping the ticket sales and calling them in, they announced that all the seats were FREE! We arrived at the theatre on the night of the production only to find that they had filled our front of house position with chairs. This was completely unexpected. We had to stay in the little foyer at the back. As a result we could not advertise front of house sufficiently and we lost out there yet again. During the above our Chairman suffered a mild stroke and later a further smaller attack. This obviously put him out of action for a time and he required a lot of rest and a reasonable recovery period. I had to take over the reigns for a short time and see to it that 'the show went on'. I realised that Anchor Players were about to lose out. I requested an equal amount of seats for our members. I went through our membership list and sourced 50 long-standing or very hard working members and phoned them individually, inviting them to see the show. It was late in the day and few were able to attend. The Navy virtually filled the theatre with people and in the process, used up a large percentage of what could have been a paying audience. Financially we lost. We had hoped that with the co-operation of the players and the Navy, we would be able to make it up at a later stage. On a positive note the production was a huge success. It reached many people and the response was fantastic. Many people came forward expressing interest in the campaign. We handed them over to the Social Welfare Department of the Navy. The production has since been performed in a number of important venues. It has been seen in Saldahna and Mitchells Plain. The intention this year, 2004, is for the Drama to travel throughout the country in April. Anchor Players worked very hard to support the PADA campaign, which was indeed a highlight. We have not been able to get the players to commit to a run, long enough in advance to give us time do the necessary publicity for the production, so that our members can see it and so that we could get back some of what we lost. We have also up until now, received nothing of the Financial support we had expected from the institutions involved. It is important to remember however that when receiving our second grant from the WCC, it was on the strength of our efforts with the PADA campaign. We had a Director set for a play at the beginning of 2003. He attempted on two different occasions to cast the play. He felt it was unsuccessful on both occasions. He decided, along with the committee that he would seek a play that required a much smaller cast, but unfortunately, due to reasons of his own he did not go ahead with this. We housed a production by a local school of dance and then went ahead with the PADA campaign. Towards the end of 2003 we found a play and a director. Auditions were advertised in the newsletter, but only 2 people arrived. The Director went ahead and invited actors. The play was cast and rehearsals began. Unfortunately, once again, for personal reasons the Director has decided not to go ahead with the play. Although the production has not officially been cancelled yet. We still await word from him. Our Chairman has been suffering with a serious hip complaint and the morale of the committee had now reached an all time low. We shut the doors for the Christmas period. We were tired of the two years of virtually unsupported work for Anchor Players and we all needed a rest to refuel ourselves and get our own lives in order. 2004 When the new year began, Jeff went in for a hip replacement operation. He needs a reasonable recovery period but, once he is back on his feet we are going to open the doors of Anchor Players again. A new show and a fresh start, and hopefully with the support of our members. It became difficult for our chairman to operate from the office as his hip was becoming a problem and he was unable to function at his normal capacity. At one of our meetings, his hip gave in and he fell on the stairs. We felt that until he had his operation he would have to work from home where he did not have to cope with stairs to the same degree, and the office has therefore been closed temporarily. He had his operation in Feb 2004 and is on the road to recovery. We are hopeful that by April 2004, he will be back in the office. He spent full working days in the office for a whole year, working largely on the PADA campaign, and although we felt he should get some form of remuneration for doing so, we were only able to give him a nominal sum for 2 of the months spent there, the rest of the year was 100% voluntary using up all of his potential earning time. THE FUTURE Our plan is to get up and running as soon as possible. Jeff has a concept for a Musical show, low cost and easy to produce. If anyone is interested in coming forward and directing a play please do not hesitate to contact us. Provided you can meet certain standards required in a director, we would love to consider you. You must also understand, that Anchor Players is going through a difficult transitional period and you must be willing to be patient and work with us on the agony and the ecstasy of resurrecting her. Anyone who sees fit to help in any of the ways requested on the duty list, please phone the Cellular telephone number provided, or send your details in the post to; The Chairman, Anchor Players, c/o 466 Main Road, Murdoch Valley, Simon's Town, 7975. A FINAL WORD I hope our members will not see this newsletter as negative or accusational. We realise it has been a quiet year for Anchor Players, and we fear that because the committee may have appeared to lack enthusiasm, you may follow suit and loose interest. We felt it was time for a letter that spelt it out as it is in the hope that it will encourage members to get involved again. We cannot, as we have done for the last 2 years, KEEP GOING IT ALONE. Belinda Burchell-Batt. AUDITIONS: PhSyCaDeLiC SHACK Auditions are soon to be held for our first production of 2004. The show is a musical variety, based on Soul, Motown, R&B Music from the 60's onward. It takes place in an imaginary night club that has a 'Soul Music Night'. Performers will be expected to learn 2-4 songs each in one month. Some will be expected to perform in duets, trios or quartets. Movement will be minimal. The songs will be provided. Backing tracks will be used, and will be given to performers along with lyrics immediately after auditions. Costume will be in 60-70's style. A PANS PEOPLE/TOP OF THE POPS style dance group is also required. Apart from the dancers, there will be a cast of 12 vocalists, 6 male and 6 female. We will also require;
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