Category: entertainment and leisure news

RECYCLING. Glass will be collected on Tuesday, 25th as well as paper, cans and plastics.

Wed 19th + Thurs 26th Play around the Parishes. AVDC is running another free session for 1-11 year olds in Banks Park (2-4.30pm) – with arts and crafts, sports and games and a bouncy castle. The final session is next Thursday (10am-12.30pm).

Wed 26th NAG. The next Haddenham and district Neighbourhood Action Group meeting is at 7pm at Haddenham Village Hall.

Sept 19th Table Top Sale. Tracy Powell, who is running the Virgin London Marathon next April in aid of Guide Dogs For The Blind, is starting her fund-raising by holding a table top saleat Haddenham Village Hall. To book a table (

THAME Players will be welcoming the return of professional actor, Richard Worland, for their next presentation, A Month of Sundays, by the writer of TV sit-com, The Good Life, Bob Larbey.

Richard Worland (on the left in the picture) trod the boards for the very first time in his mid forties in the early 1990s in an open air Shakespeare production. Following redundancy in 2001, Richard devoted more time to his hobby, so by the time he made his Thame Players debut in 2006 he had appeared in a considerable number of productions and had had a few walk on film roles.

In 2006, he undertook the intensive full time one year program at Drama Studio, London, and launched a new career as a professional actor. Unusually, though, for a professional actor, Richard’s love of the stage leads him to keep an eye out for good roles with quality amateur companies and thus he joins Thame Players to play the role of Aylott in Bob Larbey’s touching play, A Month of Sundays, being performed at the Players Theatre in Nelson Street, Thame at 7.45pm from Tuesday, 8th to Saturday, 12th September.

A Month of Sundays is a lovely comedy and it would not be an exaggeration to call Bob Larbey a legend, a prolific creator and writer of many TV comedies, starting with Please Sir, then going on to create one of the most successful BBC comedies ever – The Good Life – before writing Ever Decreasing Circles, Brush Strokes and As Time Goes By.

A Month of Sundays won the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Comedy in 1987.

Cooper (played by Brian Holt on the right in the picture) and Aylott are two elderly gentlemen who are spending their declining years in a rest home in the south of England. Together they face the challenges posed by the ageing process – the forgetfulness and the physical deterioration. Cooper also has to endure monthly visits from his daughter, Julia, and her henpecked husband, Peter. A touching and witty play, it treats the subject of growing old not only with sensitivity, but also with a great deal of gentle humour.

Tickets cost

THAME Players, in association with Clive Conway Celebrity Productions, is presenting an audience with one of the most celebrated barristers of our times.

Cast your mind back over the last 30 years and try to think of the most sensational trials and hearings over that time – those trials that held the front pages of the newspapers for days on end, trials such as Lockerbie (right back in the news today), Jill Dando?s murder, Stephen Lawrence, Bloody Sunday, the Omagh bombing, the Marchioness disaster, Jean Charles de Menezes inquiry and Princess Diana?s crash readily spring to mind.

We all remember them clearly, but what do they have in common? The answer is Michael Mansfield, the most celebrated barrister of the last 30 years. Now recently retired, he has written a book of his experiences and is embarking on a nationwide tour of “audiences with ?” shows, and one of the first will be at the Players Theatre in Thame at 7.45pm on Sunday, September 20, 2009. This is a unique opportunity to get the inside story on these and other famous trials and, furthermore, get the chance to cross examine him yourself. This anecdotal and inspirational evening will keep you spellbound and Michael will be signing copies of his book after the show.

Tickets, as for other celebrity productions brought to us by Clive Conway Celebrity Productions, cost

THURSDAY, the August 29, 2009 – Quiz starts at 7pm – Four members per team –

SO boasts the Towersey Village Festival Showground as Showtime comes to Oxfordshire. From Friday to Monday of the Bank Holiday weekend, 28-31 August 2009, Towersey Showground promises a magical day out and an unashamed celebration of street art in a unique Festival atmosphere.

The Festival Showground has undergone a major change for 2009, now boasting three stages with a packed programme of comedy, music, magic and dance from the likes of Pete White?s Suitcase Circus, the Grand Theatre of Lemmings, the powerful African dance of the Mighty Zulu Nation, lunacy and laughter from the Invisible Men, Caribbean steel pan sounds from the Sunshine Panners, the mystery of the Oxford Giants and wandering the showground the enchanting, interactive puppetry of the Flying Buttresses and Jelly Rollers musical dragon.

The Showground has over 100 stalls in markets, music stalls and craft fairs, offering everything from garden herbs and handmade soaps to stunning jewellery and a unique world of clothing. Exotic food and a Real Ale Bar site alongside your opportunity to make a recording in the Streamline mobile Rockhopper Studio and tackle the Climbing Wall challenge. Circus Skills for children of all ages, fantastic face painting and the unique musical, colourful, sunshine atmosphere of Towersey Festival make this a very special day out. All that and a FREE car park.

Towersey Showground is THE magical day out this summer. Set in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside village of Towersey, with its Civil War history, Norman church, country walks and the Phoenix Trail to bring you on your bike from Thame and the surrounding area. A safe, friendly and yet exciting atmosphere, a ?must do? for this Bank Holiday weekend.

“To have such a fantastic local Showground Festival as Towersey is marvellous; it?s the highlight of the summer.” Hannah, Thame.

Only

BOOK OF THE WEEK. A new book by Haddenham author Jane Robinson, ‘Bluestockings’ – a book about the first women to go to university in England, from 1869-1939 – has been chosen by BBC Radio 4 to be their Book of the Week (9.45am each day and repeated at 12.30am) next week (August 10-14). It is due for publication tomorrow with an official press launch on August 17.

Thurs 6th and 13th August – Skate Park. The Mobile Skate Park will be at Haddenham Youth Centre (12.30-3pm) – just turn up on the day for fun and games. For information call Di Gosling on 290313 or 07771 807151.

Sun 9th Health Walk. There will be a shorter than usual walk this month – meet at Banks Park at 1.50 for 2pm for a walk to Snakemoor Local Nature Reserve, calling in at the museum on the way. The walk will culminate with a cup of tea at the Rose and Thistle (optional). New walkers will be most welcome.

Wed 12th Play around the Parishes. AVDC is running a free session for 1-11 year olds in Banks Park (10am-12.30pm) – with arts and crafts, sports and games and a bouncy castle.

Wed 12th Sport Session. ‘Turn up for free sport’ with AVDC at Haddenham Youth Centre (2-4pm). For more information contact Di Gosling on 01844 290313 or mobile 07771 807151.

Tues 25th/Wed 26th Holiday at Home. The Haddenham Outlook group, which is supported by Churches Together in Haddenham, invites over-60s in Haddenham who are unable to take a holiday this year to enjoy a ?Holiday at Home? on August 25 and 26 (10am-4pm). On the Tuesday, you can enjoy entertainment, quiz, pub games etc and lunch (all for

GUITAR genius, ?years ahead of his time?, Wilber, local Thame guitarist, has been booked to support The Blues Band?s appearance at Towersey Village Festival.

The Blues Band, featuring Paul Jones (Manfred Man & Radio 2), Dave Kelly, Rob Townsend, Gary Fletcher and Tom McGuiness (McGuinness Flint), have been the ?top of their tree? since the late 60s. Presenting the music of Muddy Waters, Howlin? Wolf, Sleepy John Estes, Willie Dixon and some of the best Rhythm and Blues you are ever likely to hear, The Blues Band are appearing at Towersey Village Festival in the pre-Festival warm up Concert on Thursday 27 August 2009 at 7.30pm.

WilbEr, since getting through to the final of the BBC Radio 2, Young Folk Award in 2007, has been playing local and national gigs in between A? Level exams at Lord William?s School; now recognised on the acoustic music scene as just about the best up and coming young blues guitarist.

This will be a night to remember, where local talent meets the international master stars.

Ticket are

30 July to 01 August 2009 ? Last Easter, by Bryony Lavery – presented by Aylesbury Vale Youth Theatre.

Hilarious and heartbreaking account of June?s battle with terminal cancer which charts the highs, the lows, the loves and the losses of fighting for friendship in life?s darkest moments. At Sir Henry Floyd Grammar School drama studio on Thursday, 30th and Friday 31st of July, 2009 and Saturday 1st August at 7.30pm. Tickets are

THE Lambert Arms, Aston Rowant, Oxon. OX 49 5SB (Just off J6 M40) – This coming Saturday, July 25; 11am ? 4pm.

Something for everyone to enjoy including Tug of War, Aunt Sally, Skittles, Bouncy Castle, Face Painting, Crafts, Home Made Food Stalls, Local Charity Stalls, BBQ, Live Music and much more.

A fun afternoon for all the family. Free Entry to all, funds being raised to support local charities.

IF you over 65 and would like to have fun this summer, why not join Silver Lighhouse of an afternoon of fun and friendship?

Enjoy a delicious afternoon tea at Thame Showground, between 2.30pm and 4.30pm, from July 21 to 23, Transport provided.

Call Patsy on 07766957348. Silver Lighthouse is part of Lighthouse Thame – www.lighthousethame.org.uk