Category: entertainment and leisure news

AFTER their highly acclaimed productions of Old Herbaceous and My Dog’s Got No Nose, London-based theatre company Kick In The Head return to the Players’ Theatre, Thame with a new play called Fagin?, based on the character of Fagin in Charles Dickens’ Oliver Twist.

Written by acclaimed director and playwright Simon Downing, it centres on Fagin’s last night in prison and his descent into madness before being hanged.
It also provides an opportunity to find out who Fagin really was.
 
Downing starts from the premise that Dickens didn’t provide a back story for Fagin, but his character is widely believed to have been based on Ikey
Solomon, a notorious criminal and fence in the early nineteenth century. Dickens was a court reporter before turning to fiction, and it’s more than possible that he covered Solomon’s sensational Old Bailey trial in June 1830. Much of Solomon’s well-documented life story has therefore been appropriated for the play.
‘If you think you know Fagin’, says Downing, ‘think again’.
 
The setting is simple, the themes (love, greed, deception, betrayal, regret and retribution) universal, the subtle interplay between the three actors intense, and the background of Oliver Twist so familiar that ‘…this small masterpiece could well become a theatrical staple… you would be a fool to yourself to miss it!’ (Alton Herald).
 
 ‘All three actors in the roles of Fagin (Keith Hill), Bill (Giles Shenton) and Nancy (Georgia Butt) deliver impeccable performances. In the centre of it all, the audience is captivated by Fagin’s diverse, manipulative and complex character.’ (The Reviews Hub)

Fagin? is being performed at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP on Saturday, January 26, 2019 at 7.45pm. Tickets are £12 each and available from Spear Travels, Greyhound Walk, Thame, telephone 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk
Full details and reviews of Fagin? are available at www.kickinthehhead.co.uk

Thame Players is a registered charity run entirely by volunteers offering a varied range of productions all year round, from serious theatre to comedy and pantomime, including their own productions, visiting shows, and film screenings by Thame Cinema 4 All. For more information about Thame Players and how to join them as a member or a friend, call 07938 857291 or visit www.thameplayers.co.uk

DIRECTED by Annemarie Jacir, Starring Mohammad Bakri, and Saleh Bakri, Jacir’s heart-warming comedy drama stars a father and son playing a father and son.

Set in contemporary Nazareth, Abu and his estranged son, Shadi, are thrust together for an awkward and revealing 24 hours. Shadi’s sister, Amal, is to be married, and in accordance with tradition the men of her family must deliver, by hand, the invitations for upwards of 300 wedding guests.

This means a day spent together in Abu’s beaten up Volvo, navigating the crowded and labyrinthine streets of the ancient city. But more to the point, they must navigate each other and the inter-generational tensions that colour their fraught relationship: the old man’s frustrations with his son’s sartorial, professional and romantic choices; the son’s anger at his father’s apparent acquiescence to Israeli authority; the painful familial circumstances that frame the forthcoming nuptials.

By degrees, the script reveals the multiple layers of one family’s experience, framed by the influence of wider political complexities and conflicts, telling a story of the Palestinian day-to-day experience in contemporary Israel. And meanwhile, it gives us an intimate portrait of the city, its people and its rituals and the lives of a minority Christian community, taking us into the homes and workplaces of multiple eccentric relations and acquaintances, in encounters that are often awkward, subtly revealing and frequently hilarious. A poignant, seductive and hugely enjoyable film.

View the trailer HERE

WAJIB This Sunday – January 13 – NOTE 7pm showing !! Film tickets are available on the door or online- Click HERE

Note: The theatre’s capacity is 130 seats. TC4A allocates up to 100 seats for pre-booking online, reserving 30 for those who prefer to buy on the door.
N.B. When buying online there is no need to print-out the ticket nor to have this sent to your mobile. We will have a list of ticket sales at the box office. All seats are unreserved. Doors open half an hour before films start, admission £5, licensed bar.
Thame Cinema 4 All is at Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame. Thame cinema welcomes comments or suggestions- to contact us click here. Details of forthcoming films at Thame Cinema for All are available on www.thamecinema.org.uk

THIS coming Sunday, Thame Cinema 4 All will be screening, FREE OF CHARGE, the 1968 classic, The Producers, Directed by Mel Brooks, Starring Zero Mostel, Gene Wilder.

Arguably Mel Brooks’ funniest film, this riotous satire of the business side of Broadway – based on Brooks’ own experience of show business – celebrated its 50th anniversary this year.

Max Bialystock is a sleazy, brutally cynical theatrical producer down on his luck, reliant on romancing a series of wealthy widows to keep things afloat. He hires Leo Blum, a timid, neurotic accountant (Wilder) to have a look at the books; together they conceive a plan to capitalise on a tax loss loophole, and raise much more than they need to stage a play that will be a guaranteed flop.

This will be a script so shoddy, on a subject so beyond-the-pale, and starring an actor whose performance is so teeth-gnashingly awful, that the show will close on the first night – leaving our partners in crime to cash in without having to pay back their investors. Gleeful, hysterical, frenzied, bawdy, breathtakingly outrageous, this is a perennial favourite of critics and audiences alike, a classic that will leave you slack jawed at its audacity

View the trailer here

THE PRODUCERS this Sunday 23rd December
NOTE 7.00pm START – 98 minutes long – Certified PG
FREE SHOWING NO ONLINE BOOKING
Doors open half an hour before films start, licensed bar
Thame Cinema 4 All at Thame Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame. Thame

MUSIC in the Park, Thame, has donated £375 to Thame charity Self-Advocacy For Adults Requiring Independence (SAFARI). A cheque was presented to the charity’s Chair, Michelle Diffey, and Trustee, Linda Emery, by Chris Fram, Chair of Music in the Park’s organising committee.

SAFARI will use the grant to help it fund music events. One of these was the SAFARI Christmas Party, which took place at Thame’s Guides Headquarters on December 2, and the grant will also be used to help pay for an event next summer.

According to Michelle Diffey: “Music gives so much happiness to our adults and is such a great leveller, helping the communications within the group”. Chris Fram added: “Music in the Park is delighted to be able to make a donation to this very worthwhile local charity, which does such great work for adults with a learning or physical disability living in and around Thame.”

If you are a local individual or organisation interested in applying for a grant that to support art, music or recreation, or other leisure time occupation of individuals or organisations that live or operate in the Thame area, see the Grants section of Music In The Park’s website: https://www.musicinthepark.org.uk/grants

Music in the Park

Music in the Park is an annual, one-day, family-oriented performing arts festival that takes place in Elms Park, Thame. The 2019 festival will be the ninth. Music in the Park is a not-for-profit organisation run by an enthusiastic band of volunteers. All proceeds from the event are invested in the local community.

The event also provides a great platform for local talent. Most of the artistes are local. There are three stages and the entertainment spans all genres of music: rock, pop, blues, acoustic, classical, jazz, ukulele and choir, as well as various types of dance. Winners of the Lord Williams’s School “Singer of the Year” competition are also invited to perform at the event.
www.musicinthepark.org.uk

Self-Advocacy For Adults Requiring Independence (SAFARI)

SAFARI is a Thame-based charity with the following objectives:
The relief of adults with a learning or physical disability living in and around Thame, Oxfordshire, in particular by the provision of help and support for them and for their families, dependants and carers;
To provide or assist in the provision of facilities for the recreation or other leisure time occupation for people who have need thereof by reason of a learning or physical disability with the object of improving their conditions of life.
To promote social inclusion for adults with learning and physical disabilities who are socially excluded by providing them with advice, information, support and recreational facilities to help them develop independence.

Follow Music in the Park on social media
Follow Music in the Park on Twitter: @MusicInThePark.
“Like” Music in the Park on Facebook: www.facebook.com/MusicInTheParkThame.

IN an exciting change to its usual format, well-known local actor, Bruce Alexander,  is to compère Thame Chamber Choir’s evening Christmas Concert, entitled Follow that Star!, in St Mary’s Church, Thame, on Saturday, December 15.

TV star Bruce (Superintendent Norman Mullett in the ITV television series A Touch of Frost) will intersperse seasonal readings with the choir’s blend of old favourites and pieces with a modern twist, complemented by traditional refreshments (including mulled wine and mince pies), familiar carols to sing along with, and a beautiful candlelit atmosphere.

The evening concert will be preceded by a family matinée, specially intended for families with young children. Both concerts also feature TCC2, Thame’s thriving Children’s Choir, veteran broadcasters on both BBC Television and Radio 3!

The concerts are at 4.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m., and tickets are available from the Book House, 93 High Street, Thame. Children under 18 are admitted free.

THE festive season comes chiming in at The First Thursday Music Club at The Stables in Thame on Thursday, December 6. A big crowd and lots of artists are expected as usual, to this brilliant night of live music as we start the run-up to Christmas – and as always entry is FREE.

This month the club will feature The Band With No Name with their annual appearance. The band played to a huge crowd at the Rebellion Brewery in Marlow in November and will be moving on to close at Haddenham’s hugely successful Winterfest Beer Festival on Saturday, December 8.

With Clive Taylor on drums, Clive Henry on Harmonica, Phil Westerman on Bass, George Brundrette on lead guitar and Dave Bradley on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, they’ll be rockin’ the house from around 10pm in Thame.

The First Thursday Music Club still offers the opportunity for artists to play live in front of a warm and appreciative audience, maintaining the ‘Open Mic’ section of the evening where slots will always be available in the first hour on a first come, first served basis with player sign-up by 7.30. The club has a full house PA system with keyboard, bass amp, guitar amp and jazz drum kit (bring breakables!) all set up on stage and ready to go.

Another eclectic evening is guaranteed and, don’t forget, it’s FREE entry!

The Band With No Name: www.tbwnn.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/musicthebandwithnoname/

THE much-loved patron of Towersey Festival, British folk legend ROY BAILEY, died yesterday, Tuesday, November 20, 2018.

A hugely important figure in British music, Roy started performing skiffle in the 1950s before falling in love with traditional songs. He was on stage, and in brilliant form, in August when he played his now traditional Bank Holiday Afternoon concert at the festival to a packed audience.

In a statement today, Joe Heap,Towersey Festival’s Festival Director, said the following:

“It’s with great sadness we hear of the passing of our Festival Patron and friend Roy Bailey.

“Roy has been a part of Towersey Festival since our very first event, and even before. He was there, back in 1965 at the very meeting where the festival was conceived, and he’s been performing at the festival almost every year since.

“Always playing to capacity crowds, his regular Monday afternoon concerts were an utter joy – warm, funny, poignant, and well-observed.

“We’ll miss him greatly, and we know many Towersey-goers will do too.

“Our thoughts are with his family.”

In a message of the Roy Bailey official website, Roy’s family have posted this message:

“Many of you will know that Roy has struggled with heart failure for over 30 years. Sadly today his condition finally claimed him. His last few days were peaceful and filled with love, family and friends whilst being cared for by the amazing folk at St. Luke’s hospice in Sheffield.

Professor Roy Bailey – a husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, friend, singer, academic and humanitarian – 1935 – 2018. “

THE Mayor of Thame’s charities will be the benefactors of two special screenings of the film Manna Mie: Here We Go Again, being shown on Saturday, December 29,
Saturday December 29.

Tickets are available for a donation of £10 (+booking fee) or £10 on the door.  Screenings at 4.30pm and 8pm.  You can view the trailer HERE

Thame Cinema 4 All screening are held at the Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP

AN entertaining evening planned by the Friends of St Mary’s Church, Thame, to raise funds toward new stacking chairs for the church, ending with a special appearance of Paul and Ben from the Memphis Rattlesnakes.

 

The Memphis Rattlesnakes are the local Rock ‘n Roll band, who appear regularly at First Thursday Music Club and Music In The Park, fronted by Mr Paul Hankey, Headteacher of John Hampden Primary school.

Tickets can be bought from St Mary’s church, Thame Barns Centre, Church Road, Thame or phone 01844 213491. They will also be available on the door on the day.

When? Friday, November 16, 2016, at 7pm

ZHAO’s enormously accomplished contemporary western uses non-professional actors playing only partically fictionalised versions of themselves. Brady Jandreau plays Brady Blackburn, a skilled rodeo rider and horseman living in remote South Dakota.

This is a world where there are few choices for young men – it is all about the horses. But Brady sustains a near fatal head injury after a fall from a horse and is forced to reconsider how to live his life if – as his doctors insist – he cannot ride again. The film follows Brady and those close to him: his father, spending too much on beer but without much else to look forward to; his sister who has autism, devoted to her brother; his friends, all in thrall to the lure of the rodeo and the power of those – like Brady – who rise to the top of their game.

Brady spends time visiting Lane, another talented rider in rehab following a brain injury of his own. And of course, there are the horses. Brady turns to training horses, with mesmerising sequences of him breaking in a young stallion in real time, gradually commanding the wild creature with wordless empathy and non-verbal communication. The autobiographical content, coupled with the director’s naturalism and quiet observational style, make the film feel more of a documentary, with the viewer an intimate observer of Brady’s family and community. A quietly poetic, graceful and very beautiful film, and an exquisitely moving portrait of a young man learning to roll with life’s punches. Not to be missed. View the trailer here.

Sunday November 4, 8 pm – Buy tickets online HERE

USA 2018, 103 minutes, PG certificate
Directed by Chloé Zhao, Starring Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Cat Clifford, Terri Dawn Pourier, Lane Scott – Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame. Doors open – 7.30pm – Licensed bar.