Thame.net

Category: entertainment and leisure news

  • Young actors inspired by visit to Thame home for the elderly

    THAME Youth Theatre will be performing a very special play at the Phoenix Performing Arts Studio at Lord Williams Lower School, Thame, on February 24 and 25, as part of ‘National Theatre Connections’, a nationwide celebration of new plays for young performers. The play Thame Youth Theatre will be performing is called Same, and has been written by Deborah Bruce.

    Members of Thame Youth Theatre rehearse a scene from Same
    Members of Thame Youth Theatre rehearse a scene from Same

    Connections is produced by the National Theatre and supported by a number of individuals, trusts and foundations and each year the National Theatre invites ten writers to create new plays for young people to perform. This spring 230 youth theatre companies will present the premieres of these plays in venues from Scotland to Cornwall and Northern Ireland to Norfolk. Each company will also perform at one of 26 Connections festivals in professional theatres across the country, and ten companies will go on to
    perform at the National Theatre.

    Same is set in an old people’s home in the week that Josie dies. Her teenage grandchildren reminisce about their memories of her, and the residents in the home feel the effects of her death on their lives as her funeral takes place. Is the gulf between the young and old as wide as it feels, or are we fundamentally the same inside whatever age we are?

    Tom Mackriell, Youth Arts Development Manager for Thame Youth Theatre, said: “Connections has been a very positive experience for our members, it has seen them challenge their performance skills and has helped them develop a place within their community with visits to Meadowcroft Care Home in Thame. To have the chance to perform a piece of theatre that shows great passion and heart has been fantastic and rehearsals have been a great chance for members to push their creativity, and a perfect place to talk about shared experiences that have helped install their own passion into the performance; we are all very excited for the performances.”

    To book now to see Thame Youth Theatre perform Same at the Phoenix Performing arts Studio on February 24 – 25, at 7.30pm, contact the Box Office on 07805 885846 or email admin@thameyouththeatre.co.uk.

    For more information on the National Theatre Connections visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/connections.

  • Learn more about Thame-born brewer, Boddington

    MONTHLY talks at  Thame Museum are beginning this week, on Thursday, February 13, when the subject will be  Henry Boddington, Part 2 – the larger-than-life, 19th century Thame resident .  

    Henry Boddington, Brewer, who was born in Thame in 1813, and lived here for many years
    Henry Boddington, Brewer, who was born in Thame in 1813, and lived here for many years

    The talk is being given by David Bretherton and begins at 7.30pm. There are still tickets available, price £5 / £3 for members.  They can be purchased on the night, but if you want to be sure of a seat for these popular talks, it’s best to reserve your place, either by telephone to Thame Museum : 01844 212801 or by emailing : publicity@thamemuseum.org

  • Beat the gloom and splash out for the Mayor’s Charity Dinner!

    WHAT better way to leave the grey and damp behind and join the Mayor of Thame and the Mayors of all the other local authorities, for a fun night with scrumptious food, entertainment and good music, to raise useful funds for the Mayor’s Thame charities.

    The Mayor of Thame, Cllr Peter Lambert
    The Mayor of Thame, Cllr Peter Lambert

    Tickets for the Mayor, Peter Lambert’s dinner are still available from the Information Centre in the Town Hall.  So get yourself a partner or a group of friends, or come alone (there’ll be plenty of lovely people to team up with on table)  and join the Mayor for an evening of dinner and dancing plus live entertainment from magician, Sylar.

    The Mayor has been supporting SAFARI, a charity working with adults with disabilities, and Thame Players’ Build a Better Theatre campaign throughout the year and the Charity Dinner is another opportunity to raise vital funds for these two good causes. Tickets are priced at £45 which includes a three course meal, drinks on arrival and an evening packed with entertainment at the  Oxfordshire Hotel.

    The Mayor told Thame.Net: “My appeal is double barreled in fact as I’m also looking for donations by local businesses for the raffle.

    “Times are tight at the moment and I’m aware that our retail outlets are bludgeoned constantly for donations (like myself) and I’ll understand if they can’t give any more away, but if you don’t ask…

    “I realise £45 is, for some, rather a lot of money – especially if two of you are coming, but the price reflects the cost per person plus £10 for each charity. The dress code is black tie or lounge suit and I would like to stress that a lounge suit is perfectly adequate. I look forward to seeing you there!”

    For more information  about the Mayor’s Annual Dinner on March 1, visit the Information Centre or contact Rosie Collins on 01844 260495.

  • Hats Off to Laurel and Hardy at Thame Players Theatre

    ‘Hats Off To Laurel And Hardy’ is a brand new play about the lives of the most famous comedy duo of all-time. It has been written with the assistance of some of the leading historians and the support of The Laurel and Hardy Museum to present the most accurate stage show about The Boys to date.

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    The play recounts their early lives, their fledgling careers, their meteoric rise to fame and the decline of their success in film being replaced by a new-found popularity on international tour. Besides including some of their best-loved routines (including ‘The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine’ and the famous dance from ‘Way Out West’) the play also includes many interesting anecdotes about what happened when the cameras stopped rolling; the relationship between the pair, and their colleagues, wives and fans.

    ‘Hats Off To Laurel And Hardy’ promises to give audiences an evening of laughter that will teach them the facts about the iconic pair and send them into the night smiling – and a little wiser than Stan and Ollie.

    Lucky Dog Theatre Productions
    ‘HATS OFF TO LAUREL AND HARDY’

    At ThePlayers Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame;  At 7.45pm on Saturday, February 8.  Ticktes £10 and £9 with £1 off for concessions;  Available from Tickets Anywhere, Greyhound Walk, Thame, tel: 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk

    Lucky Dog is a professional company from Surrey consisting of actors Tony Carpenter and Philip Hutchinson and actress Kelsey Williams.

  • Once a month for four years & going strong!

    THAME’S First Thursday Music club,  having delivered over 700 performances, over 2,000 songs and a lot of fun – all for free, will be celebrating it’s fourth birthday this coming Thursday, February 6, at its usual venue, The Stables behind The James Figg pub in Cornmarket, Thame.

    FTMC_group2013 (400x288)

    As well as popular regulars like Tanya Brewster, 2am Blue and Walter J. Wallis, this is of course, an open mic night and so will include all the surprises of the unknown, the hopeful young musician setting out, with a sprinkling of well-honed, seasoned musicians.

    So, expect anything from Rock ‘n Roll, soul, folk and some very individual fusion and jamming across all the genres, accoustically mostly but with some percussion thrown in along the way.

    Doors open at 7.30pm to sign up for a spot on the night. Visit FTMC’s Facebook page HERE

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • CANCELLED: ‘Staying Alive’ Valentine’s night party

    UNFORTUNATELY this event has been canclled due to low tickets sales.

    THE community group, Staying Alive Thame, cordially invites you to its Valentine’s Party Night at the Barn Centre, Thame, on February 15.  All proceeds will go towards placing defibrillators throughout Thame.

    valentine (400x280)

    Tickets cost £12.50 per person, and the fun will begin at  7.pm through to 11.30pm. The event will include a disco, a buffet, a bar, raffle and a Whisky Roll.

    Address for the Thame Barns Centre, Church Road, Thame, OX9 3AJ – Tickets available from the Centre on 01844 217308 or email patsy@thamebarnscentre.co.uk.

  • The Spirit of England in music

    REHEARSALS are underway for Thame Choral Society’s Spring Concert on Saturday, May 10, at St Mary’s Church, Thame. The theme of the concert, The Spirit of England, will feature English choral music spanning five centuries, from Byrd and Purcell to Parry and Rutter, with accompaniment by organ, brass and percussion.

    Thame Choral Society's Director of Music, Helen Swift
    Thame Choral Society’s Director of Music, Helen Swift

    New and former singers are particularly welcome to join existing choir members for this exciting concert under the inspirational leadership of director, Helen Swift.

    Thame Choral Society, founded in 1961, is an informal, friendly, non audition choir committed to the enjoyment of music and has performed a wide range of choral works from the renaissance and baroque through the classical and romantic composers to modern pieces by Britten, Poulenc and Rutter. Two major concerts are performed each year at St Mary’s Parish Church in Thame, and an informal concert of lighter items is arranged for the summer, often in a garden setting.

    Rehearsals are held at the Methodist Church, Haddenham on Wednesday evenings from 7.30 to 9.30. More information about the choir can be found on its website, www.thamechoralsociety.co.uk, and by sending an email to :
    thamechoralsociety@hotmail.co.uk

  • Towersey’s 50th festival line-up

    THE Towersey Festival, which this year is celebrating is 50th anniversary in August, has released details of  the line-up, which includes some of the most famous names in folk music.

    Image of Towersey Festival 2013 - courtesy of Phil Sofer
    Image of Towersey Festival 2013 – courtesy of Phil Sofer

    Among those taking part in the festival’s half-century birthday celebrations are folk legends Richard Thompson, Seth Lakeman, and Lau, as well  as Norma Waterson, Eliza Carthy and Martin Carthy.  Michael McGoldrick, John McCusker, Georgia Ruth, Dick Gaughan, John Smith, Nancy Kerr and James Fagan, The Urban Folk Quartet, and many more, including The Bootleg Beatles, who’ll be headlining the opening night spectacular, are also on this most glittering  of  bills for 2014.

    It was way back in 1965 that the people of Towersey, looking for ways to fund urgent renovations to the village hall, decided to launch a festival. From a one-day event, it was soon expanded to three days and a major, arts festival was born.

    Music has always been at the heart of the festivities, but the modern day Towersey Festival also embraces poetry, comedy, theatre, circus performers, visual arts, films, workshops, dances, storytelling and great food.

    Towersey’s Children’s Festival is a major attraction, featuring everything from drop-in craft activities to baby reflexology, while other highlights include Shooting Roots, a programme of activities dedicated to, and run by, young people, and a Real Ale and Cider Festival, featuring a range of artisan beers and ciders, many from the surrounding area.

    “We’re very proud indeed to be celebrating Towersey Festival’s Golden Jubilee,” said Festival Director Joe Heap, whose grandfather was one of the festival founders. “The annual event has grown considerably since those early days, but it remains one of the most welcoming and friendly festivals in the UK.

    “We’re looking forward to marking 50 years with some very special guests and announcements, and also welcoming friends both old and new,” he added.

    A cornerstone of British music since the 1960s, guitarist and songwriter Richard Thompson found fame as co-founder of Fairport Convention. His songs have been recorded by such acts as The Corrs, REM and Elvis Costello, with The LA Times describing him as “the finest rock songwriter after [Bob] Dylan and the best electric guitarist since Hendrix.” He was made an OBE in 2011.

    Over the last decade, Seth Lakeman has released a string of critically acclaimed albums, including the Mercury Prize nominated Kitty Jay. 2014 sees the violinist and multi-instrumentalist release his sixth studio album, Word Of Mouth (out Feb 3).

    A stunning live act, three-piece, Lau, have won the Best Band title at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards four times (2008, 2009, 2010, 2013), their subtle blend of traditional instruments with loops and effects pushing the folk genre into new exciting directions.

    Tickets for the full festival start from £55-£120, with under 5s free. Camping available. Day tickets (Fri-Mon) £10-£40.

    For further information and to book tickets, call 023 8071 1818 or see: www.towerseyfestival.com

  • Cinema: ‘Gritty’ modern, adaption of The Selfish Giant

    FROM the earliest days of feature length documentaries, through the celebrated British New Wave of gritty ‘kitchen sink’ movies (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, A Taste of Honey and the like), British cinema has a long and illustrious tradition of social realist cinema. With directors such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh continuing the tradition, this is a cinema with a commitment to the experiences of the ordinary, the marginalised, and those whose worlds are otherwise invisible.

    Scene from The Selfish Giant
    Scene from The Selfish GiantWith directors such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh continuing the tradition, this is a cinema with a commitment to the experiences of the ordinary, the marginalised, and those whose worlds are otherwise invisible.

     

    The tradition has both a political commitment to its protagonists – the consequences of poverty, brutality, or exclusion, for example – but also a belief in the exceptional dramatic and emotional resonance of stories about life on the margins. A new generation of filmmakers has enthusiastically continued in the same vein, including Clio Barnard, whose first film as director was the acclaimed The Arbor. Here she takes a children’s fable of the same name by Oscar Wilde,  using it as a point of departure, and moving it to a desperately impoverished Bradford housing estate.

    Thirteen year-old friends, Arbor and Swifty, don’t seem to fit in anywhere and are excluded from school, left to their own devices and fending for themselves. They discover that serious money can be made dealing in scrap metal, a trade that leads them to a very dodgy dealer known as Kitten. He recruits the boys to scavenge for him, paying no mind to the potentially perilous consequences. Kitten also has a curious side-line raising ponies that he races in insanely dangerous harness races, on roads shared with motor vehicles. When Kitten recognises Swifty’s skill with animals, and favours him with looking after the ponies, he comes between the boys, forcing Arbor into more single minded and risky metal scrounging. This is heartbreaking, passionate, exhilarating, almost Dickensian, and sometimes blackly comic film making, with bleak urban landscapes of deprivation made strangely beautiful. A huge success with audiences and critics.

    SOURCE: Contributed by Catriona Gilmore

  • Deception, Lies & Chocolate Muffins at Thame library

    AN author with local links is currently doing a tour of libraries with her debut novel, Deception, Lies and Chocolate Muffins, and will be appearing at Thame library on January 25th, at 11am, to talk about her book.

    Author, Jennie Ann Rake
    Author, Jennie Ann Rake

    Jennie Ann Rake’s book is described as: “A humorous glimpse of village life and the scandalous dynamics behind the genteel veneer…… Deception, Lies and Chocolate Muffins is the amusing debut by Jennie Ann Rake, with gentle humour and style resonant of Katie Ffforde and Joanna Trollope.” It contains a couple of references to Thame, where Jennie has several friends.

    The publisher’s blurb gives a taste of the story within: “The curtains are twitching in Witchert Close, but Hattie and Nick will soon be leaving it all behind for their dream cottage in the country. But in the months leading up to their relocation, the local gossips are given more than enough fuel for their scandal-mongering fires.

    “The arrival of a handsome, Italian estate agent forces Hattie to reopen wounds from her past. Leo Marcello is a man that she has been trying not to think about for more than twenty years, ever since he left her standing at Victoria Station before disappearing from her life. Now she wants answers – and chocolate muffins!”

    Jennie Ann Rake has been a primary school teacher for most of her career, specialising in music. Her life now revolves around writing, running her Fair Trade shop and looking after her three pampered cats. She and her husband live in Blandford Forum, Dorset.

    Deception, Lies and Chocolate Muffins (The Guilty Secrets of a Wayward School Teacher) is available from The Book House, in Thame, published by The Book Guild. It is also available as an e-book