Category: entertainment and leisure news

WHN: June 02, 2012 7 at 7.30pm. WHERE: St Mary’s Chruch, Thame; Quizmistress: Sue Boyle – Bring your own drinks and nibbles.

COMING SOON – The Watermill West Berkshire Playhouse in association with Big Olive Productions presents: LOVE ON THE TRACKS – A new play by Richard Attlee
Directed by Michael Woodwood, at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame, at 7.45pm on Friday, June 1, 2012

Six comic tales of 19th century Russian marital woe presented in a very modern way, inspired by the short stories of Anton Chekov. Written by Richard Attlee who plays Kenton Archer in The Archers and who recently appeared in Moonlight and Magnolias (Watermill), Arthur and George (Birmingham Rep) is the grandson of Clement Attlee.

The Watermill?s latest production on tour is a new three-hander, Love on the Tracks, based on Chekov?s short stories by actor and Russian expert Richard Attlee, directed by Michael Woodwood, Artistic Director of Vital Stages. Following a successful run at The Watermill in Newbury and a tour of more than 20 venues throughout the south of England, the company visits The Players Theatre in Thame for a performance at 7.45pm on Friday 1st June. Tickets cost

NEXT FILm – Thame Cinema 4 All – Saturday, May 26; Argentina 2010, 107 minutes, 15 certificate, Directed by Pablo Trapero, Starring Ricardo Darin, Martina Gusman, Carlos Weber.

There are, reputedly, 120,000 people injured on Argentinian roads each year. This sad state of affairs has given rise to a deeply corrupt and bleakly opportunistic industry exploiting the injured and bereaved, involving unscrupulous lawyers, the police, and the medical profession. Such is the backdrop to this slick and polished thriller / film noir.

Darin (familiar to those who enjoyed The Secret in Their Eyes) is Soza, a disreputable lawyer working as an ambulance chaser for a shady organisation called the Foundation, ostensibly a charity facilitating insurance payouts to the injured, but in fact a corrupt group making dirty deals with all concerned and pocketing most of the money. So dedicated is he to his work, that he persuades desperate people to throw themselves in front of traffic for the promise of a payout, tipping off complicit ambulance crews who also want a slice. One evening he meets Gusman?s Luj

REMEMBER Song For Whoever, Perfect Ten, Rotterdam, Don’t Marry Her, You Keep It All In, Old Red Eyes Is Back? The list of hits is almost daunting and now The South are bringing their music back to the nation.

Dave Hemingway and Ali Wheeler,lead singers with The Beautiful South, along with departed songwriter Paul Heaton, loved the songs and life on the road too much to just muse on past glories, and so The South was formed.

They offer lovers of this truly classic, British Pop band a chance to reconnect with the musicians and the music once again, and this year they will open the 48th Towersey Festival in Oxfordshire.

And the world class music doesn?t stop there. Radio 2 favourites and multi award winners, Bellowhead, will headling on the Friday, with their absolutely unique 11 piece sound. Having recently played on BBC Radio 2’s ‘2Day’ as well as at the ‘Proms Live in the Park’ event, and on ‘Later’ with Jools Holland, this is a rare opportunity to see this stunning live band in our region.

And that?s just the start; Towersey is so much more than just a great line-up, it offers all the buzz, atmosphere, magic and colour that you would expect from any major festival and it does it all in the beautiful village of Towersey on the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire border.

Watch, listen, learn, chat, laugh, eat, and drink. Eight Performance Stages, a huge Children?s Festival, Massive Real Ale Bar (serving over 20 Real Ales),unique youth project ‘Shooting Roots’, Late Night Clubs, vast array of world cuisine and a real pride in making the festival- quote: ?another lovelier world.?

So join the thousands that make Towersy Festival part of their summer every year, and get your dose of festival magic in rural Oxfordshire.

A NEW club for Ukulelei players has been formed in Haddenham, near Thame, by Adrian Broadway, who runs Haddenham Shamrocks. Haddenham Ukulele Musos (HUM) met for the first time on May 16, and will meet on the first and third Wednesday of the month (7-9pm) at the Rose and Thistle, Station Road, to play popular songs from the last 100 years of the ukulele.

As it says on the new group?s website: LINK ?The songs in the repertoire can be downloaded from the tunes section of this site or are available at the session.

“The musicians vary from beginners to experienced ukulele players and the tunes vary in level of difficulty. Beginners can just join in the chords they know and leave the rest to the more experienced uke players. The emphasis is on fun and enjoying yourself!

“Lessons will not be given but advice about playing the songs will be given and any questions answered. There will be a break in the middle of the session for people to be able to discuss things and at this time beginners can seek individual advice from the experienced players.
You are asked for a donation of

THAME CINEMA 4 ALL, Nelson street, Thame – Saturday, May 19, 2012l; Young Adult – USA 2011, 93 minutes, 15 certificate, Directed by Jason Reitman, Starring Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt.

You know the score… jaded 30 something, cynical and slightly let down by life… returns ?Home? to the warm reassurance of her childhood haunts, indulging in the sweet nostalgia of first loves and Mom?s home cooking. In so doing, she learns some valuable lessons about common decency and remaining true to her roots and that home-is-best and we all feel warm inside… blah, blah, blah. This is not that film. In fact, this is a darkly hilarious antidote to that film, from the director and writer of the wonderful Juno.

Charlize Theron is divorced, depressed, functioning alcoholic, former prom queen Mavis, until recently a writer of ? you guessed ? a successful series of teen high school novels. Learning that Buddy, her high-school squeeze, has just become a father, she decides to go home to tempt him away from his sorry life of suburban compromise and to prove that she still has ?it?. Along the way, she teams up with a former classmate Matt, someone violently bullied in high school, the kind of kid Mavis was once contemptuous of but who now might prove useful.

Her self-styled triumphant return to relive the glory days of her youthful allure goes, needless to say, from bad to worse: Mavis? initial sneering superiority gives way by degrees to mortal embarrassment and pathetic tragedy. It seems ultimately that she is the one who hasn?t managed to grow up. She has failed to grasp that real life is not just high school with money and that the power afforded by teenage beauty wears thin as the years pass.

Theron is brilliant as probably the least sympathetic movie heroine imaginable ? narcissistic, petulant, cruel, deluded, but kind of bleakly fabulous too. And Cody?s script is acerbic, incisive and witty, a refreshingly unsentimental reflection on the pathos of getting older and the myths we create for ourselves about how great things used to be.

CHRISTIAN Aid Week Barn Dance – Saturday 19 May 2012.

Live band, Bodger?s Wood and Madeleine Smith calling; Bar and Hog Roast.

WHAT? St Mary?s Church, Thame, Flower Festival ?Special Occasions?- Friday 18th May & Saturday 19th May 10am-6pm
Sunday 20th May 1pm-6pm.

6.30pm Songs of Praise Service.

Flower Festival Admission

WITH the fantastic Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band headlining, lots of other fine bands and dance acts, and some great fun activities, Thame?s Music in the Park festival is the place to be on Sunday, May 13.

Entertainment for everyone!

The festival features two large stages as well as a stage in the beer tent, and – new for this year – ?The Bubble,? an orange dome marquee dedicated to DJs and electric bands.

The musical programme includes two bands who have played at Glastonbury: The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band, playing jazz and R&B, and reggae/dub band Dubwiser. Two well-known tribute acts are also on the bill ? Hats Off to Led Zeppelin and, for the second year, The Ultimate Elton. In addition the line-up includes a wide variety of local acts encompassing community choirs, solo singers, acoustic acts and rock bands.

Dance fans are catered for too, with street/hip hop dancer Sam Hemmings, overall winner of the recent Thame?s Got Talent show, and dance group, Raw Diva.

Great attractions and delicious refreshments to keep you going!

The fun activities include an inflatable mega-slide, bungee run and land zorbing! Of course there will be all the usual attractions you?d expect at a festival, including real ale, a wide range of food stalls, festival caf

AS well as all the better-known musicians who will be performing at this year’s Thame Music In The Park, the organisers are particularly delighted that so many of the young performers are drawn from the local area.

Michele Pethers of Crash Records, who was been coordinating the musical programme, commented: ?Yes, we have established bands who have played Glastonbury, but we?re also committed to giving local performers a great platform to showcase their talent, on a brilliant stage, and to a large audience.?

The line-up includes young local pop punk band the Drakes, who write and perform all their own material; Empire, a teenage band from Lord Williams?s School and winners of Thame?s Got Talent; Thame band Hell?s Gazelles, performing with the raw power of AC/DC meets Black Sabbath; 14-year-old Sam Hunn, a singer/songwriter and Lewis Branch, another winner of Thame?s got Talent, who wowed the beer tent last year.

Sam Hoare, 17-year-old singer songwriter, will be performing a set entirely of her own songs, as will Abbie Broom and Tori.

Then of course there’s Little Bill?s Big Band, made up of 13 students from Lord Williams?s School between the ages of 14 – 17, playing Congas, drumkit, sax, flute, keyboards and vocals, performing a set of Blues Brothers? classics along with recent chart hits.

Photography competition

If music isn?t your thing, you can still express your creativity through the festival?s photography competition: ‘Park Life’. Simply take some photos at Music in the Park and enter your best ones into the competition. Official festival photographer, Rob Wheal, will judge the competition and the winner will receive a pair of tickets to next year?s event. A selection of the photos will also appear on the website.

Rules for entry can be found in the festival programme and on the website: www.musicinthepark.org.uk/elms.php and Facebook page (www.facebook.com/MusicInTheParkThame).