THAME has been in the national news recently because of the Town Council’s (rejected) proposal to erect red plaques commemorating the town’s fictitious involvement in a television series.
Thame does however boast several blue plaques featuring famous real people who lived in the town, one of whom, the poet W.B. Yeats, is the inspiration for Thame Chamber Choir’s recently-announced Choral Composition Competition.
Launched as part of the choir’s 20th anniversary celebrations, the contest asks entrants to set any Yeats poem of their choice to music. Entries will be judged by international composers and conductors, Bob Chilcott and James Burton, as well as the choir’s Musical Director, Duncan Aspden and professional pianist and singer, Anna Markland.
The winning composition will be premièred at the choir’s concert during the 2019 Thame Arts & Literature Festival, and the composer will receive a prize of £1000.
Full details of how to enter are on the choir’s website, www.thamechamberchoir.org
Soha Housing, landlord to around 6,700 households across South Oxfordshire and surrounding areas, including Thame, is among the best providers of housing for older persons in the country, according to judges of the UK Housing Awards, held yesterday, May 1.
This came in the same week that the Centre for Housing and Support, part of the Chartered Institute of Housing, rated Soha’s Independent Living service as “outstanding”.
Soha was shortlisted for the quality of its homes and services to older people. In a statement, Soha said: “The housing association offers homes to rent or buy from self-contained retirement apartments and bungalows to individual flats in the community or in the very popular Extra Care schemes. It makes sure its housing services are responsive and meet individual needs. The Independent Living team visit everyone over 70 regardless of where they live and help them access wider services.”
Resident Val Kir, Chair of Soha’s Seniors’ Group, has supported the initiative this year to become a dementia-friendly organisation, creating over 100 Alzheimer’s Society dementia friends, as well as the partnership working with Oxfordshire County Council’s Adult Social Care to embed an Occupational Therapy service in Soha. Mrs Kir said: “Soha really cares about its older residents and their independence, and as a mutual organisation – where residents can become shareholding members if they wish – residents are the real judge of their services.”
Maureen Adams, Director of Customer Service and Operations at Soha, added: “I’m thrilled that the hard work of residents, partners and our great team has been recognised nationally. We work with customers to make a difference to the quality of life for present and future residents.”
The UK Best Older Persons’ Housing Provider was Connexus of the West Midlands.
Image: Rachel Dredge with an elderly Soha resident
THAME Chamber Choir (TCC) has received a funding boost that will help the choir towards celebrating its twentieth anniversary, and the tenth anniversary of its children’s choir, TCC2.
Chris Fram, Music in the Park Chair (centre) presents the cheque to Peter Smith, Chairman (left) and Duncan Aspden, Musical Director (right). Photo courtesy Steve Gunn
Music in the Park has donated £500 to Thame Chamber Choir (TCC). The money will help fund a series of concerts to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Thame Chamber Choir by enabling it to engage professional musicians to perform at the concerts to enhance their appeal and bring them to a wider audience.
Thame Chamber Choir brings together many outstanding singers from Thame and the surrounding area, including professional musicians, singing and music teachers, former Cathedral lay clerks and ex-choral scholars from many cities. They blend their voices with others drawn by a passion for excellent choral singing. The Choir’s repertoire has included substantial works by Bach, Bernstein, Charpentier, Dvorak, Faure, Handel, Haydn, Kodaly, Liszt, Mozart, Rossini, Schutz and Vivaldi, as well as shorter works by a wide variety of composers from the Renaissance to the twenty-first century. Thame’s Children Choir (TCC2) is the children’s wing of the Choir. It offers a special opportunity for boys and girls aged from seven years upwards to learn to sing and enjoy a wide variety of music.
Music in the Park Chair, Chris Fram, said: “Music in the Park is delighted to help Thame Chamber Choir in its mission to bring first-rate choral music to a wider audience.” Thame Chamber Choir’s Chairman, Peter Smith, added: “Thame Chamber Choir has been providing audiences with high quality musical performances since it began in 1999. We formed the Children’s Choir in 2010 and we are thrilled that this grant will help us celebrate these anniversaries in a fitting manner.”
THAME Players are opening with their production of Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution at the Players Theatre on Tuesday, May 7.
Generally regarded as one of Christie’s most accomplished plays, this suspenseful thriller keeps audiences guessing until the very end.
The plot centres on a court case involving a man, Leonard Vole, who stands accused of murdering a wealthy older woman, Emily French, who has made hm her heir, unaware that he is married. The stakes are high, with shocking witness testimony, impassioned outbursts from the dock, and a young man fighting to escape the hangman’s noose. The jury’s verdict is only the beginning of a story that is full of twists and turns.
This play was suggested to Agatha Christie by her theatre producer, Peter Saunders. The first draft was entitled Hostile Witness, but this was changed to Witness for the Prosecution at an early stage. Peter Saunders enlisted the services of Humphrey Tilling, a barrister, to verify the authenticity of the legal aspects of the plot. A lot of research went into the play, with both Christie and Saunders writing long letters to each other debating points and Christie also reading several volumes of the Notable British Trials book series to ensure everything was just right.
Witness for the Prosecution premiered at the Winter Garden Theatre in London’s West End in October 1953 and was a huge hit. It became Christie’s proudest achievement as a dramatist.
Agatha Christie’s output includes over 70 novels and 150 short stories. She also wrote over 20 plays. The most famous, The Mousetrap, which opened in 1952, is the longest-running play in the world. With more than two billion books printed she is outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. Agatha Christie has been widely adapted for TV, film, radio, publishing, stage and digital, and her books have been translated into more than 100 languages, making her the most translated writer of all time.
Agatha Christie’s Witness for the Prosecution is being performed at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame OX9 2DP from Tuesday – Saturday, March 7 – 11, 2019 at 7.45pm.
Tickets are all £8 on Tuesday 7th and Wednesday 8th, and £10 (£9 concessions) from Thursday 9th – Saturday 11th. Tickets are available from Spear Travels, Greyhound Walk, Thame, telephone 01844 217228, or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL – PATRICK COLLINS
Sunday 19th May Ticket price tbc
Another evening of poetry, readings and music in aid of Amnesty International
EXTREME CHAMPIONSHIP IMPROV Friday 24th May at 7.45pm Tickets £10
Extreme Championship Improv is the latest and greatest form of improvised theatre from Sparky Buddy Productions, a film and theatre company based in the UK. Originally founded in 2010 by artistic director David Pustansky, the company was originally formed as a pure improvisation theatre company
HATS OFF TO LED ZEPPELIN
Sunday 2nd June at 7.45pm Tickets £15
Experience the power and the passion of a Led Zeppelin concert, played by one of the most exciting Rock’n’Roll bands on the circuit today. These guys have performed with the best and are a truly professional outfit guaranteed to give you a night that you won’t forget in a hurry!
COMEDY @ THE PLAYERS
Friday 7th June at 7.45pm Tickets £12
Alfie Brown: Lunatic (plus supporting act)
From a complete sell out run at the Edinburgh Festival, Alfie Brown is coming to Thame on his first UK Tour. His latest show, Lunatic, is about identity politics and trying to be a good father in a horrible world. He provides no answers, only questions.
DUNG BEATLES
Saturday 8th June at 7.45pm Tickets £12 with £10 concessions
Hailed by The British Beatles Fan Club as ‘definitely not your average Beatles band’, the band has earned high praise for its authentic musical renditions and close-harmony vocals. Based in Buckinghamshire, The Dung Beatles got together in 2013, with Danny Prendergast on lead guitar and vocal, Mike Ashton on drums, Steve Hillier on rhythm guitar and lead vocal, and Phil Toler on bass and vocals. Martin Kent joined in 2017 on keyboards.
All Tickets available online from www.thameplayers.co.uk or from Spear Travels on 01844 217228
STORM Hannah may have been doing her blustery best to hinder Saturday afternoon’s Lord Williams’s School (LWS) 5k fun run, but it didn’t stop 215 brave souls from taking part!
The event, the biggest fundraiser of the year for the school, saw BBC Radio 2 presenter Ken Bruce, setting fun runners off at just after 1pm – all superbly led by local Thame Runner, Faye Sharpley. Entrants took on the off-road route across the upper school field, which saw them negotiating tyres, hay bales, a cargo net and a colour station where runners were pelted with paint as they ran through.
The Lord Williams’s School PTA (LWPA) hopes to raise close to £4,000 from the event, which will help fund essential school equipment to support the school learning environment.
Commenting on another successful fun run, PTA Chair Karen Shardlow, said: “We’re really pleased with how the afternoon went, and hope everyone enjoyed being part of a terrific day of fundraising! It was great to see runners of all ages turning out in support of the fun run, which is now in its third year.”
She added: “A huge thank you must go to the LWS school team, including staff who ran on the day or helped by volunteering. Also, to local businesses Lucy Electric, TNS and iPad sponsor Abbey Business Interiors, for their generosity in donating and sponsoring items – we simply couldn’t put on this event without you.”
Headteacher David Wybron also took part and received a good coating of paint as he ran through the colour station section!
HIMALAYAN balsam is a pesky, invasive non-native plant, that has established itself along the River Thame and some of its tributaries. These plants bully their way into habitat, over shading and out-competing our native flora.
They are good disperses and can easily spread using explosive seed pods that shoot seeds several meters into the nearest watercourse.
Thankfully they are shallow rooted and easy to pull out and that’s where YOU come in!
What’s involved?
The River Thame Conservation Trust is inviting local people to spend a few hours walking lengths of Bear Brook, near Aylesbury, stream pulling out balsam plants before they can set seed, and help to clear space for native plants to grow.
What do you need to bring?
Bring wellies, a water bottle, lunch and maybe a sun hat. All other equipment, including gloves, will be supplied.
Location: Stoke Brook, Aylesbury – May 12 and 19.
Time: 10am-3pm – Tea and coffee supplied, but bring your own lunch.
Anyone interested in taking part cam email Hannah (hannah@riverthame.org) or call 07460 275627.
BUS users at three bus stops in Thame are set to benefit from new bus shelters, funded by Oxfordshire County Council developer Section 106 contributions.
Bus stop at Esingdon Drive (Wenman Road), Thame
Each shelter will display a town centre map, have bench seats with handles and will be suitable for Disabled access. The following bus stops are to get the shelters; Oxford Road (Thame bound) and two in Wenman Road (Warren Mead and Esingdon Drive – Thame bound).
THAME this October will be celebrating a decade of inspiring books, art and music, when the fun begins for the tenth Thame Arts and Literature Festival (TAL).
Plans are already well underway for this auspicious anniversary of this festival which attracts award-winning authors, artists, poets, playwrights, comedians and musicians.
To whet your appetite, some of the well-known names already lined up to appear at TAL this year include author Penelope Lively and political writer and broadcaster Matthew Parris.
A comedian, a poet, a historian, novelists, historians and more….
Returning to TAL, will be a favourite TAL guest,Will Gompertz, writer, presenter and the BBC’s first Arts Editor; the hilarious Adam Kay, the doctor-turned-comedian; Roger McGough (he just can’t stay away from TAL!), much-loved poet and presenter of the BBC’s Poetry Please, and Alison Weir, one of Britain’s top-selling historians. Also appearing in this very special TAL year, will be Dominic Sandbrook, presenter, commentator, broadcaster and author, and Novelists Victoria Hislop and Virginia Nicholson.
Yvonne Maxwell (centre) with her Thame Town Award
“We absolutely love creating each festival and watching it find its unique voice,” said TAL Festival Founder and Festival Director, Yvonne Maxwell, who this year received the Thame Town Award for Creative Arts Achievement.
A four day feast of culture and fun
As always, the TAL festival will be full of entertaining, enjoyable and informative events to spark your imagination, with lots of amazing talks, debates, ideas, laughter and music thrown in.
Back by popular request is TAL’s very own Glyndebarn with Opera Anywhere; Rumsey’s Tea Concert; the Thame Ghost Walk, and the inspiring and colourful Art Crawl.
More entertainment to come!
More events are yet to be added to the programme, including creative workshops, something for the little ones at TAL Kids, and even a Parent Panel. Watch this space!
There’ll also be plenty of surprises in store for all ages so sign up for regular newsletters so that you won’t miss out when online booking opens earlier than usual this year, at 12 noon on Saturday, June 1. Contact: info@talfestival.org
A final word from TAL’s founder, Yvonne Maxwell: ““TAL has been my passion since the first festival in 2009. It’s great to see that so many people share this with us, by the growing numbers attending each year and with such enthusiasm.”
As previous TAL visitors have commented:
“It’s wonderful to have such a good festival in the centre of town.”
“It’s an amazing community event.”
“An unique experience to hear people one has long admired.”
WITNESS for the Prosecution, by Agatha Christie, directed by Pat Shepherd, will be performed from May 7, to 11, at 7.45pm, at the Players Theatre in Nelson Street, Thame.
Leonard Vole stands accused of murdering a rich widow. The stakes are high with shocking witness testimony, impassioned outbursts from the dock and a young man’s fight to escape the hangman’s noose. Generally regarded as one of Christie’s most accomplished plays, this suspenseful thriller keeps audiences guessing until the very end.
With a cast of 18, it’s a great play for as many actors to take part in as possible. It’s a very complex set designed by our very own Doug Taylor and will be outstanding. Come and be ‘wowed’. The play is set in the 1950s when hanging was still in force.
It’s a long show but should finish by 10.30pm.
Tickets are selling very fast with some performances almost 3/4 sold so don’t delay. We still have opportunities for a member of the audience to take part as the Foreman of the Jury with the chance to pronounce the verdict on two performances so contact Pat Shepherd on 01296 747017 if you’d like to do this.
Tickets available online from www.thameplayers.co.uk or from Spear Travels on 01844 217228 although those wishing to be Foreman of the Jury need to ring Pat Shepherd on 01296 747017 to book that opportunity.
Tickets are £8 on Tuesday and Wednesday 7th and 8th May. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 9th, 10th and 11th May tickets are £10 with £9 concessions.
