Jin-gone!

Well here we are. Jingo has been and gone and we appear to have returned to winter if my central heating is anything to go by. Jingo was everything I wanted it to be and so much more besides. We have lots of new members thanks to Linsey and the Pantomime and I really wanted to capitalise on the momentum that Linsey created. She managed to create an atmosphere of fun and engagement throughout the process and through that people have made lasting friendships. There was such a spirit of community that shone through the whole of the panto. People were keen to come to the pub after rehearsal for a chat and to get to know each other. We had really good turnouts for set build and strike. Everybody stopped for food together between shows. What I really wanted to do was recreate that sense of fun that we should have as a drama society. I said, when Linsey and I decided we wanted to try to keep Castle Players alive, that to me being a part of a drama society is about doing some fun things together with our friends; friends we know and friends we've not met yet. It's about working to a common goal and the most important aspect of that is the journey to that goal. And the most important part of that journey is having loads of fun along the way. If at the end of it you turn out a cracking play, well that is a bit of a bonus! And that's what happened with Jingo. With a cast of 12, the enthusiasm of everyone and the mutual support was joyous. The banter as we came to know each other hilarious. Most rehearsals most of the cast went to the pub. For those of you not involved I can't really tell you what a terrific time we had. I guess you had to be there. Of course when you've been having a great time rehearsing it almost seems inevitable that the end result is going to be brilliant. And it was! Take a look at the reviews here So thank you to my wonderful friends, old and new, who joined me in this adventure and thank you to all of you who came and supported us at the performances. For those of you who didn't you really missed out I'm afraid! So, for you lapsed members, if you want to rekindle that old passion that made you want to do am-dram in the first place, come back to Castle Players. You'll find it alive and very much kicking! Now we run into our summer(?) break we're starting up the Sunday play reads again. These were really well attended last year and are a lot of fun especially when combined with a lovely Sunday lunch with the Rose and Crown. If the weather gets better we can even take our books into the beer garden. The first one is on May 13th. Contact us for more details By the way, you'll notice our newsletter is a little early this month so that we can remind you to come along to the play-reading tomorrow; 1st May at Jo's. Hope to see you there! Contact us for more details All the best! Chairman Steve