The Web: May 2019

Newsletter of the Red Spider Company
May 2019

We think that you could reasonably say that Spring has sprung, with every day bringing something new in terms of growth and colour: Primroses may have been and gone and bluebells are reaching their end, but perhaps the most glorious thing is the profusion of continually changing, fresh and vibrant greens in hedgerows and on the trees. Red Spideris also moving forward quietly, to gird itself for another year of enjoyment and, we hope, thespian creativity. While you may not see much by way of outcomes in the immediate future, be assured that planning is in progress and plans are afoot, as you will see below.

At our AGM in April, our existing Committee stood down and a replacement was put in place. While many of the names will be familiar to you, we are extremely pleased to welcome two newcomers, Carlie Walker and Tiffany Perry. The officers and Committee for the coming year are:

• Joint Chair – Maureen Cooke and Frances Girling;
• Secretary: Carlie Walker;
• Treasurer: Martin Perry.

The other members of the Committee are: Luke Taylor, Heather Major, Alan Payne, Ron Wawman, Richard Wisdom, Amanda Greenhalgh, David Fry, Rosa Watkinson and Tiffany Perry.

In our March edition of The Web, we reported on preparations for what turned out to be Alan Payne’s extremely successful interpretation of J B Priestley’s Dangerous Corner, which played to three nearly full houses in April.

Lest you think we are blowing our own trumpet, we thought you might like to see an independent appraisal of the production by someone who knows an awful lot about these things, Anthony Richards Artistic Director of The Common Players theatre company:

Red Spider Theatre Company are brave. They tackle the widest range of works of any local company I know. From locally created plays, to classic family entertainment, through farce to sincere commemoration.

Dangerous Corner, their latest production, is a complex and rather great play. Written and set in the 1930s, it asks for precise character work and ensemble playing, and it was a joy to see these elements being delivered so well.

In Lewdown Victory Hall a practically full house were treated to a visual feast of costume, set and furnishings, complete with practical period lights and some careful lighting design that made it all shine.  It’s not a big stage, but the team excelled in making a small space seem expansive.

A chance remark in what seems a pleasant and mildly tedious gathering of family and friends causes the group to turn their Dangerous Corner. Together they fall into a vortex of unpeeling layers of deception and assumption.

Eighty years later this play still holds the power to shock and challenge us.  Revealing homosexuality (Illegal at the time), drug taking, manslaughter, suicide, and many an extra-marital affair amongst the group, this play is stuffed fuller than a Christmas pudding, and yet it’s often very funny, and the characters in it are fascinating and three-dimensional. It’s a great example of a drama which holds up a mirror to its audience and teases us to recognise our own behaviours and their consequences.

This richness of content makes it critical that the actors fully understand their characters’ relationships and how and when these relationships significantly change.   For this audience member it was an evening of compelling drama, made so by the intelligent clarity which lay behind the decisions being made by the artists.

Red Spider are a group of people working hard together for a common aim and prepared to live dangerously.  They have thrown themselves at a mountain of a play, and led us to the summit.    It feels like a great ensemble, a team that are there for each other and there to engage an audience, just like any professional company should be.    Amongst all this work it’s easy to forget that many of the team have day jobs.

Apart from Alan’s carefully crafted direction, the production benefitted from an excellent cast, authentic costumes and from outstanding backstage and front of house teams, who ensured that a good time was had by all. Everything, from the design of posters and programmes, to the sets and lighting, evoked beautifully a lost age.

As noted in our introduction, thinking and planning for the coming year are already under way and possibilities are being explored in detail and depth. One possible production we have already alluded to in past editions of The Web, in the form of a new play by Ron Wawman, is based on the later stages of Sabine Baring-Gould’s life. See Ron’s introduction and date for the read through and provisional casting below.

After the success of Fantastic Mr Fox and the associated workshops in local schools, which preceded that production, we would like to explore the possibility of further workshops and a children’s production. Watch this space for further details.

The Wheel of Life
A new play by Ron Wawman

It is 12 years since Red Spider Company staged Like A Buoy, the community play written by me to commemorate the life of our local celebrity, Sabine Baring-Gould. As you may remember that play was performed in the round and was very much a musical romp that largely glossed over the troubled last years of his life. I am delighted to be able to tell you that on 26, 27, 28 March 2020, Red Spider Company will be staging a new play by me at the Parish Hall, Bratton Clovelly which this time lifts the lid on the surprisingly very troubled last eight years of his life. It is an intriguing story and far from being a musical romp.

The Wheel of Life is essentially a study in bereavement and the desire to write it came to me some months after the death of my wife, Margaret, when I suddenly realised I was at the same age and in the same boat that Sabine was in after the death of his wife, Grace in 1916. Then I thought to myself “now I know what he was going through, how he felt and why he struggled to cope.” There was absolutely nothing in Sabine’s published work or in biographies written about him to guide me and I have relied almost entirely on letters written by him to friends and family and, to a lesser extent, on the unpublished memoirs of his daughter Joan and granddaughter Joyce, both of whom appear in the play.

The first act follows the troubles faced by Sabine and his family through the last two years of the First World War, while the second act highlights the problems facing the family after the war, including what they should do about Sabine’s worrying use of alcohol following the death of Grace. There are no villains, but a very interesting but probably innocent relationship that develops between Sabine and a strange young woman. This leads to alarm in some members of the family leading to tensions with Sabine when they try to do what they think is ‘the right thing’ for the family. A little light relief is provided by two grandchildren.

The play has a cast of 17 and takes place in a host of intimate short scenes located in 9 different locations and with rapid scene changes. As such it lends itself to theatre in the round, which is how it will be performed.

With many attractive and some quite challenging parts on offer Red Spider Company believes that there is much to attract actors to this play. We therefore want to throw the net as wide as possible when it comes to casting.

You do not have to be a member of Red Spider Company to attend and you do not have to commit yourself to taking things any further if you would rather not. Just come and enjoy yourself.  I am delighted to be able to tell you that Anthony Richards, the professional director who was with us for Like A Buoy will be with us for the read through.

You do not have to be a member of Red Spider Company to attend and you do not have to commit yourself to taking things any further if you would rather not. Just come and enjoy yourself.  I am delighted to be able to tell you that Anthony Richards, the professional director who was with us for Like A Buoy will be with us for the read through.

If you have any questions please contact Ron at ronwawman@googlemail.com

Subscriptions for 2019 are now due and remain at the remarkably low level of £6.00 for an adult, £2.00 for children up to 16 years and £10.00 for a family, however large.

If you would like to renew your membership, please contact Martin Perry, on martinperrry.northlew@gmail.com, (01409 221376 or 07974 859029). Payment can be via BACS (Sort Code 30-98-97 Account 72053668), a cheque (payable to RSC), or cash and can be sent to Martin at Elmfield, Northlew, Okehampton EX20 3NP.

If you would like something included in a future edition of The Web, please drop a line to Amanda (amandakgreen@hotmail.co.uk).