HAPPY NEW YEAR - AND NEW TRIP!

Happy new year! 

Shakespeare Schools Festival 

A big thank you to everyone who came along to our second production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at Jags before Christmas. A special thank you too to those who came along to help out at such a busy time of year. It was a brilliant night. The children were incredibly excited about performing again in such a great space and they were all amazing - especially those children who took on roles at short notice. To date, we have now raised an incredible £700 for the PTA to put towards drama at Rosendale in 2014 which is fantastic.

Drama

It is brilliant we are going to have a regular after school drama club for KS2 at Rosendale in the New Year. Our teachers, Rosie Unwin and Sophie Lavender, are going to do an amazing job. Trained and experienced in drama, they have played a massive and vital role in the two SSF productions last term and are incredibly supportive of drama generally. If you were unsuccessful or missed the boat this time round, please do apply again to them at the end of next term.

Theatre Club

I hope everyone enjoyed our many Xmas shows - last half term 250 of us (not including the year group trips) had great fun atTwas the Night before Xmas, Cinderella, Puss in Boots and Emil and the Detectives!  We have an incredible 129 of us to date going to The Elephantom on Friday at 4.30 the NT - our biggest parent led trip so far! In 2013, in just six months of being set up, well over 1000 Rosendale parents and children have seen shows at local theatres with us which is amazing.

New trip - Dinosaur Zoo

And onto the next one! Following good reviews in the West End, we have 50 seats at £11 (usual price £17-20) for the regional tour of Dinosaur Zoo in the New Wimbledon Theatre at 4pm on Saturday 8th March. 

The show is suitable for age three plus. It consists of an educational talk on dinosaurs and live life size animatronic Dinosaur puppets. It lasts approximately 1 hour. See www.dinosaurzoolive.com. This is an exclusive offer to theatre club. If you want tickets please leave payments at the office in an envelope marked F/A LISA STATHAM - DINOSAUR ZOO with the following details (which are important so please don't forget):

- Your name

- Name of children and class

- Mobile phone

- No of tickets

- Email address

- Payment

Cash or cheque is fine. PLEASE NOTE - As this is a group not school booking discount please make cheques payable to Rosendale PTA.

Thanks!

THEATRE TRIP FUN!

Thanks to everyone for your payments for the trips next term. We have 53 of us going along to Grandpa's Railway and 40 to the Pardoner's Tale! Confirmation letters and emails have gone out this week.

And to this term's trips. Theatre Club had a busy if brilliant day on Saturday 30th November. 90 of us went along to the wonderful Cinderella at the Unicorn followed by 70 of us to the hilarious and riotous panto Puss in Boots at Greenwich Theatre. Both shows were absolutely fantastic and incredible fun! Please see photos below.

Decorating cakes after Cinderella at the Unicorn Up! event!

Some understated artistic ones...

And the prize for the most topping!

Enjoying eating the hard work!

Waiting for the curtain to go up!

On Saturday just 30 of us (as the show sold out in summer) were lucky enough to go to Twas the Night Before Xmas at the Unicorn. It was a lovely show - and really moving at the end! Y1 and Y2 are going to have a great time this week - although Cinderella and Twas are very different, they are both fantastic!

And if you are one of the 50 who have booked tickets for our final Xmas trip to Emil at the NT please don't forget - this will be this Tuesday 17th December. Please collect your tickets directly from the box office at the NT stating your name and that you are part of Rosendale Primary Group. I will be there from 530pm in case of any problems.

Merry Christmas everyone!

THE ELEPHANTOM AT THE NT - SPECIAL OFFER!

THE ELEPHANTOM AT THE NATIONAL THEATRE FRIDAY 10/1 4.30 PM - HALF PRICE THEATRE CLUB OFFER TO ROSENDALE PARENTS!

The NT are giving Rosendale Theatre Club an exclusive half price offer to this show!  Tickets are just £6. This is apparently an incredible show - by the puppeteers behind War Horse. Recommended age is 4-7 although the NT says it is most suitable for Y1-Y5. Running time is 1 hour. Kate Atkins has kindly agreed that parents can pick up children going on the trip early at 3pm from the office on this day. 

Letters will not go out but if you would like tickets please put your payment in an envelope either by cheque to Rosendale Primary School or cash with:

- your contact details (name, mobile and email)

- your child's name and class

clearly marked F/A LISA STATHAM, THE ELEPHANTOM, THEATRE CLUB TRIP

The deadline for ALL payments (with contact details etc to office) is end of play Tuesday 17th. Any queries please email rosendaletheatreclub@gmail.com.

EXCITING NEWS - SSF SECOND SHOW!

We have some brilliant news! As so many of you missed out on our amazing performance in Sutton, we are going to put on a second performance of our SSF entry A Midsummer Night’s Dream on Thursday December 19^th at 7.15pm at the theatre at

James Allen’s Girl School (JAGS)

144 East Dulwich Grove

London SE22 8TE

We are thrilled to be using JAGS as this theatre is fully equipped with professional lighting etc. The capacity is 200. The evening will consist of:

·       Short introduction to the show and the SSF from the director, producer and teachers

·       The 30 minute performance

·       A Q and A with the cast and whole production team

Tickets will be priced again at £6. We are going to offer up these 200 seats on a first come first served basis. If you would like seats please fill in the slip that went out in book bags with payment in an envelope marked Lisa Statham SSF 2^nd JAGS show with no of tickets and your child name and class and hand to the office. Please note if you do not label the envelope clearly it may get lost given the volume of administration. The deadline for all payments has now been extended to Wednesday 27^th November as some letters went out late. Any profit will be put back into sustaining and growing the drama club.

Children attending the play must be accompanied by an adult with up to four children per adult. The accompanying adult is solely responsible for the safety and well being of the children under his/her care.

If you gave in money for the first show and did not receive seats, I will automatically allocate you seats for this second show – you go to the top of the list! If you would like more seats than your allocation please fill in the slip below with the number of additional seats you require.

If you have purchased seats and require a refund please email rosendaletheatreclub@gmail.com and I will arrange. To do this you MUST inform me by Wednesday 27th November. Otherwise your payment will be banked and you will be responsible for finding another parent to buy your seats from you.

If you are unsure if you have seats already or have any other queries please contact me at email rosendaletheatreclub@gmail.com

Many thanks!

THEATRE TRIPS 2014!

We are offering 2 trips next half term to the Unicorn Theatre again in London Bridge. Tickets are discounted at just £7.50 each. Letters have gone out in book bags and the dates are:

Reception and KS1 - Grandpa's Railway Saturday 8/2 at 2pm 

A journey of friendship and discovery.

Featuring live music, a working model railway and a coach load of surprises, our playful characters embark on an evocative journey that explores the past, illuminates the present and lays new tracks for the future.

From the team behind the highly acclaimed One Little Word comes M6's new production for children and families.

"Beautifully and confidently made" The Guardian on One Little Word

Age guide 5 plus.

Y2 and KS2 - The Pardoner's Tale Saturday 18th/1 at 2pm

Come Pilgrims come...

You have been summoned by the Pardoner to the Tabard Inn, a place where stories are currency and any troubles are left in the bottom of a glass...

He wants to tell you the tale of three men who once set out on a journey to kill Death and get rich quick. He wants to show you how their quest to revenge the death of a mutual friend turned into a treacherous journey into the dark world of greed, murder and mayhem. He wants you to know that you should always watch your back, because you never know where your enemies may hide.

base on the ancient tale by Geoffrey Chaucer written 700 years ago, The Pardoner's Tale is the latest adaptation by Tangere Arts, the company behind last year's A Thousand Slimy Things.

"the excellent Tangere Arts, a company whose distinctive mix of storytelling, physical theatre and live music has produced a number of hits" The Guardian

To give people more time the deadline for both shows has been extended to Wednesday 27th November. Please leave payments marked up with my name in the office by then. There are free Up! club activities on this day.

A reminder to those coming along on 30/11 to see Cinderella at the Unicorn at 3pm and Puss in Boots at 7pm at Greenwich Theatre. Please ensure you get to the theatre half an hour before the performance is due to start as we will go in on one group ticket. I will send out letters/emails with a reminder of all the details next week.

The Unicorn has a special offer of some free tickets in exchange for some feedback from parents on their new website. If you are interested in this and DON'T use their website frequently, please email rosendaletheatreclub@gmail.com and I will send you the details. 

We're looking for a small group of people who represent our audience but who may not be as used to navigating the Unicorn site, to come in and complete some testing here at the Unicorn. The testing would only take around 30-45 mins and would consist of me observing them completing online scenarios and then having a chat. In return we'll be offering 2 tickets for an upcoming show as a thank you.

Photos of live performance!

Please find below some more photos taken live from the wings! Thanks Miss Patten.

We did have more photos taken backstage by the costume department but unfortunately the camera was lost on the night. It was a very frantic day sorry!

I hope to be able to give details of our second performance of this show early next week. We will ensure we get photos of all the cast in costume for parents and if we are permitted, some live footage of the show.

The fairies.....

The workers in the forest......

More fairies in action....

The workers perform the Tragic Tale of Pyramus and Thisbe....

SSF SHOW - We did it!

Congratulations to all the children who performed "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Shakespeare Schools Festival on Monday November 11th at the Secombe Theatre, Sutton alongside three other South London schools. It was the first time Rosendale has taken part in the largest drama festival in the UK and we did our school proud. The children gave a fantastic performance and looked amazing! They seemed unphased by the 300 audience members. Congratulations messages have been coming in all week to the theatre club email from parents and teachers. The children were all brilliant.

The only primary school performing on the night, the SSF team were particularly impressed by the quality of our performance and understanding of the text. As one of the schools in the festival with not only the largest and youngest cast but the shortest rehearsal time, the standard was incredible. The SSF were especially stunned by our knowledge of Shakespeare - apparently thanks to our theatre trips, Rosendale primary school children also know Henry V!

Thank you to all the children, parents and teachers who worked so hard and gave up so much time to participate - the show was fabulous! Thank you too to all the teachers and parents who came along on the night to support us. And good news - we will perform the show again in the next few weeks so everyone can get a chance to see it. More details to follow shortly!

And now for the Oscar ceremony bit. Special thank yous (in largely chronological order) go to:

Claire Hitchcock (secondary school teacher and Mum in the PTA) - who came up with the whole inspired idea of theatre club. Claire introduced me to Amanda Caswell Robinson, Mum and professional drama teacher, who agreed to give up lots of her time to direct the show.

The PTA - who have been encouraging throughout

Kate Atkins (headmistress) and Olga Droogleever (head of creative arts) - who have been incredibly supportive of us taking part in the SSF and theatre club generally

Amanda Caswell Robinson - amazing drama teacher and director who has guided our large cast and short rehearsal time through the whole process with experienced ease

Agni Handy (mum and professional actress), Sophie Lavender and Rosie Unwin (teachers at Rosendale) - who have all given up lots of their time to give invaluable support, assistance and professional expertise during the rehearsal and performance process

Flora Patten (Mum and art teacher) and Helen Firminger (Mum) - who together created the amazing costumes/props (the very first thing the SSF praised on the night!) and ensured everything went smoothly on the night

Linda Ara (Mum and professional window dresser) - who created Oberon and Titania's striking crowns

Lyn Robinson - of the Secombe Theatre - who calmly dealt with our complicated seating requirements

And last but not least - Melanie Grossenbacher and all the SSF team - they really did help and guide us every step of the way!

And now for some photos. Unfortunately we were not allowed to video or take photos during the performance so these were all taken in foyer/back stage but hopefully it shows not only how amazing the costumes were but also an insight into the level of excitement!

Getting into costume. Shadow, Theseus and Philostrate....

Demetrius practising doing battle with Lysander...

Egeus looking outraged and cross....

Theseus in a very regal stance...

The beautiful fairies....

Led by the powerful Titania, Queen of the Fairies...

And challenged by the King of the Fairies, the strange and dream like Oberon.....

And both of his fairies - Shadow.....

And Beetle...

Final make up touches....

If more photos and footage comes in - I will share.

Thanks everyone!