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!

Shakespeare Schools Festival - not long now!

With only two rehearsal weeks to go, we are all working really hard! Thank you to all the children who gave up other activities (including the amazing Halloweeen event)! That so many children came on Friday and missed out on the Halloween fun reflects their enthusiasm and massive commitment to the show. It is really appreciated.

The show is really taking shape now - and the children are increasingly fabulous, impressing us with their understanding of the text and interpretations. Here is Bottom arriving back after his dream and greeting his jubilant fellow workers.

All the costume bases have now arrived and Miss Patten has bought the embellishments, so we had fun doing some fittings thanks to Miss Firminger who kindly gave up her time again to work on costumes with the production team. So we were partly in costume this week - and not only ghoulish Halloween ones. Here are the fairies disguising themselves as trees in the forest as Lysander and Demetrius wake up...

The fairies were so good at disguise, we found two fairies not on stage hiding in the cloakroom!

Please be prepared - it is going to be an intensive first week back. We have an extra rehearsal for selected children on Wednesday and then an all day rehearsal on Friday 8th - our last before the dress rehearsal at the theatre!

Have a lovely relaxing half term everyone - and please use it to learn those lines!

Our Christmas trips!

We have had a fantastic response to our parent led Xmas trips to the Unicorn!

The 30 seats available for Twas the Night Before Christmas were taken in 24 hours. We have an incredible 87 of you coming along to Cinderella - our most popular trip so far!

I will be sending out letters for our next shows in early 2014 in late November - don't miss out!

I have had some fuller clarification from the Unicorn now on their booking policy which might be useful to pass on to you before these shows. It is as follows:

- Group tickets - Group booking numbers and dates can only be changed up to six weeks before the show. No refunds are offered on group tickets.

As six weeks before a show is quite a long time to think ahead for most people, this date usually corresponds to my deadline I put in the letter. When the deadline has passed and I have given final numbers to the theatre, I can't change them! Please ensure you get all requests for tickets in to me by deadline.

If people can't come on the day, then please contact the box office. If the show is SOLD OUT, then they may be able to resell tickets for you. However this is only possible if people are waiting for returns...

- The 48 hour return or refund policy is only applicable to individual full price tickets. Apologies for the confusion..!

This means, unless the show is sold out, then it is up to you to find someone else to use and pay you for your ticket if you can't go. I will leave it for parents to contact the box office individually if they can't go on the day.

 Many thanks!

ELEPHANTOM - THE NT!

EXCITING NEWS! The NT have just announced that tickets are on sale for Elephantom in December at the Shed.

http://theelephantom.com/

http://theshed.nationaltheatre.org.uk/events/the-elephantom#.UmVxQJSDS9Y

This is for age group 4 plus and is made by creative team behind War Horse. Comes highly recommended from my contact in NT. 

Shed is quite small temporary studio in case you haven't been by NT. You can get 68 bus easily from Norwood Road or train to Blackfriars. Tickets are £12 - there is no group booking rate so you just need to book directly. Shows are daytime 10 December to 11 January.

by Ross Collins

10 December 2013 - 11 January 2014

We have an Elephantom.
He turned up on a Tuesday,
just after tea-time.

At first, the little girl is thrilled to have a ghost-elephant living in her house. He makes life so much more fun! But Elephantoms are a bit too big for houses and before long, he’s causing a lot of trouble.

For children and grown-ups of all ages, the story of one little girl and her larger-than-life friend is brought to life with extraordinary puppetry and theatrical ingenuity.

Christmas in The Shed is about to get very messy indeed...

Suitable for everyone 4 years and over.

All tickets £12. Tickets now on sale for Members. Public booking opens 21 October.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS - EXTRA DATES ADDED!

Extra dates have been added for Twas the Night Before Christmas over Xmas. 

The dates are 2/1 to 5/1 11.30 and 2pm. This show is supposedly fabulous and tickets sold out for every show by early September. If you haven't got a ticket - get in quick! 

They are going like hot cakes apparently....Y1 are already going but Early Years couldn't get seats.

Either book seats online at www.unicorntheatre.com or call the box office on 0207 645 0560.

SSF - only three weeks to go!

If you haven't already heard, we have sold so many tickets for the show on November 11th that the SSF are in shock! So much so they are limiting our tickets to 100 for now. I have written to everyone who bought tickets as we are initially prioritising parents of cast and production team. I will have a better idea of tickets and how many we can have this week so will update everyone then. 

However if there is demand (and there certainly seems to be!), we are planning to do another show in school one evening mid December. Tickets will go on sale for that in early December and all disappointed parents/friends/family last time round will automatically get tickets for this. And if we take part in the SSF next year, we will have a much bigger theatre! Thank you everyone for all your amazing support!

Not long to go now! We are adding in extra rehearsals and beginning work on costume thanks to the production team and our parent helpers. Exciting - and er scary! 

At last Friday's rehearsal, the children had lots of fun warming up.

 We then began rehearsing in earnest. The fairies singing Titania to sleep......

And Hermia waking up to find Lysander no longer in love with her!

The production team were working hard too in an adjacent classroom - and having lots of fun! Miss Patten and Miss Firminger, our parent helpers, lead a workshop mocking up costumes and make up.

Thanks to all the parents who have contributed towards costume - we are busily buying up bases and materials.

Now everyone just needs to learn their lines!

Our fabulous trips!

We had a fantastic day today at the Unicorn!

Over 100 of you came to see Dora and Henry the Fifth and in spite of the rail engineering works most people got to us!

We started in the morning with our Early Years/KS1 show Dora. It was a simple, largely wordless and funny, story about a lady who just couldn't stop hoarding things - and her bedroom was such a mess! She learned how it was fun to give things away. We all brought something to give too. We all got to go to a jumble sale at the end and choose something to take away. Here is the actress playing Dora and the set designer talking to the children afterwards about why she had SO MUCH STUFF! Am very inspired to start tidying and cleaning out all those cupboards. Can see parallels....

And in the afternoon we welcomed KS2 children to see Henry the Fifth. This modern take on Shakespeare's play was fantastic! The audience were invited to use our imaginations - but thanks to a great piece of theatre it wasn't that hard. Funny, visually powerful and its humour belying its strong and serious message - are wars just full of little boys fighting over toys and sandcastles? Massively recommended!

Hope everyone had a great time!

And onto our next Unicorn trips....The deadline of Friday 18/10 has passed for our Xmas shows. However...

Twas the Night Before Christmas is now sold out entirely - so must be good! If you have booked one of our precious 30 seats on 14/12 within the deadline and haven't heard back from me - you are going! Will send out email confirmations shortly.

Cinderella: a Fairytale at 3pm on 30/11. We still have about 20 tickets left. I reserved a lot of tickets for this (80) as it is an incredible deal for a Christmas show (£7.50 a seat as opposed to up to £22) and has great reviews. I HAVE to let the theatre know final numbers on Monday. If you want a seat please get payments to office by Monday. (Recommended age is 6 plus but although younger children may not follow the action completely there is no minimum age restriction - booking is at parents' discretion.)

Finally, I know a few people couldn't come today due to sickness or other things cropping up - this was a massive shame and we missed you! I checked today for you with the Unicorn about their refund policy in these cases. I had assumed as we are on a school ticket, booked weeks in advance, at either half or a third of price of full ticket then we could not exchange or return. And indeed this is the case within a cut off of 48 hours before the show. If you do want a refund or want to book another date up to 48 hours before then (generously for a theatre) this is possible. Please let me know if you are really stuck and can't find a home for the tickets. NB This is only the policy at the Unicorn - other theatres may differ.

Please can I stress it is obviously ALWAYS best if you can find a home for unwanted tickets with other parents, friends or family. I will try do my very best to help, but chasing up individual queries is time consuming - please bear in mind although I love it if as many children as possible get to enjoy some affordable theatre, I am just volunteering my time!

Thank you.

Christmas Trips - Don't Miss Out!

We have some fantastic weekend theatre trips planned for Christmas! Our next festive trips are:

- for KS1 and KS2 to see Cinderella: A Fairytale on Saturday 30^th November at 3pm

- for Early Years and KS1  'Twas the Night Before Christmas on Saturday 14th December at 1.30pm 

at the fantastic Unicorn Theatre in London Bridge. Please see details of each below.

CINDERELLA: A FAIRYTALE

This twist on the classic tale was nominated for an Olivier Award in 2013. We have 80 tickets reserved, available on a first come first served basis. Please note ALL of Year 2 are already planning to go to this play as a Christmas class trip – only book for Y2 children if you want them to see it twice!

The play is aimed at children in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (recommended ages six up). The ticket price (discounted for schools) is an incredible bargain at £7.50 (normal price £15-£22). 

The Unicorn has a number of special activities on Saturday 30^th November from 12 noon in the foyer for children to take part in (a special Up! event). On Saturday afternoons these are usually free as part of Up! but this one on 30th November is a special event. Please add £1 per booking per child if you’d like us to reserve a place for you to this event

'TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

This is an adaptation of Clement Clarke Moore’s much-loved ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas directed by Douglas Rintoul (1001 nights) and comes highly recommended. So much so – our date sold out in August! We have ONLY 30 tickets reserved, available on a first come first served basis. Please note ALL of Year 1 are already planning to go to this play as a Christmas class trip – only book for Y1 children if you want them to see it twice!

The play is aimed at children of Early Years and Key Stage 1 (recommended ages two-six). The ticket price (discounted for schools) is a bargain £7.50 (normal price £10-£16). There are free Up! activities in the foyer from 12 noon - booking not essential on this date. 

GENERAL INFORMATION

Please note that both adults and children do need to have a ticket. We would love as many children as possible to come and enjoy the show. If cost is an issue for you, please contact rosendaletheatreclub@gmail.com as we may be able to offer financial support. NB All such enquiries will be treated confidentially.

Siblings are welcome but please check with the theatre for minimum ages. Children attending the play must be accompanied by an adult with up to four children per adult. The accompanying adult is soley responsible for the safety and well being of the children under his/her care.

Our school will receive one group ticket so we all need to go in together. We plan to meet in the foyer at the Unicorn Theatre half an hour before the show start time – please make your own way there. Trains run frequently from Tulse Hill to London Bridge and take 20 minutes. Alternatively you can take the tube from Brixton. The Unicorn Theatre is approximately 15 minutes walk from London Bridge station.

Letters are going out in book bags this week. Completed forms and payment should be placed in a small envelope marked F/A LISA STATHAM (THEATRE CLUB – NAME OF SHOW) and left at the school office by no later than Friday 18^th October.  Please note that the form must have an adult's contact details and payment before it can be accepted. Please make cheques payable to Rosendale Primary School.

Thank you!