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Published: 29 January 2015

ITS Casting Spring Production

Aspiring actors are invited to attend an audition by the International Theatre Studio for its next major production.

'Side Effects' is another mischievous comedy by Eric Chappell of 'Rising
Damp' fame. It will be directed by Diana King; full length play.

Setting Of Play - The visitors' room of a convalescent home

Frank Cook, having been taken ill with a rare complaint, has been booked
into a private nursing home by his wife June for a week's respite. Whilst
there, he encounters the Reverend Paul Latimer who is recovering from a heart
transplant and whose odd behaviour is beginning to alarm his wife, Sarah.

The young, attractive Tracey might provide the answer. She is convinced
that the vicar's new heart belonged to her recently deceased lover Melvin, a
fairground "wall of death" rider. Could it be that Paul has taken on Melvin's
personality traits as well as his heart?

That would explain the swearing, the smoking, the drinking and the
clandestine canoodling with Tracey in the rose garden. Then again, perhaps he's
just suffering from the side effects of his medication? Frank, ever the
cantankerous sceptic, is delighted by the vicar's fall from grace, while June
does her best to rein in his detective work.

It features five characters –

Frank Cook, 50 or over;

June Cook, his wife, a few years younger;

Rev. Paul Latimer, 40 or over;

Sarah Latimer, his wife, same age;

Tracey, 20ish.

As ever, the director is prepared to be flexible over precise ages!

The audition is on Tuesday, February 10, at El Candil Bar, San Pedro, at 7.30pm for 8pm.

Newcomers – who will be most welcome – can contact Diana King (690 108 852), who is directing the play, for directions to the venue or any other issue.

Dates for the actual production are Friday, April 17, Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19, as usual at the Atalaya Park Hotel.

Details

Published: 29 January 2015

Hi everyone!

CHRISTMAS PARTY

The Christmas party at El Campanario Restaurant was a terrific success. A lovely venue
and a menu at a realistic price and such a great asset to have live music by
Howard Grant, which created a real party atmosphere and got everyone dancing. It
was an opportunity to let our hair down a bit and celebrate a very successful
year by ITS.

JANUARY PLAY READING

Eileen Audas hosted our play reading on 13th January at El Candil in San
Pedro. I am delighted to say we had a great turnout, some longstanding members
and 8 young people, only 3 of whom we had already met. Eileen had chosen to
read the first Act of Pride and Prejudice and with a cast of 12 and as there
were no huge parts, it enabled all those who wanted to read to have a go.
It was a really enjoyable evening and great to see so many new faces.

Dates for your diary

AUDITION - TUESDAY FEBRUARY 10TH AT EL CANDIL, SAN PEDRO

The next event will be an audition for our Spring production. We expect the production to take place on 17th, 18th and 19th April at Atalaya Park Hotel disco.

We have chosen 'Side Effects' by Eric Chappell'. There is a cast of 5:

2 men, and 2 women all 40+ and a young girl in her twenties.

There will be full details sent out shortly.

There will be another play reading shortly and I will send out full details when the date is
confirmed.

AGM for International Theatre Studio Tuesday March 10th

This is our Annual General Meeting and there will shortly be a formal call sent out to
members, who are welcome to attend.

Thank you for all your support.

Carol Woolnoth - ITS President

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Published: 12 January 2015

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife." So Jane Austen sets the backdrop for her famous novel about manners and society in 19th century England, the importance of status and class and the difficulty of finding a suitable match.

Jane Austen created strong characters and their lively, witty dialogue has been brought directly from the pages of the novel into the play by Helen Jerome. The spiky Elizabeth Bennet, proud Mr Darcy, gentle Jane Bennet and her easily-led suitor
Mr Bingley, wicked Mr Wickham and silly Lydia, clever Mr Bennet and his frothy-headed wife are all here.

You've read the book, seen the film – now take the opportunity to present your interpretation of the characters.

Mr Bennet – a gentleman

Mrs Bennet – his wife

Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Lydia Bennet -
their daughters

Charlotte Lucas –
Elizabeth's friend

Lady Lucas –
Charlotte's mother

Mr Bingley – owner of Netherfield

Mr Darcy – his friend

Mr Collins – cousin of Mr Bennet

Mr Wickham – a military officer

We very much hope to see you all for an informal fun evening, do come and bring your friends. There will be time for a social get together afterwards over tapas.

Alfonso will as always be offering Tapas following the reading for 7 euros.

If you want to stay for tapas after the reading, you need to let us know in advance, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. so that we know the numbers to cater for.

We will be collecting the money for tapas when you arrive
for the reading.

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Published: 16 December 2014

Hi everyone!

AUTUMN PRODUCTION on 14th, 15th & 16th November.

The play was "Wife After Death" by Eric Chappell. What a terrific success it was! A splendid cast, with some newcomers to the International Theatre Studio stage, as well as some of our regular members and with a very funny play and responsive audiences it was enjoyed by everyone. Sadly, I was away on holiday and missed this production but have heard from all sides how well it was received and how much the cast enjoyed it.

We had great houses, and on the Saturday and Sunday evenings were looking for extra chairs, so a success in terms of numbers in the audience, as well as of the artistic
talents of our actors. I gather that there were stalwart efforts by our technical staff and the hotel staff struggling with the effects of the torrential rain on the Friday night and am pleased that 'the show went on' despite all difficulties.

For anyone affected by the technical problems, rest assured we are aiming to have everything in tip top condition for our next production in the spring.

ADANA CHRISTMAS FAIR

We had a stall at the ADANA Christmas fair on 23rd November at the
Palacio de Congresos in Estepona and am delighted to say we had a great
response to our drive for increasing our list of friends of ITS for publicising
our productions.

My grateful thanks to the intrepid band of enthusiastic members who gave their time
willingly to man the stand and help to spread the word about ITS to new people.
Your efforts are much appreciated. ADANA is a great cause to support and there
were, as always, some lovely presents to buy.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

We are looking forward enormously to the Christmas party at El Campanario Restaurant
behind the Diana Centre this coming Saturday. There will be live music and dancing and it will be a fitting celebration of another very successful year by ITS.

JANUARY PLAY READING

Eileen Audas our treasurer has kindly offered to host our next play reading on 13th
January. I will send out more details, as soon as they are finalised.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy and
healthy New Year.

Thank you for all your support.

Carol Woolnoth - ITS  President

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Published: 01 November 2014

Hi everyone!

The last play reading on Wednesday 24th September at El Candil in San Pedro was a
great success and enjoyed by all. It was a great opportunity to spend more time getting to know some new members, as the short plays gave us more time to socialise.

There were 2 short plays, first was "Alternative Accommodation" by Pam
Valentine. The children of the recently widowed Anna intend to push her into
selling her house and moving into a residential home or sheltered housing. However, Anna has other ideas and is moving to Florida with the new man in her life!

This was followed by "The Cafe" by Neville Watchurst. Set on the closing night of the Cafe de Paris - a ballroom in London. The play is set during the final tea dance and some of
the regulars take the opportunity to start a new beginning. The play is bitter-sweet, sad and romantic and reminiscent of a bygone era.

Dates for your Diary

AUTUMN PRODUCTION

The play is "Wife After Death" by Eric Chappell,
(well known for his TV sitcom 'Rising Damp' amongst other works), on 14th, 15th & 16th November.

Synopsis of the play.

It is the day of Dave Thursby's funeral, he was a stand-up comic and there is a coffin on
stage. Laura, his widow has asked people to come and pay their respects. His script writer Harvey and Kevin his manager come with their wives.

As the play unfolds, it becomes clear that Dave was not the great man everyone had thought.Kay turns up (an uninvited guest) and drops another bomb shell.

It's all worse than they thought, but very funny for those not involved!

ADANA CHRISTMAS FAIR

We will have a stall at the ADANA Christmas fair on 23rd
November at the Palacio de Congresos in Estepona to try to increase our
members and recruit new actors and back stage helpers. Do come and see us and
send us your friends to sign up. You can then benefit from reduced price
tickets to our shows. ADANA is a great cause to support and you can start your
Christmas shopping too, as there are some lovely presents to buy.

CHRISTMAS
PARTY

We are in the process of arranging the Christmas party which will be at El
Campanario Restaurant behind the Diana Centre on Saturday
13th December. There will be more details sent out shortly with menu
choices and there will be live music and dancing. It will be a set price menu
of 25€ See more details of the venue on http://www.elcampanario-resort.com/restaurant/4581997491

Thank you for all your support.

Carol
Woolnoth - ITS President

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Published: 01 November 2014

THE ATALAYA PARK HOTEL, DISCOTECA MAYORAL
FRI 14th & SAT 15th NOVEMBER at 8PM & SUN 16th NOVEMBER at 7PM

Eric Chappell has written numerous stage plays and screenplays since the seventies but is probably best known for TV sitcom ‘Rising Damp’

Tickets are available from: HomeCare, C.C. Costasol; Cath’s Cards, Benavista; New Longmans Bookshop, Estepona; Viva, San Pedro

or 

Telephone: 952 88 06 30 or 952 89 67 39 (eves/weekends) 

‘Wife After Death’ revolves around the funeral and cremation of comedian, Dave Thursby, a ‘national treasure’ loved by the public, and the repercussions of his death on family and friends. 

Harvey Barrett has lost his best friend. Dave was hugely successful, a devoted husband to his wife, a model client for his agent and a staunch friend to his faithful gag writer, Harvey. There’s now a huge, aching void in their lives, and, worse still, some of them may be out of a job!

 As they gather to give Dave a fitting send-off, it turns out they know rather less about him than they’d imagined and a series of revelations uncover some home truths about the much-loved comedy legend.

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Published: 09 September 2014

Sandra Sprawson would like to invite you to a Play Reading on Wednesday September 24th at Bar El Candil, San Pedro at 7.30 for 8pm.

"Alternative Accommodation" by Pam Valentine. It is 25 pages with four parts.

Recently widowed, Anna is visited by her three middle-aged children who have decided that the family house must be sold and that Anna must move either to a residential home or sheltered housing. In fact, anywhere, as long as it is not with any of them!

However, their veneer of filial concern does not fool Anna, who has other ideas. Far from suffering from the dementia her children imagine she is starting, Anna has organised her own future in Florida that does't include any of her selfish offspring, although it does encompass the new man in her life!

After a break, Sandra has chosen another very short play called "The Cafe" by Neville Watchurst. Again, four parts and only 18 pages.

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Published: 31 August 2014

Hi everyone!

You probably should have had this sooner but August is the busiest time of year for me with all our rental apartments fully booked and a number of our owners here in their apartments too!

First let me tell you what a great evening we had around the pool in Sandra Sprawson’s garden for our summer play reading, ‘Fish out of Water’ by Derek Benfield. A great time was had by everyone including Sandra’s house guests and the hospitality was second to none. The spring rolls were home-made and absolutely fabulous. We all enjoyed the play too - a little light hearted comedy about double booking on package holiday. Very appropriate for July on the Costa del Sol! We had not quite realised how long it would play, so struggled with the light towards the end but everyone gave of their best and it was a very successful evening.

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Published: 07 August 2014

Tuesday, 26th August at El Bandil Bar, San Pedro

"Wife after Death" by Eric Chappell

Directed by Diana King.

It has been decided to stage 'Wife After Death' by Eric Chappell for our autumn production. Performance dates will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday 14th, 15th and 16th November.

Auditions will take place on Tuesday 26th August in El Candil Bar in San Pedro from 7.30pm onwards. Audition pieces will be available to study in advance. Please ask if you want them and let us know which character you are interested in and they will be emailed to you separately.

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Published: 22 July 2014

Although we do not normally arrange any events for the summer months, we have decided to break with tradition this year and hold an outdoor unrehearsed play reading in one of our members' gardens.

We will be reading 'Fish out of Water' by Derek Benfield, which is a light hearted comedy set in a hotel on the Italian Riviera on a summer afternoon. There are parts to be read by 3 men and 4 women: including the outspoken, organising widow Agatha and her timid sister Fiona; Brigadier and Mrs. Hubback; Marissa, a strikingly pretty Italian girl; Julian the tour rep; and Mario, the young Italian hotel manager. All the drama of late flights, double bookings, foreign food, wine tasting and holiday romances on package holidays make for a fun filled evening's entertainment.

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