2020 has certainly been a very strange, difficult and sad year for many people. Who would have thought last March when we went into our first lockdown, that we would still be in this position at this time? The huge news on the development of a vaccine is wonderful and hopefully will allow us to all get back to some sort of normality at some stage next year.
However, with all the uncertainty with where we are at this particular moment in the year, everyone in the theatre world has the very difficult decision to make, of knowing when we will be able to get back to rehearsing and performing in a safe environment.
Normally during November and December, the CSC crew would have organised and paid deposits on items such as marquees, seating, lighting etc. Making such commitments in the past 8 weeks has been very difficult, near on impossible. If we knew how things would be for auditions in January and rehearsals commencing in February/March, the decisions might have been easier. However, we don’t know exactly how long it will be until “most people” will be vaccinated and in a sense, feel safe again. There is also a huge financial risk with our decision and not one we want to take lightly.
We feel within the panel, and it was a unanimous decision, that the safety of our members, cast and audience has to be our top priority. With so many decisions needing to be made prior to Christmas, we just don’t feel it’s possible to continue without taking too many risks.
Sadly therefore, CSC will not be performing at Hall Barn in June 2021, HOWEVER, we will be performing, hopefully in the grounds of Hall Barn, at the end of August/beginning of September 2021. This is going to be re-branded for one year only as; "CSC REDUCED". It won’t be the lavish production, you have come to know and enjoy, but we will be back for that with Romeo & Juliet in June 2022 and we can’t wait.
We have spent most of this year, restructuring and re-scaling, so all the good work that we have done will come to fruition in 2022.
We hope you understand our decision and we really hope you will support us at the end of the Summer. It may well be we get to June next year and life is back to normal and we think “do you know what, we could have performed”, however, that’s difficult to know now and for the sake of our members, cast and audience, we feel playing it safe, would be the best approach.
Anyway, it just leaves us to wish you all a very peaceful Christmas and hopefully 2021 will bring us happiness and theatre!
Chiltern Shakespeare Company is delighted to present our audiobook, produced in co-operation with Fourways Theatre Company. It was produced during the Covid19 summer of 2020, combining the casts from each group's recent productions of Much Ado About Nothing, to create this ensemble cast : each actor and singer recorded their lines on their own devices, isolated in lockdown. If you like the production, please consider donating to the NHS at
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/chilternshakespeare
The audio book is hosted on Soundcloud.com and can be accessed from soundcloud.com/user-858725247/much-ado-about-nothing-the-lockdown-audibook
Antonio | Nick Wyse
Balthazar | Pip Dadd
Beatrice | Helen Sendall
Benedick | Ben Sansum
Borachio | Graham Weeks
Claudio | Tom McGrath
Conrade | Emily Taylor
Dogberry | Adam Besley
Don John | Joe Powell
Don Pedro | Tony Sendall
Friar | Mike Consden
Hero | Bess Roche
Leonato | David Bukht
Margaret | Sophie Kaziol
Messengers | Molly Sendall and Teresa Sain
Sexton | Rudolf Dvoracek
The Watch | Kathryn Head and Rashid Mumtaz
Ursula | Debs Keenan
Verges | Graham Hills
Additional Voices | Jude Talbot
Opera Singers | Chiara Carbone, Eva Fiechter and Sara de Flaviis
Director, Editor, Producer | Jack Sain
Executive Producers | Carolyn Kendall, Jonathan Marks and Rick Butler
Song Composers | Anthony and Gaynor Sadler
Musical Director | Harriet Lawson
Additional Music | Jack Sain
Additional Sound Mixing | Andrew Wildgoose
After our 2020 sabbatical, the Chiltern Shakespeare Company is pleased to announce that our summer 2021 production will be William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.
Hall Barn’s magnificent parkland will once again be our venue. Performance dates, subject to the Pandemic restrictions, will be Wednesday 9th June to Saturday 12th June and Wednesday 16th to Saturday 19th June 2021.
We will release more details in the next few weeks, including revealing our director and releasing dates for auditions and start of rehearsals.
We are also pleased to announce we are planning to perform Twelfth Night as our June 2022 production.
We are extremely grateful to the owner, Jenefer Farncombe, and her team for agreeing to welcome CSC and our audiences back to Hall Barn in 2021 and 2022.
Hi,
We just wanted to let you know that we are delighted that Jack Sain, director of Much Ado about Nothing (CSC 2017) is organising an “audio production” of Much Ado, which will be cast from the 2 casts (Fourways Theatre Company’s production of 2019 & Chiltern Shakespeare’s production of 2017).
Casting is underway and a read through via Zoom will take place in a couple of weeks. Actors will then record their individual lines, and this will be edited into a final audio performance.
Keep an eye out for further details on how you will be able to listen to this unique production.
Very best wishes,
Carolyn
Chairman
Hi, Hope you are all keeping safe and well.
I hope you are visiting our website as you care about the theatre as much as we all do here at the Chiltern Shakespeare Company, and I hope you are watching some of the wonderful productions that are being live streamed for us. We are basically all able to enjoy “World Class Theatre, online, for free” (National Theatre).
However, there is nothing that can compare, to sitting in the open air, in the wonderful grounds of Hall Barn, on a warm summer’s evening, having a picnic, then watching great theatre with friends and family.
So, we just want to let you know, we WILL be back next year (circumstances permitting). We are so excited and are already in the first stages of planning our comeback, so watch this space! We are chatting with directors and looking at a couple of plays.
We will be delighted to welcome you back and look forward to seeing you all.
In the meantime, take care and keep an eye on the website for further announcements!
Very best wishes,
Carolyn
Chairman – Chiltern Shakespeare Company
Ay me, for aught that I could ever read,
Could ever hear by tale or history,
The course of true love never did run smooth. . .
We are fortunate to call Hall Barn our home for our productions.
In 2018, we were able to fly a drone over the site and the embedded video shows the meadow, auditorium and visitor facilities.
Fetch me that flower; the herb I shew'd thee once.
The juice of it on sleeping eye-lids laid
Will make or man or woman madly dote
Upon the next live creature that it sees.
