Greetings from the Hurlingham Players Theatre Group where, following the success of The Real Inspector Hound show in March, we unveiled the masterstroke of the Wizard of Oz, performed outside in May, and brought to us by Dominic Fazakerley and Jenny Montefiore et al. Their masterful use of the beautiful Hurlingham grounds and the director himself adorning the cape of the ‘Yellow Brick Road’, guided the audience around the immersive land of Oz amongst the foliage, beautifully kept by the Grounds and Gardens team (budding thespians they are too, I’m sure!). Huge congratulations to Otto, the latest newbie of the canine variety, who was very well behaved and performed with ‘dogged’ determination.

We are excited to also announce further play readings coming up soon, and the best way to stay up to date with our smaller ventures is to sign up to our Players mailing list or by joining the Players WhatsApp group via the QR code on the Players noticeboard! They are designed to be less time-consuming and great for those wishing to dip their toe in the limelight on the road to brighter times!

We pass the baton on to Catriona Guthrie and Emma Carlisle for the hugely anticipated ‘High Society’ to be performed in November, with auditions (Sunday 22 June-6pm and Tuesday 1 July-7pm) promising to be intensely competitive, but warmly open to all! We have had such an influx of newcomers in the last year, and we are asking for more!

I end with Grace Kelly’s words from High Society: “Isn’t it a fine day?  Is everybody fine? That’s fine!”

TONY DE LACEY, CHAIR, PLAYERS

It was last April that I received a Whatsapp message from our lovely friend Hana, suggesting a promenade version of the Wizard of Oz like the version of Alice in Wonderland that the Players had produced before in the gardens. Struggling with my very literal mind, I questioned where we would put the orchestra and if they’d have to follow Dorothy on the yellow brick road. 

“I was more thinking of a non-musical version based on the book” Hana countered, “you know with Oompa Loompas”. That doesn’t sound right I thought striving to remember the word Munchkin. “We can start in the Sunken Garden and work our way round to the Dovecote”. Those familiar with the story will recall that it very much begins where it ends back in Kansas, and has to do some fairly swift changes back and forth between Kansas and Munchkin land, and back again from the Emerald City to Kansas at the end. The Sunken Garden would be coming in for a fair amount of action.

The Players have produced The Wizard of Oz before, but this time we wouldn’t have the theatre and the opportunity to project the Head of Oz as in the classic film. We would have to build a head out of cardboard, as you do, …in our kitchen. How would we create a yellow brick road in the Grounds? The Gardens and Landscape Committee might object. No problem – we would create a train of fabric which would be pulled along, and the audience would literally follow the yellow brick road. The next major challenge was how to create the Emerald City during the show without anyone noticing. We set about rigging up sparkly green curtains and building a shiny turreted gate. 

We’ve thought of Hana often as we’ve all worked to create the show; we can hear her encouragement and enthusiasm in our heads helping us bring her idea to fruition. There aren’t any Oompa Loompas of course, just lots of fun, energy and creativity to show that her legacy lives on.

KATE FAZAKERLEY

Congratulations Catriona Guthrie!

We’re used to seeing images of Catriona in costume on stage in Hurlingham’s Mulgrave theatre productions.

But I was pleased to catch up with her in her new role (in a very different costume) as Dedicated Runner of Half Marathons!

We are delighted therefore to congratulate Catriona on her incredible achievement of completing a half marathon in support of the charity Clean Break, a visionary organisation working to support women affected by the criminal justice system.

From January to March, Catriona dedicated 27 hours to training and covered 250 kilometres – culminating in a powerful 13.1-mile run that raised more than £2,000 for this charity.

Well done Catriona – your Hurlingham friends and all the Players are proud of you!

JEAN BIRD

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Silver Screen and Snooker