South African arts project visit Lytton Youth Theatre
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Visitors from a pioneering performance arts centre in a sprawling South African township visited the Stevenage Lytton Players Youth Group for a dance workshop and talk explaining how dance, drama and music are helping to transform young lives. Music producer Chris Majozi and choreographer Lucky Cele are in the UK as guests of Christian Aid who help fund the work of the centre in Kwa Mashu, a township of about 1.5 million people, 18km outside Durban. During their stay, the pair have met youth leaders, politicians and Christian Aid supporters as well as leading sessions at Blackbird Leys Youth Project and for performing arts students at Oxford & Cherwell Valley College. The Kwa Mashu Community Advancement Project (K-CAP) was founded in 1993 as an innovative way of bringing hope, and very real employment opportunities, to hundreds of young people in the township where crime is high and unemployment runs at 80%. In 2002, work began on the Ekhaya Multi-Arts Centre (EMAC) in the heart of Kwa Mashu. The centre, which boasts amongst other things a 340 seat theatre, a technically-advanced recording studio and a video editing suite, was officially opened in 2003 by the then Deputy President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma. During their visit to the Lytton Youth, Lucky taught a group of 40 youngsters part of a Zulu dance and a township dance. The youth, aged from 8 to 18, enjoyed the experience and shared with Chris, Lucky and Sarah (the representative from Christian Aid) a drama workshop, some improvised sketches based on trust and a sample of their forthcoming revue “The Show With No Name.” |
March 2007 - Lytton Youth Production Wins Award/font>
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Last March the Thursday Group of the
Lytton Youth performed a challenging production of Bertolt Brecht's
Antigone to a modest audience. This production was praised by the press
and Vicki Avery the NODA Rep for the region. Grace Maynard was presented
with an "on the spot" award for her performance. Amy Humphreys and
Michelle Airey have been put forward for the NODA's youth actress award
for their portrayls of "Antigone" and "Kreon". And we have just found
out that play has won the NODA Eastern Area Regions
Award For Best Youth Production!
Congratulations to the cast - Richard Absalom, Michelle Airey, Sophie Ashby, Sonya Chenerey, Natalie Comar, Amy Humphreys, Jenna Lewis, Grace Maynard, Helen Smith, Matt Steer and director Dave Slade. |
October 2006 - Lyttons As Models
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 The Stevenage Photographic Society were
looking for some models for one of their studio days in October. A
calling notice went out to many of the Players but unfortunately it
clashed with My Fair Lady rehearsals. Rachel Smith and Dave Woolley
volunteered and went looking for costumes. Rachel decided to wear her
Nancy Pew costume for the Murder Mystery and Dave managed to find a
Henry 8th outfit. They were treated like stars surrounded by
photographers who snapped away at them. I stood at the back, out of the
limelight, drinking tea and being told by the woman supplying the
refreshments that I should be wearing the Henry 8th costume. More studio
days are planned in 2007 and hopefully we can get a few more people
along and try to link these photo sessions to our shows. Dave Slade |
October 2006 - Death Can Be Fatal
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As part of the "One Book For Stevenage" promotions the Lytton Players put on a murder mystery night in conjunction with the council. The story involved several famous detectives being invited to a mysterious island by the even more mysterious Mr X. The detectives included Mrs Marbles, Shirley Holmes, Knights Templar and Herbert Parrott. They were told a murder was going to take place and one of them was the murderer. When a body turned up Herbert Parrot used his little grey cells and the audience to find out the identity of the killer. The audience included Simon Speller, the current mayor and the famous writer Ken Follett. The killer was discovered, but just in case we use the script again, I'm not going to tell you who it was. The cast were Terry Budin-Jones, Steve Wilks, Ashley Humphreys, Lesley Humphreys, Amy Humphreys, Katy Love, Imelda Desmond, Rachel Smith and Slava Budin-Jones. Pictures shows the cast at a lighter moment. Dave Slade. |
September 2006 - The Great Lytton Cycle Ride and Walk
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Many of the Lytton Players took to the cycle tracks or washed the mud off their walking boots to take part in this sponsored event which raised over £2000 for Operation Squirrel. The cycle ride had two stops (both at pubs) and the walk started and finished at a pub. So from that we know it was very well planned. Dave Slade. |
September 2006 - So Long Farewell
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The
Lytton Youth is about to lose four of its brightest, most talented and
active members as they wander off to the world of university and wake up
in a pool of something they really hope is alcohol. Richard, Grace,
Michelle and Helen have between them run youth workshops, directed youth
shows, taken leads in major musical productions, played all the evil
women in Grimm Tales, been an eight year old in Antigone, worn a pair of
devil horns in a strange sketch, performed the Othello Rap at
Shakespeare In The Garden, read from books for One Book For Stevenage,
made stupid comments on Hertbeat FM and helped Dave Slade make the
Lytton Youth into what it is today. So we'd like to wish them all the
best for the future, hopefully we'll see them at future productions and
during the holidays. Good luck! To see them off and make sure they go
most of the cast of Antigone went out for a meal at Medusa in the town
centre. Dave Slade |
July 2006 - Lyttons At Buckingham Palace
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As recognition for their work in the community, Lytton Youth members Sonya Chenerey and Richard Absalom were put in for a young person of the year award in Hertfordshire. They unfortunately didn't win, but there were two significant outcomes. They were asked to be on the panel for the 2007 awards and they were both invited to a garden party by a lady who lives in a really big house in London. Sonya took her sister Catherine and as "he's never been, he never will and he's getting old" Richard took me. It was a very interesting day involving strict security measures, cucumber sandwiches, tea, very hot weather, military bands playing James Bond film music and realising the lake behind the palace smells a bit. Highlights of the day were seeing the Queen ("she's the one in green next to the tall Greek looking guy"); both Sonya and Catherine finding people wearing the same dresses as them and Richard commenting on the number of nude statues in Buckingham Palace. We didn't break anything, no one got shot, we didn't say anything embarrassing (ok, I'm sort of lying about that one, you'll have to ask us) and we saw the Queen from a distance through about a hundred people. The Queen has got a really big garden. Dave Slade. |
May 2006 - Summer Holiday goes on tour - in a way
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cast of Summer Holiday took to the streets in a big red bus to
promote the show. As we were limited to the number of passengers we
could take, the cast who came along split into two groups, one travelled
around Stevenage, the other went to Hitchin and Letchworth.
The following week, over 20 of the cast
turned up at the Howard Centre in Welwyn Garden Then the following week, More cast promoted the production at St Nicholas School fete and between the shows they danced a couple of the routines in the arena. Pictures are from the big red bus tour and the Howard Centre. |
May 2006 - One Book For Stevenage 2006
 Members
of the cast of Antigone represented the Lytton Players at the opening of
this years One Book For Stevenage at the Stevenage College. In their own
unique style they read a section of the chosen book Aberystwyth Mon
Amour by Malcolm Pryce. As the book is a parody of Raymond Chandler
novels based in Wales and none of the cast could do a decent Welsh
accent (sadly Jenna couldn't make it - remember her as the Welsh witch
in Grimm Tales and the Welsh zombie in Now Let's Not Be Silly) the cast
ran up and down the coast of America with several different accents
making it a sort of cross between Of Mice & Men and Goodfellas. The
reading was well received from an audience made up of our own mayor,
mayors from other towns, David Royal, Ken Follett, Barbara Follet and
members of Stevenage Council. For their performance the group
received a donation of £100." |
December 2005 - Lytton Youth Christmas Party
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Another
year, another Christmas, another Lytton Youth Party, another Badger Awards,
another win for Aimi Percival! Another great party was held on the 23rd December
at the Lytton Centre wih the majority of the youth turning up to take part in
quizzes, dance competitions, the raffle and generally having a good time. The
annual badger awards were handed (including furry badgers as the "oscars"). The
winners were :-
Michelle and Grace kept the party going well in the night with various dancing games. Thank you to Sue, Lesley and Ashley for providing the bar and the music. To Chris for turning up. An excellent end to an excellent year for the Stevenage Lytton Youth Theatre. |
October 2005 - Lytton Youth Halloween Workshop
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Ghosts, witches, monsters, vampires and a newt were some of the many creatures of the night that invaded the Lytton Theatre on Sunday 30th October for the youth's Halloween workshop. |
Summer 2005 - Shakespeare in the Garden
The Stevenage Lytton Players Drama Section went on tour this summer taking their second production of Shakespeare In The Garden to the Stevenage Museum. This time they weren't in the garden due to rain but inside the museum. This didn't spoilt the production and made the whole thing a little more intimate for the audience. The cast put on scenes from Othello, Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant Of Venice and Henry V to name but a few. There was even some audience participation with a scene from the Reduced Shakespeare Companies version of Hamlet. The audience got into the spirit of things and even though they were inside there we still picnic hampers with lemonade and Pimms. A very successful mini tour and a very good fund raiser for the Players. Shakespeare In The Garden 3 is already being planned.
July 2005 - Lytton Youth Summer Break
We are having a fairly long break for the Sunday Group. The next meeting will be on 4th September at 4.30 till 7.30 usual place. Have a great summer and see you all when we get back.
Dave Slade
April 2005 - One Book For Stevenage
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As part of the launch of One Book For Stevenage on 15th April 2005, some of the Lytton Youth performed a rehearsed reading of sections of the chosen book Across The Nightingale Floor at both Hertbeat FM and the official launch at North Herts College. The cast were interviewed on the radio where they did manage to plug three of the Players' forthcoming shows and Michelle managed to say "I'm not a chav!" on the air. After their half hour of fame on the airwaves they moved on to the college to read a selection of scenes from chapter four of the book in front of a mostly invited audience including Ken and Barbara Follet. |
December 2004 - Lytton Youth Christmas Party
Another year, another youth party, another Annual Badger Awards. Well over thirty youth members came along to the annual Christmas bash on Saturday 18th December. The evening started with a quiz and featured teams with strange names like Vicky Pollard Wannabees (you have to watch Little Britain to understand it) and Grandpa's Girls plus others (which is some reference to Fiddler On The Roof). Then it moved swiftly on to the Badger Awards and the winners this year were :-
The Raffle You Can't Lose followed with Jennifer Woolley winning a giant tiger (no not a real one). After all the awards and Thank Yous Aimi took over with her "party games" (you really need to hear how Aimi says it to get the full effect). A great time was had by all - the adults even brought their own quiz to keep themselves amused. A brilliant way to start the Christmas celebrations.
October 2004 - Youth Halloween Workshop
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The Sunday Youth Group fell on 31st October this year so the Lytton Youth got into the Halloween "spirit". Most of the youth turned up in fancy dress and a quick prize was put together by the adults and was won by a certain vampire sitting on the front of the stage. A fun night was had by all as the workshop was based around horror - including a version of the "prison game" Richard Abaslom renamed "Death Row", which was the same game, but in the dark. |
September 2004 Thursday Group Lock In
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The Thursday Group of the youth section had their long awaited Lock In last month – they’ve been trying to have one since August 2003. As with all Youth Lock Ins the doors were closed at 8pm Saturday night till 8am Sunday morning. The 12 hours were filled with improvisations, workshops, games, a Chinese meal at midnight, a ghost hunt, a couple of hours of talking nonsense and a few people falling asleep (including Ashley even though he was on ProPlus). Games included a quiz, an in-house treasure hunt and a cream cracker eating challenge. A great night was had by all, thank you to Sue, Lesley and Ashley for their support and keeping a steady supply of coffee, tea and food.
Picture shows Richard, Billy, Rob, Jenna, Amy Jo and Aimi during one of their more sensible moments during the 12 hours. |
JCSS Wins NODA Best Production Award
Our 2003 production of Jesus Christ Superstar has been awarded Best Production Award for 2003 by Vicky Avery - our regional NODA rep. Specifically, the NODA Eastern Area 2003 Best Production Award for Region No 9. Linda Friis, the show director, will be travelling to Norfolk to collect the trophy and certificate at the AGM in Kings Lynn on 24 April. Congratulations to everybody involved in the production.
December 2003 Youth Christmas Bash!
The Youth Christmas Party was another resounding success! This event doesn’t raise any money as the proceeds go towards the raffle prizes and the food, but a small profit was made and has been added to the “sweetie money” for Operation Squirrel.
The raffle was won by everyone, but the two main prizes were won by Rosemary Rowland Morris “ Pirates Of The Caribbean” video and Amy Humphreys “Now 56” CD.
Here are some of the results of 14 awards handed out at the 3rd Annual Badger Awards: -
Pedro was given two bits of corn as part of his prize, which he went on to cook in the microwave where he was heard to say “This is the best Badger Awards ever!”
Aimi kept the party going with various party games including best dance which was won by Adam with his sister Alice coming in second. At one point I was awarded with a large Panda but I never really understood why.
A good time had by all and thank you to Sue, Lesley, Aimi, Slava and Ashley for their support to a fun evening. Thank you also to Chris for sitting at the bar and shaking his head most of the evening.
Nominations for the 4th Annual Badger Awards will be started around August next year.
Dave Slade Youth Rep and Panda Owner
October 2003
ACTING WORKSHOPS AT THE LYTTON THEATRE
There will be Acting workshops at the Lytton Theatre at 7.45pm on the following Tuesdays:-
4th Nov 11th Nov 18th Nov (TBA) 2nd Dec
From then on the workshops will be dealing with the themes of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It is not imperative you attend these workshops if you want to audition, they will be useful. Your attendance alone at these workshops will not give you any advantage over anyone who doesn't attend them and auditions. Basically if someone doesn't attend the workshops but does a brilliant audition they will get the part.
Dates as follows :-
9th Dec 16th Dec 23rd Dec
If you want any further info please talk to me.
Dave Slade
July 2003
Following on from the recent successful performances of Hackback, The Lytton Youth Theatre are having a well earned Summer Break. Workshops start again on Sunday 7th Sept at 4.30pm till 7.30pm.
October 2002
The
Stevenage Lytton Players have just been awarded the prestigious
Golden Web Award 2002-2003 for the design and
content of their website. This Internationally acclaimed award was
bestowed by the International Association of Webmasters
and Designers in recognition of the high standards of presentation
and the comprehensive information on the site. Only a few awards are
granted to selected sites each year.
August 2002
The PALS event was held on Saturday 3rd August and was a great success. An
inside source described it as "Very successful night
with PALS. Highlights of the evening included Chris Hobbs playing a mumbling old
man alone on stage for about five minutes while Dave Slade went off to get
changed (oblivious that Chris had started acting); Caroline Thorp playing
"Caroline the helpful Care assistant"; Pat Hinton being the Housekeeper from
hell; Dave (on the recommendation of one of the audience) dying as a patient so
his wife could have a cup of tea and a small lad telling a joke which was all
innocent until he got to the punch line. The evening was such a success
another event is being planned with PALS for Christmas."
The event raised a total of £50 towards Operation Squirrel.
August 2002
In association with Patient Advisory Liaison Services (PALS) the Stevenage
Lytton Players are putting on "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" a forum theatre
for NHS Staff. Angela McDermott PALS manager and organiser of the event says
"The PALS department wanted to offer individuals working in and for the Trust,
an opportunity to gain further insight into the
experiences of patients in a fun and non-threatening way. The scenes that you
will see are taken from real life experiences."
The scenes will be performed by Lytton Players Pat Hinton, Caroline Thorp, Chris
Hobbs and Dave Slade with members of the NHS as "the professionals". After each
scene a group discussion will follow reviewing how staff should handle the
problems shown.
After the Forum Theatre, music will be provided by Bamboozle and supper by Pat
Hinton. All proceeds will go towards
Operation Squirrel.
June 2002
After our production of Macbeth the Stevenage Lytton Players helped out Giles
Junior School with their production of "Macbeth For Schools". The Players
provided assistance with the lighting for this musical version of the Scottish
Play. This different, light-hearted approach was in vast contrast to the
Players' recent dark and violent interpretation of Shakespeare's classic play.
November 2001 - Lytton Players on Tour
The Stevenage Lytton Players are performing a number of one-off shows at various outside locations during November. The format is primarily 'Music Hall' with additional Musical Theatre numbers. The show has been given the title 'East End Days, West End Nights'. November 10th finds us at Tewin, and November 15th at St Albans. It is also planned to repeat the performance at The Lytton Theatre on November 30th.
July 2001 - Treasure Hunt Winners Celebrate
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This year's winning team 'Monty Circus's Flying Python' relaxed and happy after winning that most sought after of trophies - The Stevenage Lytton Players' Annual Treasure Hunt cup. Having trawled the local towns and villages in search of solutions to fiendishly clever clues, they were amply rewarded on their return by tucking into a slap up Cream Tea with Strawberries followed by presentation of their prize. Thanks to John, Maxine, & Imelda for organising it |
February 2001 - Murder Mystery Evening replaces The Fire Raisers as Spring Drama Production
Our Spring 2001 Drama Production is now to be a Murder Mystery evening. This replaces the previously planned production of The Fire Raisers which we have had to cancel due to circumstances beyond our control.
December 2000 - Chess replaces Children of Eden as Spring Musical Production
Our Spring 2001
Production at The Gordon Craig Theatre is now to be
Chess. This
replaces the previously planned production of Children of Eden which we
have had to cancel due to circumstances beyond our control.
December
15th 2000 - Friday Night Live once again a roaring success
''Friday
Night Live' with a Christmas theme - an unbeatable combination. Bamboozle
gave their usual excellent performance, complemented by stunning performances
from guest singers John, Julia, Steve, and Mark.
December 2000 - Music Hall 'Outshows' raise over £1000
of funds The three 'Music Hall' outshows performed by The Stevenage Lytton Players
in November and December have raised a total of £1025 in funds. Our first
one in Redbourn generated £225, the second at St Albans 'Arena' for the St
Albans Round Table generated £600, and our third one in Stevenage for the
Flower Arranging Society generated £200. The shows were hugely successful,
and both Redbourn and St Albans have asked us to come back again.
November/December 2000 - Various 'Outshows'
The Stevenage Lytton Players are performing a number of
one-off shows at various outside locations during November and December.
The format is primarily 'Music Hall' with additional Musical Theatre numbers at
certain locations. November 11th finds us at Redbourn, November 29th St
Albans, and December 7th at the Methodist Hall in Stevenage.
September
2000 - Seven Brides for Seven Brothers closes to rave reviews !
Seven
Brides for Seven Brothers which was performed at the Stevenage 'Gordon Craig
Theatre' from 20th - 23rd September was welcomed with rave reviews by audience
and press alike ! 'Best Thing the Lyttons have done in
years' - Audience member 'The two leading roles, Adam
and Milly put over their numbers splendidly ..... All the brothers
sang with verve and style, and all danced expertly ..... The
Brides were all winsome and sang sweetly' - Stevenage Mercury
August 19th 2000 - Charity Car Park
The Charity Car Park held at Stevenage College on Saturday
19th August was once again a big success, this time raising a total of £187
towards 'Operation Squirrel' (codename for the new building fund !). Many
thanks to Sue, Gemma, Chris, Cathy, Phil, Charlotte, David R, David M, Janet,
Wendy, Diana & Jackie.
August 4th 2000 - Friday Night Live
Once again 'Friday Night Live' at The Sishes was a huge
success. Our Semi-Resident band Bamboozle gave an excellent performance
including several new numbers. As usual there were Guest
performances. This time from Steve, Sharon & Jo, John, Maxine, Julia,
and even Tracey - Bamboozle's only female drummer !
Bamboozle, Guests and Audience July 23rd 2000 - Treasure Hunt
This year the traditional annual 'Treasure Hunt' was set by
Cathy and Phil Bibby. Tricky, but enjoyed by all. But not too tricky
for this year's winners - 'Ben's Babes' ! Congratulations to Imelda,
John, Maxine & Sharon who for their pains will be setting next year's one !
City to promote the show - singing and dancing in the shopping centre,
entertaining the passers by and even the remote control bus took part.