29th May 2010

“THE GAME’S AFOOT!”

If you’re wondering why the OFFSTAGE website hasn’t been updated since last year, we’ve been very busy bees.

What? Why? How? Okay, calm down, dear. It’s only a theatre group.

The umbrella title of The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group has often allowed us to branch off into other areas but, in essence, everything we are involved in is an OFFSTAGE production. Our comedy improvisation spin-off, ‘Off The Cuff’, has gone from strength to strength, with our monthly show in Cheltenham gaining a loyal following, and we’re now taking it out on tour for the rest of the year (and already booking for 2011). ‘Blues Brothers Reloaded’ (another spin-off from OFFSTAGE) has been mad-busy with bookings and has expanded to a 10-piece – and sometimes 12-piece – tribute show. The writing for the OFFSTAGE theatre production of ‘Pay Attention, 007!’ has been ongoing, with a major change in the way we are casting and performing it requiring a top-to-toe re-write on the script. This one-off comedic, theatrical, speedy run-through of every James Bond film (in 100 minutes) premieres at The Bacon Theatre in November. More details about that soon.

But, the most recent news is that BBC Radio Gloucestershire are broadcasting another of our OFFSTAGE spin-offs – ‘Mantelpiece Theatre’ – on Monday 31st May, with our specially-written Sherlock Holmes adventure comedy called ‘The League Of Red-Headed Cheese Rollers’.

Catch it online here

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0080rr4

(and you can also ‘Listen Again’ for seven days afterwards, if you miss it):

27th September 2009

'Off The Cuff' is the live comedy improvisation show (inspired by 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?') performed on the First Saturday of Every Month in Cheltenham and has now been running since November 2007. The show has recently moved venues, so catch it at the new home.

Check out: www.off-the-cuff.co.uk

THE TWO PIGS
Church Street, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL50 3HA
http://www.myspace.com/the2pigs
Tickets: £5.00 (£4.00 for students) - Doors open: 8.00pm. Show starts: 8.30pm

No two nights will be the same as we have a different line-up of improvisers every month. Make a date in your diary to come along every month. We promise you free Jaffa Cakes and loads of laughs.

14th September 2009

“THIS IS GOODBYE, CHARLES!”

The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group’s tour of ‘Blithe Spirit’ has been and gone. It started in August and ended in September, with hardly a break between venues. It’s played to sell-out audiences wherever it was performed and this Summer’s Tour finished, as has been our tradition since 2006, at Hartland Parish Hall in Devon; which meant some of the actors could stay longer at the weekend and go rock-climbing and paddling in the sea afterwards to celebrate! There will be photos, an overview and a professional review posted on the website soon. Watch this space!

“MY NAME IS BOND, JAMES BOND!”

Because of the size and the scale of the upcoming James Bond spoof ‘Pay Attention, 007!’, it has been decided that our Winter production of ‘Bouncers & Shakers’ (by John Godber) will be pushed back into 2010, to allow us a few months of pre-production before rehearsals start on our Reduced Shakespeare Company style comedy, showcasing every one of the James Bond movies in 100 minutes.

11st August 2009

SPIRITED AWAY

The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group’s tour of ‘Blithe Spirit’ has already completed the Gloucestershire leg and is now off to more far-flung places. The only venue on the next stage of the tour that isn’t sold-out yet is in Devon. So, if you’re down that way, please ring or email the details below to attend what will be our final performance of this play. Tickets are limited, so don’t delay!

HARTLAND PARISH HALL, DEVON
Saturday 5th September
Doors Open: 6.30pm Performance: 7.30pm
Tickets: £7.00 (adult) / £3.00 (child) / £16.00 (family – 2 adults, all kids)
Telephone: 01237 441057
Ticket Sellers: ‘POP IN’ or ‘FARMSHOP’
’

18th May 2009

THE PLAY'S THE THING

The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group is proud to present three new productions, taking us strongly into 2010.

Summer Tour 2009

BLITHE SPIRIT
By Noel Coward

This highly comic play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who is haunted by the ghost of his first wife, Elvira, following a séance held by an eccentric medium and clairvoyant. Elvira makes continuous attempts to disrupt Charles' marriage to his second wife, Ruth. In his autobiography, Coward claimed he wrote the play in five days during a holiday. OFFSTAGE will be presenting this play 'in the round' and with an unusual twist; the character of Madame Arcati, the dotty old medium, will be re-interpreted as a man!!

Winter Production 2009
BOUNCERS & SHAKERS
By John Godber

‘Bouncers’ is an outrageous and hilarious parody of the disco scene set in the mid 1980's; four brutish bouncers portraying over twenty different characters invite us for a night out on the town.  We meet giggly girls, lads on the make, Hooray Henrys and a smooth-talking DJ, all against the tatty, glitzy glamour, flashing lights and pulsating beat of the disco floor. 'Shakers' is a wickedly funny glimpse of the oh-so trendy cocktail bar from the early 1990's by four long-suffering waitresses, portraying a variety of customers: from the check-out girls to the chinless wonders, from the yuppies to the local lads tittering at the thought of a "Long, Slow, Comfortable Screw".

Spring Production 2010
PAY ATTENTION, 007!
By Barnaby Eaton-Jones & Ron Brunwin

This is a theatrical, high-energy, fast-paced, condensed comedic run-through of EVERY James Bond film. Ian Fleming, the writer of the James Bond novels, and Cubby Broccoli, the Producer of the 007 films, both return to the stage - from beyond the grave - to narrate this affectionate parody. From Connery to Craig, it's From Fleming With Love. This show is brought to you by the successful team behind 'The Ten Doctors' (Los Angeles, 2007) - written by Barnaby Eaton-Jones & Ron Brunwin, produced & directed by Kim Jones.

Keep checking for updates as the likelihood is that we'll have a former James Bond for a Q & A session before each performance!

19th December 2007

HAPPY XMAS AND NEW YEAR FROM OFFSTAGE!

2007 is coming to a close and it's been a busy year for OFFSTAGE, with the success of 'The Ten Doctors' in Los Angeles, USA, the critically-acclaimed Summer Tour of 'The Importance Of Being Earnest', and the unexpected laughter-filled joy of creating the improvised 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' in a new Theatre Studio in Gloucester. We wish you all a very merry yuletide and a glorious new year too.

In 2008, we'll be back with more 'Whose Line' and a James Bond spoof to celebrate the centenary of Ian Fleming's birth.

INSPIRED IMPROVISATIONS

After a complicated final week, where we lost one of the improvisers and our host due to work commitments and illness respectively, the surprise success of a sell-out 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' more than made up for any last-minute panics. The laughter was sustained, the feedback was great, and the swearing was surprisingly almost non-existent. So, we'll be doing it all over again in January 2008 (date to be confimed) 'Upstairs At The Fountain' with Ian Kubiak as Host, Martin Vogwell as the Musical Maestro, and Iain Barton, David Clarke, Barnaby Eaton-Jones, Liz Hosler and Sophie Jones as our Improvisers. Hopefully, this will then be a monthly show throughout 2008 with different improvisers, guest hosts, and a few surprises along the way!! Keep checking this website and the local press for details.

25th August 2007

A WILDE SUCCESS…

'The truth is rarely pure and never simple!'

The Summer Tour of 'The Importance Of Being Earnest' came to an end in the village of Cranham, Gloucestershire, to three night's worth of amazing audiences. We all were very sad to leave the characters behind and would've extended the tour if we could have! But, it's safe to say, that we entertained and amused in equal measures. The feedback has been so kind and lovely from everyone; we thank all the people who attended any of the performances and look forward to re-visiting venues with another tour in the future.

28th February 2007

THE AMERICAN DREAM

The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group is back from Los Angeles, USA. 'The Ten Doctors' was a success, we received a very humbling standing ovation, and every one of the cast got sunburnt. What more could you ask for? What started out as a 2-hour epic of a play on the Saturday night, ended up being nearly a 3-hour marathon - due to a few technical hitches, audience laughter, an accidental Fire Alarm being let off, and the cast's propensity to ad-lib like mad at any given opportunity! The room held a capacity of 450 people, but estimates from the organisers suggested that the audience reached nearly 600. Sunday's 'Meet & Greet' Panel was a nice chance to meet some of the audience, with questions aplenty to be answered, as well as Posters/Postcards to be signed. So many nice things have been said to us, and written on Forums, Blogs, and Live Journals. Huge thanks to everyone who attended and also everyone who helped us here in the UK and in the USA. It was an unforgettable experience. Expect a mammoth Convention Report in the near future, with Rehearsal and Performance Photos galore. Also, if all goes to plan, we will be selling a DVD of the performance (all proceeds going to charity) when footage has been sourced and edited. In the words of 'Gallifrey 2007' organiser, Shaun Lyon, BEST CONVENTON. EVER!

10th May 2006

MUCH ADO ABOUT TOURING

As you can see by the picture above, our puppet version of Verges from Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' has fallen off the wagon and gone back on the sauce. The lines have been forgotten and the costumes put back into storage. It's all rather sad, really. But, you can amuse yourself by reading the epic Report and perusing the many Photos of The OFFSTAGE Theatre Group's Shakespeare Tour.

Yes, it's all been finally put up on this website. If you'd like to see some of the fun we had and the faces we pulled, go to 'HISTORY' on the left again and then into 'Theatre & Educational'.