Silchester Players

“When sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions."

It is appropriate to start with this well-known quotation from Hamlet as the words certainly apply to Silchester Players this month. Having taken the decision to postpone our pantomime, Aladdin, we resolved to issue prompt refunds to all patrons who had booked tickets for the performances scheduled in January. Unfortunately we then encountered some problems with our credit card service provider which were tricky to sort out. By now all refunds should have been paid and we can only apologise that this has taken far longer than anticipated.

We remain satisfied that postponing Aladdin until the end of March, was the correct decision. The Omicron wave of Covid is subsiding and we feel much more comfortable about going ahead in more relaxed circumstances. Nevertheless, we will still have measures in place to minimise the risk of Covid infection. Although it is not compulsory, we will be asking audience members to wear face masks. Additionally, there will be fewer seats than in the past and more space between rows.

Having brought our pantomime to performance readiness before Christmas, we have kept up the momentum through Zoom rehearsals during January and February. We now look forward to meeting in person one again in Silchester Village Hall in early March for the final few rehearsals on stage before our performances, commencing on Thursday 24 March.

This year visitors to the Silchester Market who looked at the open stage will have enjoyed a brief glimpse of one of our stunning sets. These have been professionally printed, look fantastic and can be stored for use in the future when we return to an exotic pantomime location. However, for us they were an expensive investment, and we are relying on support from Silchester and neighbouring villages as we need to sell every ticket to recoup our outlay.

It is not only the sets which are stunning. Aladdin is a very funny pantomime with some excellent special effects, lively musical numbers and the usual comedy including an hilarious slapstick scene. We are looking forward very much to presenting this production to our audiences.

A reminder of the performance dates in Silchester Village Hall:

Thursday 24 March 7.30 p.m.

Friday 25 March 7.30 p.m.

Saturday 26 March 2.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m.

Once again ae are grateful to Spratleys of Mortimer who are sponsoring this production.

Because this year there are only 4 performances instead of the usual 6, and because of the slightly reduced capacity, please book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets can be booked on-line via our website: www.silchesterplayers.org