We have been extremely busy over the summer months preparing for our autumn production of Season’s Greetings by Alan Ayckbourn.

This will be a good opportunity for our audiences to see an entertaining interpretation of a contemporary play, not often performed by local dramatic societies, by one of our best-known and most prolific modern playwrights. Early booking is advisable via our website: silchesterplayers.org

As with most Ayckbourn plays, Season’s Greetings places huge demands on both performers and backstage crew. If you have been in the vicinity of Silchester Village Hall during most summer weekends you will have seen comings and goings and heard the sounds of carpentry. The set for the play has required an ingenious piece of construction in the limited space available to us. As it consists of two rooms of a house together with a large hall, front door, entrance to a kitchen and stairs leading up to a landing, it has presented some design challenges which our technical colleagues have risen to magnificently.

Besides this, the props list is extensive. Nine adults are gathered for Christmas in a household where there are four children. All the usual seasonal paraphernalia has to be assembled including, of course, wrapped presents for everyone.

Fortunately, we don’t require costumes from an earlier period in history, but as the action takes place over three days, including one scene set at midnight on Christmas Day, numerous costume changes will be necessary.

Because of the different times of day, and at one point a snowstorm, there are demands on the lighting crew. Similarly, there are a number of sound effects ranging from a front doorbell to other unusual noises which are essential to the plot.

Turning to the acting, it is not untypical of an Ayckbourn play to have more than one conversation taking place at the same time, often in separate rooms. While this is hugely entertaining for an audience, it represents a difficult learning process for the cast who have all been working hard to master an amusing script full of surprises.

Season’s Greetings in rehearsal.

As usual we shall be manning a stand at Silchester village fête on 7 September. Do come along and visit us……