e: MeophamPlayers@aol.com January 2018/ Issue 38

www.meophamplayers.co.uk

It was with much regret thatwe - at Meopham Players -learned of the death overthe Christmas period ofLes, our friend and formermember. At the time ofgoing to press we have littlein the way of details, but wewould like to offer ourcondolences to the familyfor their loss. Les, togetherwith Dave Micklethwaite,joined Players fromSwanley Light Opera Groupat the beginning of thedecade bringing with thema wealth of knowledge andexperience from their daysin professional theatre,which they energeticallyapplied to our productions,the first of which wasJungle Book in 2011.Sadly, the partnership wasbroken when Dave died on23rd December, 2014, butLes soldiered on for a whilebefore finally retiring.However, though we sawless of him he didn’t forgetus and contributed many

fascinating stories of his lifeexperiences in theprofessional theatre to thenewsletter series: BijouTales of Theatre Folk.

This is one of them:-

“This is a tale of peoplewho always think they cando your job better than you!The year if memory servesis 1977 and I am working atthe Victoria Palace inLondon. It is the festiveseason and we have an icespectacular playing. Thestaging of this kind of showbasically involves coveringthe stage with a very largebut very shallow pool withfreezing elements in thebottom and filling it withwater.As soon as we startedrehearsing we were gettingconstant complaints fromthe skaters about the icebeing too soft or too hard.This got to such a level thattempers on both sides werestarting to fray. At this pointmy mate Bobby had abrilliant idea.He came in very early thenext morning and found anold electrical cabinet. hethen ripped the knob of anold rheostat and glued it to

the front. Then he affixed itto the back wall of thestage and put a sign on itthat said "Ice TemperatureControl". It was actually anempty box, connected tonothing.When they came in theskaters were told that infuture they could set the iceconditions for themselves,they were over the moon.We of course continued tocontrol everything fromunder the stage, but all thecomplaints stopped. For thenext eight weeks theydutifully came in every dayand set the knob asrequired. They even tookturns in coming in themornings for the solepurpose of setting thetemperature for thatevening.So peace ensued for therest of the run until thesecond half of the last nightwhen Bobby unlocked thebox and left it open todisplay it's completelyempty interior.Nothing was ever said,BUT IF LOOKS COULDKILL!!!!”

Rest in Peace old friend

Farewell to back stage impresario Les Peters

Jungle Book is comingback to Meopham. As you willhave seen in the tribute to Leson page 1, it was the firstproduction in which he andDave Mickelthwaite wereinvolved. This one though is thenew version with music by BBCooper and book and lyrics byToby Hulse. It will be directedby John Winson who bringsgreat enthusiasm and gusto toall the productions with whichhe is involved. So, look forwardto a great evening’s(or matinee’s) entertainmentand book early. The Box Office

is open and you can reservetickets on:

0844 288 9708or the web sitewww. meophamplayers.co.uk

Performance days areThursday, Friday andSaturday 22nd, 23 and 24January. And remember, therewill be a matinee as well as anevening performance on theSaturday with curtain-up at2.30.For the evening performanceswe will as usual be offering ourTheatre Experience whichallows you to have atwo-course meal before theshow at one of the followingrestaurants:-

The George Meopham,

The Cricketers MeophamGreen

The Railway Inn Sole Street

Ask at the Box Office for detailsand to book.

Poppy Cock’sColumn

Hello Darlings!Lots going on and lots to tellyou about, so let’s get started.The next production after Jun-

gle Book will be on 24th, 25th &

26th May and will be under thedirection of our great friend andspeaker on all things theatrical,Paul Doust. The play inquestion is Flare Path byTerence Rattigan on which thescreen play for the film TheWay to the Stars was based.More on this on Page 3 (No!Not that page 3).But before all that we will haveour usual Monthly Meeting onthe first Wednesday in themonth which in this case will be7th February and do we have atreat in store for we will behonoured by a visit from BishopGondolf Morris to give ademonstration of MorrisDancing. Please join us - itshould be fun.

Page 2

Page 3

The auditions forFLARE PATH tookplace at MeophamVillage Hall on 03January. Players littletreasure, BrendaOgden was there toreport.

These were auditions but notas we know them in MeophamPlayers. The director is PaulDoust, who has run a numberof helpful and thought-provok-ing workshops for us andmany other groups and he hasa highly individual take onboth auditions and directing.He has many contacts in theamateur dramatic world inKent and it was a delight tosee many new faces who hadturned up to audition as wellas familiar faces from our ownsociety.Rather than simply havingindividuals reading for theparts they wanted, Paul had usworking in groups to discuss,rehearse and then presentshort extracts from the play.This was an effective way toencourage people to work with

strangers, get to know eachother and familiarizethemselves with different partsof the text. There was a shortbreak for coffee which affordeda further opportunity to meetand talk with others.The whole evening had anoptimistic and energetic feelabout it and it should lead toan outstanding production. Theplay has a big cast but, with alittle help from our friends, wehave been able to make thefollowing selections:-

Mrs Oakes - Brenda Ogden

Peter Kyle - Patrick Carty

Teddy Graham - Simon Webb

Patricia Graham - NatalieDavies

Dusty Miller - Simon Kirkham

The Count - S Sangha

“Wiggy Jones” - DavidAlexander

Swanson - John Winson

Maudie - Emily Stickels

Doris Stephanie Anderson

The people where I workAre all oddI don’t mean to be rudeAnd most definitely not crudeBut there is something most assuredlyWrong

We begin at eightHeh! Those emails won’t wait!

Our desks are identicalWhich doesn’t make sense at allAs we value free thought, discourse andchat

We’re known to be flexibleCreative and sensibleBut where in the manual is that?

Vacant stares they aboundAnd slights and jibesFollow me around this strangestOf strange menageries

Going homeI concludeIs the end to today’s crazy interludeAnd plan my flightAlone

But someStay onWhether from fearIt’s just not clearBut tenacious in their stares theyremain

January 2018

"A day without laughter is a day wasted”Charlie Chaplin

Page 4MEOPHAM PLAYERS  NEWSLETTER 1

www.meophamplayers.co.uk

ArtAttack!Salvador Dalek

El Lissitzky

Beat the Whites withthe Red Wedge 1919

O ften regarded as one of themost iconic posters everproduced, Beat the Whiteswith the Red Wedge is an

early a�empt by El Lissitzky of artpropaganda.  He was a professor atan art school, aged 29, when he pro‐duced the work in support of theRed Army, following the Bolshevikuprising in 1917.

It is as an illustration of using thearts to manipulate the feelings andattitudes of the general public, or asit came to be known, Agitprop.  Ag‐itprop - a Russian blend of Agitationand Propaganda ‐ was heavily cham‐pioned by Lenin through his newlyappointed Commissar of  Education.

This was the moment in Russiawhen the unsullied promise of Com‐munism bonded with the newness ofabstract art.  A time when advancedart served the power of the left t0fire a generation of artists with amissionary zeal to demystify, andmake their work accessible to themasses.  Manifestos declaring ‘deathto art’ were published stating it to be‘bourgeois’ and henceforth artistswere to be known as ‘Productivists.’Although the period was short-lived,fizzling out by the end of the 1920’s,it produced some amazing results.

Only against the fervour of theRussian Revolution is it possible to

grasp the meaning of the design.The print is divided in two with a di‐agonal line, one half black the otherwhite, the positive and negative con‐trasted with the concomitant sublim‐inal message of good and evil.The red wedge symbolised the col‐

lective power of revolutionaries, itssharp point thrust into the scatteredunits of the White Russians, with redshards sent splintering.Shapes and colours are given a di‐

rect symbolic significance, thesmooth rounded walls of the whitecircle are penetrated by the spikeysolid red triangle representing theRed Army piercing the defences ofthe White.

Our modern eyes are well versedwith deciphering abstract art and it isnot too difficult for us to graspLissitzky’s use of conceptual art toportray events that were being wit‐nessed every day on the streets.

But you cannot help but wonderwhat the people of a backward 1919Tsarist Russia ‐ overwhelmingly illit‐erate and starving ‐ made of the ab‐stract geometric symbols printed oncheap paper, flung out by the bucketloads from the backs of the Agitproptrains that trundled up and down thecountry. The visual language was toonew and ahead of the times, maybe.

Lissitzky Legacy

...an illustration of using artto manipulate the feelingsand attitudes of the general public,or as it came to be known, Agitprop.

The Glasgow based rock group have usedLissitzky pastiches for their album covers

A simplified design was used  by  thePeacekeepers in the TV series  Farscape

Fronted by Billy Bragg, Red Wedge wasa musician’s  collective formed to en‐gage young people with politics, particu‐larly the policies of the Labour Party.

AND FINALLY our renowned Art Critic, Salvador Dalek,returns to tell us how Billy Bragg’s Red Wedge got its name.