Reps Theatre: Latest newsletter

Latest Reps Newsletter - January 2008

Greetings, everyone, and all the very best wishes for 2008! I hope your festive season was a great one and that you are back into the swing of things. Here's hoping that this year will be a better one for all of us.

Thank you for your support and co-operations during 2007 and for your continued membership of Reps. I think it fair to say that we had a successful year by any standards, but all the more remarkable because of the extremely challenging environment in which we operate.

Power

The greatest problem faced by Reps at present is electrical power, or rather the lack of it. On Friday December 7 mains power was lost in the Belgravia Shopping Centre because of a fault - or, more correctly, a series of faults - in the lines leading to the area.

As I write this has not yet been rectified despite a huge effort by a number of people to pressurise ZESA into doing something. It appears to be an underground fault that is the principal cause but we are at a loss as to why it is taking so long to attend to the problem and get the Belgravia Shopping Centre (as well as pockets of residential homes in surrounding areas) back on stream. Needless to say this has been a massive problem for Reps, but we were fortunate to secure a powerful generator from Ralph and Rose Stead (at extremely reasonable rates - for which, sincere thanks to them!) with which to run the pantomime and, now, the farce.

At a meeting at ZESA on Thursday January 3 we were promised that we would be back on line by the end of Friday January 4, but this has not yet happened and we are hopeful of ZESA getting into gear and doing something as soon as they can.

The lack of power has affected every single aspect of the Reps operation and we ask all members to bear with staff as they try to maintain operations at this very difficult time.

Many people have helped in a number of ways to contribute towards costs of the big generator, as well as the smaller one that runs the office, and we extend sincere thanks to them, too. If any one can assist with added pressure on ZESA, that would also be appreciated.

Kindly Keep It Covered

For the first time in a number of years we have staged a new year farce and it is to be hoped that this will be the return of a welcome annual feature to the Reps calendar. The production is Kindly Keep It Covered, written by David Freeman and directed by Teri Grimmel, and it runs until Saturday January 12.

The first week was marked by small audiences but we hope this week will see a change to that and I urge members to do themselves a favour and see this delightful production, which is really very funny. Please also spread the word and tell all your friends, family and colleagues. Performances this week are Tuesday through to Saturday at 7pm. Booking is at The Spotlight as always.

Good Vibrations

Next up on the calendar is a musical featuring the music of the Beach Boys weaved around a little love story. It's called Good Vibrations and it has been written by two members of the 5Star boy band, Richard Sticklen and Alex Fairlie. Directed by Stan Higgins, with acting direction by Teri Grimmel, choreography by Michelle Mesley and musical direction by Josh Ansley and Tawanda Rusike, the show features 5Star, The Rusike Brothers and four young up--and-coming female actresses. It will be a chance to enjoy the music of one of the world's greatest musical groups, so why not book after bookings open at The Spotlight on January 15?

Twelfth Night

Unfortunately we had to cancel the planned Twelfth Night party on January 5, mainly because of the power problem at Reps but also because of costs. It is hoped to replace this, the second of the Reps Entertainments, with something around the time of Valentine's Day, and we shall get information our about this as soon as we can. As you know, Reps Entertainments are additional to action and activity on the main stage and in Theatre Upstairs and we hope to host a series of these during 2008.

AGM

Please diarise this year's Annual General Meeting, which will take place in the theatre at 11am on Sunday April 13. We would be pleased to see a good turnout of members at this and there is likely to be a social afterwards.

Membership subscriptions

Membership subs for 2008 are due by the end of business on January 15, so if you have not yet paid please do so right away. Check with the office (telephone 336706) if you do not have a copy of the flier with this year's subscription rates. A large number of people took advantage of the early payers' discounts and we thank them for coming back on board as members for the coming year.

Sponsorships

The Reps Marketing and Publicity committee is about to launch a campaign to source corporate and other sponsorship for Reps during 2008, to help pay for much-needed inputs and to undertake activities in the best interest of the theatre. If you know of any potential sponsors, or if you would like to assist yourself in this regard, please contact Stan Higgins, chairman of the committee, at aquarius@mweb.co.zw to let him know. I don't need to tell you that it takes a vast amount of money to keep the Reps scene going, and there is a great value for sponsors in providing support and in being seen to do so.

Communication

Members' principal point of contact is the Reps office, which is open Monday to Friday from 8am to 4.30pm. During this time of power problems it has not been easy to access the office on the telephone or to get e-mails in (as there is limited power time on the small generator) but as I said before, please bear with us.

There have been problems with one of the telephone lines, 335850, so it is best to use 336706, but as this is in great demand could we ask that you be sparing with your calls and the length of the calls.

There have also been problems with the Spotlight telephone line, so once again we ask for your understanding! Please contact members of the Exco team if you have an urgent need and cannot reach the office. Their contact details are in the bar, so please check with the bar staff if you are not sure who is who !

Repteens and Preps

Repteens resumes operations on Friday January 18, following the start of the first school term of 2008. This is open to all youngsters aged between 12 and 19, so anyone in the category wanting to get involved should come along that evening (starts 6pm) to find out more.

We are very pleased that at long last a volunteer has been found to restart Preps (for the under-12s), in the form of Sue Evans. Well done Sue and I sure that she would be delighted with any offers of assistance from other interested members ! Preps sessions will start from Saturday January 18 (starting at 10am) so bring your young would-be performers to that session and get them started nice and early!

Did you know ...

... that it remains extremely difficult to source a full supply of drinks for the members' bar at Reps? Mike Foster and his team spend a great deal of time and effort sourcing product and they would appreciate any assistance members can give in providing access to reliable and reasonably-priced sources of beverages. Costs of drinks are rising by the day but we try to maintain the costs at Reps at a very reasonable level when compared to other venues around Harare.

Please bear with the bar staff, it is not their fault when we are out of stock of your favourite tipple ! Please also bear in mind that we have no power at present, so making and keeping ice has been a nightmare. If we run out, we apologise in advance but are doing our level best to keep on top of the situation.

Until next time, have a wonderful month and don't forget to treat yourself to Kindly Keep It Covered and Good Vibrations.

Regards

Tim Garrard, Chairman

Last updated: 10 September 2020
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