Reps Theatre Maasdorp Ave / Sam Nujoma St, Harare, Zimbabwe

Reps Reporter - June 2011

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Dear Members

What an exciting month this has been! HIFA finished on 1 May and so much has happened and is happening that this feels a long time ago!

Two highly acclaimed sold-out HIFA shows, John Dowie’s Jesus, My Boy and Arnold Wesker’s Whatever Happened To Betty Lemon? came back to run in Theatre Upstairs. On Main Stage we watched the Repteens’ production of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, for which the whole team put together a stunning show with remarkable technical requirements and did it very well.

We also had the huge privilege of seeing Viva, a Thai pop opera group, brought in by AfroAsia Management. We hope that this marks the start of a long and exciting relationship with AfroAsia.

And in among these was Gateway High School's Gateway to Sydney fund-raising concert, in which we saw the show the choir is taking to Australia later this term. A busy month, and all wonderful entertainment!

What’s next?

Saturday Night Live is a fun mix of song, dance and comedy on for one night only, this Saturday, June 11, put in to partially fill the gap caused by the cancellation of the Garth Taylor show.

It will feature som great entertainers: Rob Osborne – Dean Jones – Nigel Hopkins – Faith Ganyau - Firm Faith acapella choir – Benny Leon – Kevin Hanssen – Innocent Museve - Stephane Thomas – Andrew Hyde … and more!

Fun for the whole family – tickets $10 (pensioners and under-12s $5). Book in advance at The Spotlight. (open Mon-Fri 9am to 4pm, Sat 9am to 12 noon – tel 308159). Box office opens one hour before curtain up

Melange, presented by the Dance Trust of Zimbabwe, runs on the Main Stage from June 14 to 18.

Then we are happy to welcome back South African comedian John Vlismas from June 22 to 25, brought to Zimbabwe by Fraser McKay.

Further afield, a team from Reps is taking Lord Dunsinay’s Fame and the Poet and John Dowie’s Jesus My Boy to the Campbell Theatre, Kadoma, on Saturday 11 June and later The Impro Show travels to Courtald Theatre, Mutare, on June 24 and 25. This co-operation is exciting and we hope to see more exchanges between the different performing arts societies in the future.

Things are not quiet in other areas either

Kevin Hanssen and Collina Mvududu are spearheading an exercise to catalogue all the costumes in the wardrobe. On the first Saturday of this project, they were able to take 300 or so photographs – they need more models, especially bigger ones. They took photos mostly of little children (thank you, Preps). They will be doing photo shoots every Saturday morning between 10am and 1pm) until the project is complete. The exception being Saturday June 25 when The Imps are in Mutare. The photos will be online for a trial viewing as soon they come from the Mashonaland Photographic Society photographers who are kindly doing the job for free!

You will have noticed the revamp that has been happening in the area of the Reps Members’ Bar. New curtains, engraved logos on the doors and, of course, the extensive renovations to what will be known as the Tada Terrace. Jenni Ferguson, working with Tada, has done a great job, and we look forward to the official opening of the Tada Terrace in the near future. Jenni is also busy ensuring that we are more than 'just a theatre' by organising lots in the bar.

This Friday, June 10, Dave and Debbie Fleming will be hosting a karaoke evening in the Members’ Bar and on Sunday June 12, Josh Ansley and Friends will be entertaining from 12.30pm onwards.

That will be after the Members’ Briefing, to be held in the foyer at 11am on Sunday. Exco members have been putting their heads together (along with staff and others) to plan the best route for Reps in the next two years. The resulting Reps Strategic Plan will be presented at the Members' Briefing so that all members can see what Exco is thinking and going to do. Much input has already been received from you as members.

As with every area of Reps’ operations, Exco needs your help. Like all businesses in Zimbabwe, still being here after the last few years is not enough. We now need to grow to survive. Our three main sources of income are from ticket sales, members' subscriptions and bar takings. All of these depend to a degree on how many members we have.

Who do you know who loves (or should love) Reps, but is not yet a member? It is time to be bringing them in so that we can grow together. There are membership forms in the Box Office, the Members’ Bar and the office. New categories of membership are being worked out, including Corporate Membership (in which a company can take out membership in order to be associated with Reps and also reap benefits for the company their staff). As well as bringing in new members, what companies can you think of who should be working with us?

Another area in which Reps needs members to be actively involved is in promoting the shows. People love coming to see shows at Reps, but they cannot come until they know the show is happening. You can help get the word out. Why not collect posters/fliers from the office and join the happy few who are spreading the word? It’s not just about the revenue – we are offering world class shows, and people are missing out because they have not been told. It’s up to each one of us. We are Reps. Together we can bridge the gap.

One more thing - the Reps Social Golf Day is coming up on August 21. It’s time to start donating prizes and dusting off your clubs!

Until next month ... The Reps Membership Committee

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