26 November 2023
Welcome to you all, to our 2023 AGM, and thank you for taking the time to be here.
From last year’s minutes, the following people were present at our last AGM, held on Monday 28 November 2022 here at the Elmwood auditorium: Garry Thomas, Pat Hannah, Scott Morrow, Matt Holland, Sally Wilson, Sylvia Barnes, Sonya Cameron, Doug Clarke and Barry Grant.
Apologies were received from Marilyn Ollett.
Our elected committee for 2022-23 was a small-ish team of 8. Garry Thomas was re-elected President, Pat Hannah was re-elected Treasurer and Scott Morrow re-elected Secretary. The committee for the incoming year was Sylvia Barnes, Sonya Cameron, Sally Wilson, Matt Holland and Barry Grant. During the later part of this year, Holly Sutcliffe also joined the committee. Hilary Muir continued as our Patron.
Scott Morrow was awarded a Life Membership for his services to Elmwood Players.
Productions:
Our first presentation for 2023 our Elmwood Kidz Theatre production of The Princess And The Pirate King, written and directed by Steve Millar and myself. Good houses and well received, this was a great start to the year, and with no performance rights involved this proved to be financially successful production.
April brought the comedy Keeping Up Appearances, based on the popular British TV series of the same name, and directed by Matt Holland. This production had some casting difficulties leading up to opening night, and shows the importance of careful casting. Large houses resulted in a financially successful production.
In July we staged environmentally focused Big Big Sky, which I was fortunate to direct. A well-received play by those who did attend, it highlighted the on-going concern of ‘bums on seats’, with attendance numbers slightly below what was expected.
August saw the staging of three one act plays under the Array ’23 banner. The three plays staged were Is This Seat Taken directed by Sylvia Barnes, A Cut In The Rates directed By Sonya Cameron and Reduced For Quick Sale directed by Pat Hannah. Following a review of the season, the committee decided not to continue with the staging of a season of one acts next year.
Our final production for 2023 was 12 Angry Jurors, directed by Dimitri Gibara. This was a strong production, and for me personally, our standout production for the year. A strong cast, an experienced director and a very good script were all the right ingredients for a successful season.
2023 also saw the celebration of our 75th year. A big thank you to Barry Grant, Sally Wilson and Sonya Cameron for their efforts in co-ordinating a celebration of this event in September. A number of past Elmwood-ites were present, with some wonderful insights provided by Ross Gumbley, assisted by our Patron, Hilary Muir.
In summary:
2023 was a good year for Elmwood Players, with generally good-ish patronage and feedback. However patronage is an issue, and the challenge for the in-coming committee will be to look at marketing and promotion of our productions.
So with that, I’d like to thank the current committee for their continued support, and obviously, my thanks go to all who supported Elmwood Players over the past 12 months, both on and off stage.
It is also with some sadness that I advise I will be stepping down from the role of President of Elmwood Players, and will not be standing for the role this coming year. It’s been a fun ride over the past 15 or so years, at times challenging –think earthquakes, a pandemic – but always, always so rewarding.
Cheers
Garry Thomas
President
Elmwood Players
Welcome to you all, to our 2023 AGM, and thank you for taking the time to be here.
From last year’s minutes, the following people were present at our last AGM, held on Monday 28 November 2022 here at the Elmwood auditorium: Garry Thomas, Pat Hannah, Scott Morrow, Matt Holland, Sally Wilson, Sylvia Barnes, Sonya Cameron, Doug Clarke and Barry Grant.
Apologies were received from Marilyn Ollett.
Our elected committee for 2022-23 was a small-ish team of 8. Garry Thomas was re-elected President, Pat Hannah was re-elected Treasurer and Scott Morrow re-elected Secretary. The committee for the incoming year was Sylvia Barnes, Sonya Cameron, Sally Wilson, Matt Holland and Barry Grant. During the later part of this year, Holly Sutcliffe also joined the committee. Hilary Muir continued as our Patron.
Scott Morrow was awarded a Life Membership for his services to Elmwood Players.
Productions:
Our first presentation for 2023 our Elmwood Kidz Theatre production of The Princess And The Pirate King, written and directed by Steve Millar and myself. Good houses and well received, this was a great start to the year, and with no performance rights involved this proved to be financially successful production.
April brought the comedy Keeping Up Appearances, based on the popular British TV series of the same name, and directed by Matt Holland. This production had some casting difficulties leading up to opening night, and shows the importance of careful casting. Large houses resulted in a financially successful production.
In July we staged environmentally focused Big Big Sky, which I was fortunate to direct. A well-received play by those who did attend, it highlighted the on-going concern of ‘bums on seats’, with attendance numbers slightly below what was expected.
August saw the staging of three one act plays under the Array ’23 banner. The three plays staged were Is This Seat Taken directed by Sylvia Barnes, A Cut In The Rates directed By Sonya Cameron and Reduced For Quick Sale directed by Pat Hannah. Following a review of the season, the committee decided not to continue with the staging of a season of one acts next year.
Our final production for 2023 was 12 Angry Jurors, directed by Dimitri Gibara. This was a strong production, and for me personally, our standout production for the year. A strong cast, an experienced director and a very good script were all the right ingredients for a successful season.
2023 also saw the celebration of our 75th year. A big thank you to Barry Grant, Sally Wilson and Sonya Cameron for their efforts in co-ordinating a celebration of this event in September. A number of past Elmwood-ites were present, with some wonderful insights provided by Ross Gumbley, assisted by our Patron, Hilary Muir.
In summary:
2023 was a good year for Elmwood Players, with generally good-ish patronage and feedback. However patronage is an issue, and the challenge for the in-coming committee will be to look at marketing and promotion of our productions.
So with that, I’d like to thank the current committee for their continued support, and obviously, my thanks go to all who supported Elmwood Players over the past 12 months, both on and off stage.
It is also with some sadness that I advise I will be stepping down from the role of President of Elmwood Players, and will not be standing for the role this coming year. It’s been a fun ride over the past 15 or so years, at times challenging –think earthquakes, a pandemic – but always, always so rewarding.
Cheers
Garry Thomas
President
Elmwood Players
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