​Presidents Report
 
 
 
Welcome to you all, to our 2021 AGM;  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 29 November 2020 at the Elmwood Tavern:  Garry Thomas, Scott Morrow, Sally Wilson, Franc Bol, Sylvia Barnes, Marcella Herrera     Braydon Priest, Ian Lester, Matt McKenna and Doug Clarke.         
 
Apologies were received from Pat Hannah.
 
As with 2020, this year proved to be  another challenging one, with the unpredictable impact of Covid-19.  We were fortunate that we were able to stage three productions, but of course the downside was the loss of our season of one acts and the deferral of Bugsy Malone.    
 
Our elected committee for 2020-21 was a largeish team of 11.  Garry Thomas was re-elected President, Sally Wilson re-elected as Secretary and Matt McKenna re-elected as Treasurer (until April of this year).  Committee members were Braydon Priest, Ian Lester, Scott Morrow, Marcella Herrera, Franc Bol, Sylvia Barnes, Pat Hannah and John Armstrong.  Hilary Muir continued as our Patron.
 
During the year, Matt McKenna, John Armstrong, Ian Lester, Marcella Herrera and most recently Sally Wilson all stepped down for various reasons.   Pat Hannah stepped into the Treasurer role and Matt Holland was welcomed on board the committee.
 
Productions:   
Our first presentation for 2021 was in January with our continued Kidz Theatre productions, this year with The New Adventures Of Snow White And Rose Red, written and directed by Steve Millar and I.   This was a well-attended production, and as with the previous year, with no performance rights it was relatively cost effective to stage.
 
Our first adult production for this year was Daughters of Heaven, directed by Gretchen Nijsse.   This production had been held over from the Covid disrupted previous year.  The production was extremely popular with large houses. However, behind the scenes was problematic and stretched and challenged those involved in staging it. Our second production for 2021 was Hudson & Halls: Live!.  This proved difficult to cast, and we were fortunate in being able to reschedule it from its June pack-away set slot to July, during the school break, which assisted with casting and the actual staging. Original director Ian Lester was unable to continue, and we were fortunate in gaining the experienced Tom Vavasour to pick this up. Next up was Array ‘21, set for opening on Wednesday 18 August. At 11:59 on Tuesday 17 August, we went into Level 4 lockdown. Attempts to reschedule Array ‘21 proved unsuccessful, and it was subsequently cancelled. It is hoped that the three one act plays involved will be staged next year, as part of Array ’22. Our next scheduled production was Bugsy Malone for October of this year – however, once again Covid-19 had the final say, and this production has been rescheduled for this coming January. The impact of Covid-19 highlights the challenges faced by many of us in the planning and staging of events.
 
 
 
In summary:
2021 was another challenging year for Elmwood Players, with perhaps the cancelling of Array ’21 being the most disappointing. I don’t think I’ve experienced anything much worse than packing out a show several weeks after packing in, without a performance taking place.  My acknowledgement here to all those involved. I’d also like to acknowledge the tenacity of Franc Bol, who’s directing of Bugsy Malone has been put to the test, with that production being rescheduled to January, and with the Covid-19 cloud still present. Our revenue for auditorium hires also took a hit, with the likes of Repertory and others not staging productions during the course of this year. On the plus side, we do have all our productions finalised for Elmwood Players for 2022, and if everything lines up, it’s going to be a great year!
 
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.  I’d also like to acknowledge the contributions of both Sally Wilson and Braydon Priest, who will not be returning to the Elmwood Players committee for 2022.
 
 
Cheers
 
Garry Thomas
President
Elmwood Players

2020 saw Elmwood Players move their AGM from February to November, to allow existing committee to reflect on the year that has been before rehearsals get into full swing for the following year's programme.

The new committee ushered in for 2021 is: Garry Thomas (President), Matt McKenna (Treasurer), Sally Wilson (Secretary), along with Scott Morrow, Marcella Herrera, Sylvia Barnes, Franc Bol, Pat Hannah, Ian Lester, Braydon Priest and John Armstrong.

President's Report
​A warm welcome to you all to our 2020 AGM; thank you for taking the time to be here. This is in fact our
second AGM for this year, with us moving all future AGMs to November, once our final production for each
year has been completed.

From last year’s minutes, the following people were present at our last AGM, held on 23 February of this
year: Garry Thomas, Braydon Priest, Andrea Quinlan, Susan Cameron, Jon Amesbury, Doug Clarke, Matt
McKenna, Sally Wilson, Sammie Murray and Sandy Wilson.

Apologies were received from Libby Wilson, Hilary Muir and Marilyn Ollett.
​
It goes without saying that 2020 was a challenging year, not just for Elmwood Players, and not just theatre in general, but pretty much Planet Earth. We were fortunate enough to be able to stage two productions,
along with a number of play readings as well as celebrating our 25 years in the Elmwood Auditorium.
Our elected committee for 2020 was a small team of 6. Garry Thomas was re-elected President, Andrea
Quinlan became our Secretary and Matt McKenna took over as Treasurer. Committee members were
Braydon Priest, Sammie Murray and Sally Wilson. Hilary Muir continued as our Patron.

During the year, both Sammie Murray and Andrea Quinlan stepped down from the committee, with Sally
taking up the secretary role along with the membership portfolio. Scott Morrow and Marcella Herrera
became committee members during the course of the year.

Productions:
Our first presentation for 2020 was in January with our continued Kidz Theatre productions, this year with
Johnny Appleseed – The Boy Who Saved The World, written and directed by Steve Millar and I. This was a
well received and well attended production, and with no performance rights it was relatively cost effective
to stage. There’s always a need to be cautious with Kidz Theatre productions with regards to the costs in
staging, with performance rights being significantly high.
Our first, and as it turned out only adult production for this year was Waiting For God, directed by Barry
Grant. Simply staged and well received, this production was exactly what was needed to end the year. My
thanks to all involved. This production is a testament to the tenacity of theatre people, given it was all set to
hit the stage in April, but due to Covid-19 it was a long wait until it did finally open at the end of September.
The Year That Was – Or Wasn’t:

Our remaining planned productions for the year, Daughters Of Heaven, Talk and Array ’20 obviously weren’t
so lucky, with Covid-19 meaning they could not be staged. However, the good news with Daughters Of
Heaven was that it could be rescheduled to next year, with no additional costs or penalty fees. Talk was not
able to be carried through into 2021, but with the playwright generously not intending to charge any
performance fees, there was no financial loss incurred.

With the lockdown came the opportunity for us to hold - via Zoom - a number of play readings, which were a lot of fun on a locked down Saturday afternoon.

We also managed to hold a celebration party, with a gathering in late October to mark our 25 years in this
auditorium. My thanks to Braydon and Marcella for their work on this.

Marketing/Sponsorship/Funding:
Again, obviously with only two productions staged, there was limited opportunity to explore sponsorship,
but that, along with funding needs to be addressed by the incoming committee. Social media was where it
was at for marketing and promoting this year, and a big thanks to Braydon Priest for his work and expertise
here.

Financials:
Also a big thank you to Matt McKenna who stepped in to the Treasurer role this year, and with that came
some new ideas. On-line banking, some pretty impressive spreadsheets and better use of PatronBase were
all the result of Matt’s hard work. Thanks to Matt for that. And just a note regarding financials, our income
was reduced this year, not just by only staging two productions, but also the hire of the auditorium dropped
away. For any performance that a hirer uses Elmwood Players equipment – sound, lighting - there’s a $110
per performance charge, so you can see how the lack of others such as Repertory and Imagine Children’s
Theatre staging productions impacted on us financially.

In summary:
So, a crazy year for Elmwood Players, and a very challenging one coming up for 2021 with three quite
different but demanding productions – Daughters Of Heaven, Hudson & Halls Live and our musical, Bugsy Malone.

​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

Cheers
Garry Thomas
President
Elmwood Players

Elmwood's AGM was held on Sunday 24th February 2019. The following were elected to the Elmwood Players organising committee:

President: Garry Thomas
Treasurer: Susan Cameron
Secretary: Matt McKenna
Committee: Andy Simmonds (Technical), Andrea Quinlan (Membership), Libby Wilson, Sam Primrose (Webpage), Braydon Priest (Front of House), Phil Dean