I am the founder and director of an amateur theatre group. Our name, The Torn Curtain Players, was chosen because the curtains on the stage of the church hall were so badly torn and faded that we could not open or close them. Our first sets were made from cardboard boxes we salvaged from local businesses, and some of our costumes were glued together because we had no one who could sew well enough. We have one microphone, one Christmas style spot light, permanently focused just left of centre stage and one overhead light with a dimmer switch for those special effect moments!
Our first seven plays were murder mysteries. They worked for us because they were funny, cheap, only needed one set, and the author was very generous in allowing us to modify his scripts to suit our limited resources. We were very successful, in our own eyes, and over the years have developed quite a local fan base. Our original two night run stage show has become a sold out six night, three course, dinner theatre.
This year we are attempting a musical play for the first time. It's set in an Irish Pub and I can already see that it is going to present a lot of new challenges for our little group of amateur thespians. Hopefully this blog will be my sounding board and a place to work out some of the kinks that I am sure will arise as we travel towards opening night. Cheers and Applause! BJ
