Please note that Blackwell Hollow will be closed between 9.30am and 3.00pm on Monday 11th May to allow urgent treeworks to be carried out. Diversions will be put in place
SHOPPERS using the Norton Road and Vicarage car parks in East Grinstead on the 7,14 and 21 December (Saturdays) will be able to leave their cars all day for just £1.
The £1 charge will also apply on the same dates to parking in Queens Crescent and Station Road in Burgess Hill, and to Franklynn Road in Haywards Heath.
UNTIL 11 December: Moths and More
ARTISTS Alex Duncan, Jackie O’Malley, Brenda Parsons, Emma Vining and Jane White bring a sumptuous mix of creative textiles, paper cuts, jewellery and ceramics to The Greenstede Gallery.
Admission free.
5 – 11 December: East Grinstead Camera Club
EAST Grinstead Camera Club’s exhibition of prints and projected images is testament to the ability and imagination of its members.
Admission free.
WAITROSE is launching a campaign to support elderly, homeless and vulnerable people within the community who may otherwise be on their own this Christmas.
£1,500 has been made available to support local groups who are organising a Christmas dinner celebration on Christmas Eve, Chrismas Day or Boxing Day.
To apply, fill in the attached form and hand it in to the East Grinstead branch Welcome Desk or call 01342 323724 for more information.
Deadline for applications is 10 November 2013 in order for a decision to made on 15 November 2013.
November 1/2 – Cards on the Table by Agatha Christie
Friday 1 November: 7.30pm
Saturday 2 November: 2.30pm and 7.30pm
WHEN a murder is committed during a game of bridge amateur sleuth Mrs Oliver joins Superintendent Battle to solve this Agatha Christie mystery.
Tickets: Friday and Saturday evening performances £12/ concessions £10.
Saturday matinee £10/ concessions £7.
3 November 10.30am to 4pm – Keep it Local Craft Fair
Meet the local makers of exquisite and lovingly-made gifts.
Admission Free.
6 November at 5pm and 8pm – Snow White presented by the Vienna Festival Ballet
THE Vienna Festival Ballet are back with their brand new production of Snow White. Based on the traditional Grimm Brothers’ story, this ballet incorporates all the traditional elements – an enchanted mirror, a beautiful girl, a shiny red apple and a charming Prince.
Tickets £18.50/concessions for pensioners and wheelchair users £17/ under-14s £12.50/ block bookings one ticket in ten free.
15 November at 7.30pm The Roger Hind Quartet presents Unforgettable in aid of East Grinstead Museum
ROGER’S hugely popular quartet returns with singers Ruth Fahie and Gary Wright to present the marvellous music of Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra with instrumental hits including Take Five and Desafinado.
Tickets £16/concessions £15.
16 November at 7.30pm – GA GA present A tribute to Queen
NO Wigs, no make-up and definitely no false moustaches, just a host of massive Queen hits.
Tickets £16/concessions £14.
21 to 23 November at 7.30pm, plus a 2.30pm matinee on 23 November Grease – Schools Edition presented by Imberhorne School
IMBERHORNE is back at Chequer Mead presenting the smash-hit musical Grease – Schools Edition featuring students from across the school.
Tickets £12/student concessions £6.
November 26 at 7.30pm The Greenstede Singers and Choirpower present An Evening of Festive Songs
POPULAR classics, Christmas songs and carols in the Pavilion, conducted by Marion Shuster.
Tickets £9/concessions £8.
27 November at 7.30pm Lucky Star (L’Etoile) presented by New Sussex Opera
A comic opera in 3 acts by Emmanuel Chabrier, presented in an English version by Jeremy Sams.
This wickedly funny production is a charming pre-Christmas treat for all ages.
Tickets £25/£20/£15/students and children £12.
28 November at 7.30pm Marks and Kennard – after a decent interval
DESPITE popular request, hilarious duo Marks and Kennard return for another evening of musical humour. They claim to be serious about their comedy, but we think they’re having a laugh!
Tickets £12/concessions £10.
29 November at 7.30m A Touch of Holly at Christmas presented by AM productions
A tribute show to greats Billy Fury, Buddy Holly and Elvis.
Tickets £15/concessions £14.50.
30 November at 8pm – Pink Floyd and David Gilmour Tribute presented by Perfect Alibi
PERFECT Alibi perform their tribute to the music of Pink Floyd and David Gilmour.
Tickets £16 on the door/£14 in advance/seniors £14.
WITH Christmas and New Year on the horizon the volunteers who run the Fancy Dress and Costume store at Chequer Mead are bracing themselves for their annual rush.
The Store was launched in October 2008 after nine months of intensive work by talented volunteers who sorted, washed, and mended costumes donated by local amateur dramatic groups including the Ace Theatre Company, East Grinstead Operatic Society and the Copthorne Players, with later costumes coming from the Village Players and Forest Players.
Since then new costumes have been created to add to the Fancy Dress collection and the Store continues to receive donations of 20th Century clothes and material found in various attics.
The portacabin at the rear of Chequer Mead houses some of the costumes on offer, the rest of which are stored in half the understage area.
The volunteers who work at the store are all capable seamstresses and have been associated with theatre costumes over many years – and all profits from hirings go back into supporting Chequer Mead.
There are two aspects to the hire facility, Fancy Dress for themed parties, and Stage Costumes for plays, musicals, community events, school performances and so on.
Costumes range from prehistory, through Roman, Oriental, Anglo Saxon and Medieval periods, to Tudor, Regency, Victorian, Edwardian and up to the 1980s.
Prices range from £5 to £20.
The store is open on Saturday mornings from 10am till 1pm, but special arrangements can be made for amateur dramatic societies and community groups.
* For more information call Sandie on 01342 325134 or Barbara on 01342 322944.
PRINCESS Anne was East Grinstead’s second royal visitor in October when she visited the six new state-of-the-art operating theatres at the Queen Victoria hospital in the Holtye Road.
The Princess, who arrived by helicopter, was given a tour of the refurbished Peanut Ward for children and unveiled a plaque to mark the occasion of her visit, which coincided with the 150th anniversary of the hospital – made world famous by pioneering plastic surgeon Sir Archibald McIndoe – which was founded in 1863.
Picture courtesy of the East Grinstead Observer
CHEQUER Mead Theatre and Community centre is the vibrant heart of the town, and a place which brings enormous pleasure to its audiences.
The sheer range of its productions – from ballet to pantomime, folk music to musicals, plays and concerts – makes Chequer Mead one of the leading venues for the arts in the south east.
But it’s not just the theatre which puts it at the heart of the town’s leisure activities. The busy foyer restaurant, art gallery, and rooms-for-hire – which play host to everything from art classes to belly dancing and craft fairs – mean the building is in use throughout the day as well as every evening.
A unique blend of staff and volunteers keep Chequer Mead running, with the help of The Friends of Chequer Mead, a dedicated band of supporters who raise funds to improve the facilities the centre has to offer.
Membership costs £10 a year for a single member, £17 for a couple and just £5 for student membership. Corporate sponsorships are also available for £50 a year.
For this ‘Friends’ get a regular newsletter keeping them abreast of future productions, concessionary rates on tickets for many of the shows and exclusive social events including ‘meet the cast’ evenings – in addition to the satisfaction of supporting such a well-loved and much–used town facility.
The work of the Friends has been vital to the operation of the theatre in recent years, and the evidence of their support is everywhere.
The items they have paid for include computer equipment, curtains for the meeting room, display cabinets, an onstage cyclorama, backstage crossover, portable staging, soundproofing in the Studio, sound and light equipment, a digital video projector and screen, and the theatre’s grand piano.
All these items have greatly enhanced either the running of the venue or added to the staging of productions which have encompassed shows like Les Miserables, or appearances by the Russian Ballet – staged in East Grinstead at a fraction of the cost, or inconvenience, of travelling to London to see comparable performances.
So Chequer Mead is appealing for more ‘Friends’ to help support the theatre and community centre – not least because, in its third decade serving the town, some items, like the seats, have inevitably become worn out and need replacing.
The cost of supporting the theatre is easily recouped over the course of a year, there is a great deal of fun to be had at the special events laid on for the ‘Friends’ – and there is also the satisfaction of supporting a venue which gives so much pleasure to so many people throughout the town.
To become a Friend of Chequer Mead send/take a cheque with your name, address and phone number into the theatre in De La Warr Road, East Grinstead, RH19 3BS.
Single membership is £10
Joint is £17
Student is £5
Corporate is £50.
For further details contact the box office on 01342 302000.
THE EGBA will be holding the following events to enable local business people to meet and socialise:
* For details about how to join the EGBA email caroll.everest@egba.co.uk
A recent meeting of the East Grinstead Group of Schools (EGGS) revealed that all the town’s schools are short of volunteer governors.
The role of school governor requires time and commitment but is essential to help promote high standards of achievement for our children and young people in education.
Anyone who is interested in becoming a governor can contact the Headteacher or Chair of Governors via their school website, which will have the necessary contact details.
I HAVE been reviewing the town’s art scene for almost 30 years and can honestly say that I have seen nothing better in that time than Ariel’s productions of Les Miserables.
Their ‘young actors’ school edition was back for a third outing at Chequer Mead this week and so were many of the audience.
Like me, they had been brought to their feet by Ariel’s previous productions and were eager for a reprise.
And we were not disappointed.
For a school edition production the cast must by under 20 and in full-time education, but the mature and nuanced performances of Ariel’s youthful cast made age irrelevant – they were simply astonishingly good.
Tom Ball played Jean Valjean’s transformation from embittered convict to a man of saintly goodness with tender humanity, and the lovely timbre of his voice was particularly touching in the prayerful Bring Him Home.
Olly Hopkins was a marvellous and implacable Javert, a man incapable of understanding the difference between the law and justice. And in the powerful suicide scene when Javert is overwhelmed to realise Valjean is, after all, the better man, Olly deservedly brought the audience to their feet.
Bethany Elliott’s Fantine was also a wonderful performance.
Her voice, which has always been powerful, has matured beautifully, and as the abandoned mother-turned-prostitute, Beth’s performance was both nuanced and touching.
I Dreamed a Dream was a heartrending paean of angry pain, while the tenderness of Fantine’s death scene was one of the evening’s many emotional highlights.
So the comic interludes provided by the villainous Thenardiers came as a relief.
Peter Heppell as the ghastly innkeeper and Megan Roberts as his wife were terrific and their bawdy double act earned them well-deserved applause whenever they popped up.
Tara Lucas, who has her sights set on a career in musical theatre, was simply beautiful as Cosette. Tiny in stature, and sweet of face, her lovely soprano voice soared effortlessly through the demanding score.
Conor Paterson was a handsome and accomplished Marius, and in Empty Chairs at Empty Tables his performance went straight to the heart of Hugo’s dark fable.
Emily Nott as Eponine put in a stunning performance, and On My Own rightly earned her tumultuous applause from the first night audience, as did her death in the arms of Marius.
Plaudits too for the younger members of this outstanding cast.
Harvey Thorne was terrific as the cheeky streetwise Gaveroche and if he doesn’t play the Artful Dodger at some stage in his career, I will be astonished. And Nicole Clements was delightful as Little Cosette.
The show was well-served by its large cast of ‘lovely ladies’ and doomed youths, particularly Will Carey as idealistic Enjolras and Jarrod Hopson as drunken, cynical Grantiere.
An inspiring and uplifting evening’s entertainment – and one which I suspect will have its many fans looking forward to more weeping in the dark next time around.