Rep Talk: A busy time at Repertory

Repertory Theatre in Ridgway St, Whanganui.

We are certainly having a busy old time down at Repertory Theatre these days, with auditions, sorting the wardrobe, play reading and organising our Heritage Weekend Concert.

President Bev Pearce has organised a group of volunteers who meet weekly to sort out the huge number of costumes we have stored upstairs. Do we need so many of these costumes? Are some in such a bad state of disrepair that it's not worth trying to restore them? Sadly, yes, in some cases. Still it's a really big job, so thank you Bev, Lynda and Irene.

Irene has had a nice time selecting suitable frocks for the vintage fashion parade. We do have some lovely items there and the fashion parade Irene organised for the January Vintage Weekend was very well received. Again, we expect it to be a popular part of our Heritage Weekend Concert. In January our popular music hall sing along was a great success with people leaving the theatre smiling. That's what we like to see.

Historical guided tours of the theatre are being held over Heritage Weekend at 10am and 2pm. The theatre is an integral part of Whanganui history which makes me believe that anyone would find such a tour really interesting, often surprising and very educational.

We've just completed auditions for our upcoming pantomime, Peter Pan, a difficult undertaking as we had so many people of all ages who were so willing to be a part of the fun ... and they were all so good! That made it really hard to select our cast, but more on that later.

Our play reading group recently read Joan by Tom Scott which I wrote about last week. We're saddened by the passing of April Pearson who managed the play reading group for many years, selecting plays, allocating roles, and advising the committee on plays deemed suitable for production. Thank you April, you will be keenly missed.

Another busy person at Rep is Don Paynter who's working hard to improve the theatre building.

Don would love to hear from any handymen who'd be interested in lending a hand with basic building maintenance one evening a week. He sees it as a social occasion too where people who share a common interest can get together, pool their skills and chat over a cuppa.

Why not give Don a call and talk over his really good idea with him? Don's phone numbers are: 345 8002, or 021 031 0329.

We're certainly well occupied at the moment, but it's good to be so busy, the camaraderie theatre people share is great. Why not come and join us? You'd be so very welcome.