By Chris Thomson | posted on November 24, 2017
THE curtain comes down on 40 years of dramatic history when the Plantagenet Players perform their last show at the Jack Hambleton Memorial Theatrette on Saturday night.
Michelle Harris is co-director of the sellout variety-style production titled: ‘So long, farewell and thanks for all the fish’.
“Saturday night is going to be absolutely huge,” she said.
“We’ve put our heart and soul into this show and I think it’s come across to the audience how much we love what we do and how much we love that little hall.”
Saturday night’s show will be the last in the theatrette before the players move to Plantagenet District Hall, which is looking a million bucks after undergoing extensive renovations.
The theatrette, named after an original Plantagenet player, will still be used by the local scouts, a choir and a dancing group.
Cast member Jeff Drage worked on construction of the theatre from 1982 to 1985, right down to scrubbing the structure’s white Barker Stone bricks.
“Saturday night just gone,it was an honour to have two of Jack’s daughters and one of the grand-daughters there at the show,” he said.
Lorraine Linster, a Plantagenet player for 16 years since she migrated from the home country of the Bard, will play several on-stage roles on the night.
“Even during rehearsals there were one or two tears shed backstage,” she said. “For those of us who have been there a long time it is emotional.
“There’s a lot of history there and it’s a nice, intimate little theatre.”
