Clubs/societies

THE Thorpe Players are breaking new ground with their next production.

Not only is it an European premiere, but it also features the first time the group has had a mother and daughter acting the roles of mother and daughter.

Local drama group Thorpe Players is breaking new ground with their next production. Not only is it an European premiere, but it features a mother and daughter acting the roles of mother and daughter. Dee and Angie Bews have both been members for many years, but this is the first time that they have acted together and they are both thrilled to be playing Mrs Bennet and her daughter Lizzie in a new adaptation of Jane Austen's classic Pride and Prejudice.

Director Sharon Young "searched for a version of the story that kept the truth of the book, and this one by Jon Jory does just that. I am excited and nervous at staging such a well-known and well-loved classic, but I know my cast will meet the challenge and they and the audience will enjoy the humour and charm of the play." Thorpe Village Hall is an old barn, and just right for this show, which takes place from Wednesday 10th to Saturday 13th June at 8pm. Tickets are £9 and can be booked on 07923 583295.

Carve Her Name with Pride is one of the all-time classic war movies, starring Virginia McKenna as Violet Szabo. Local resident, Margaret Robinson, has kept the original designs for this film that were done by her late husband Bernard, and they will on display for the first time at The Chertsey Hall on Sunday 17th May.

There will also be an illustrated exploration of the work of Special Operations Executive and agents such as Szabo and Odette Sansom by Dr. Mark Baldwin, who has had access to recently released information. The SOE trained over 9000 agents between 1940 and 1946, many in undisclosed locations in Surrey and Middlesex, and they worked not just in Europe, but in the Far East and Africa. Doors open at 7.00pm and the tickets for this joint event cost £10 and are bookable on 01483 811923 or on the door.

Halliford Artists holds its next meeting on Tuesday (17) at the Riverside Arts Centre, Thames Street, Lower Sunbury, at 7.30pm.

For more information, call 01932 240278.

A wall of rampant ivy will be cleared by Egham and Staines Conservation Volunteers on Sunday (8) in Coldharbour Lane, Thorpe, from 10am.

The group will meet on the verge of Manor House Farm and any other volunteers are welcome.

For more details call 01784 254904.

It might seem rare to have a positive, up-beat story about teenagers these days, but Thorpe Players has just that. Over the last year or so they have ,with some support from the RBC, been running a Youth Drama Workshop. The youngsters involved are so keen that they want to show others just how much they have achieved and are presenting a show at Thorpe Village Hall on Saturday 31st January at 3.30 and 7.30.The workshop is split into two groups, and the younger ones, aged 10 to 14 ,are doing The King who Limped, by Monica Thorne, which tells of the arrival of a mysterious new King. The senior group, aged 14 to 21, are extending Christmas by doing The Reduced Panto, by Kevin Patton, and instead of just one, you get all the pantomimes in one frenetic hour. Director and workshop leader Sharon Young has "been overwhelmed by the enthusiasm and commitment of the cast. These workshops are something the Players has wanted to do for a long time, and it is very satisfying to see it all come together in this show."

Tickets are just £6 for adults and £4 for children and are available on 07923 583295. So why not beat the post-Christmas blues and join us for some family entertainment.

Young drama students will perform on Saturday, January 31 at Thorpe Village Hall at 3.30pm and 7.30pm.

The shows complete a year's work by a youth drama workshop run by Thorpe Players in conjunction with Runnymede Council. The 10-14 year olds will perform The King Who Limped, by Monica Thorne and the 14-21's, will stage The Reduced Panto, by Kevin Patton - all the popular pantomimes squeezed into one hour.

Tickets, which are £6 for adults and £4 for children, are available by calling 07923 583295.

Talented singers from Thorpe Lea School, Egham, got a taste of life in the fast lane after winning the inaugural Mercedes Benz World choir competition, on Friday November 28.

The year 5 and 6 pupils fought off competition from neighbouring schools' choirs to clinch a prize any budding Lewis Hamilton would be envious of - a ride round the test track at Mercedes Benz World in a Mercedes.

Each of the choir members won a 30-minute slice of high-speed action, and teacher and choir organiser, Gemma Straw, was lucky enough to get an hour tearing round the circuit.

Headteacher, Sarah Tarrant, said she was beaming with pride at winning the award and said that their choir were a bit special.

"We are exceptionally proud of them. Particularly as it was the first time they have run this competition and because we were quite different to the other schools.

"Most of them had proper choirs whereas we just sang to a backing CD and pranced around in tinsel - the judge said we brought a bit of 'life' to the competition."

Local drama group, Thorpe Players, is looking to the future with its next production. The play, "Comic Potential", is set a few years hence, when daytime TV soaps are even further down the scale than they are now. Actors are not always Humans any more, some of them are Androids. But what happens if an Android falls in love? Director Karen Noble was drawn to this futuristic love story, saying that "This play gives the group a great challenge; it is a chance to show both human and mechanistic movement and emotions. It is wonderful opportunity to explore beyond the norms of our currently known limits."

The group is presenting the play at Thorpe Village Hall, Coldharbour Lane, on Wednesday 3rd to Saturday 6th December at 8pm. Tickets are a credit-crunch friendly £8 and are bookable in advance on 07923 583295 - any unsold tickets are available on the door each evening. "Comic Potential" is by Alan Ayckbourn and is written with all his usual observant wit. He gives us an heartwarming play which is sometimes farce, and sometimes something much deeper, set in a time when "everything has changed, except human nature".

Monks Walk footpath, which runs between Thorpe village and Staines Road, re-opened on Monday, November 10, after being closed by Surrey County Council for one month.

The path was closed to the public so Thorpe Park, which owns it, could undertake inspections to 11,000 volt electricity cables that lie underground along its length.