Meeting minutes - 26th October 2016

Minutes of meeting held on Wednesday 26th October 2016

At the Buccaneer

Present: Frank Goodman (Chair), Phil Green (Vice Chair), Colin Cocking, Jackie Coombs, Sue Goodman, Lesley Smith, Carol Banks, Michelle Berrie, Jean Day, Richard Baker

Apologies: Helen Day- Cocking, Sally Hopkins, Ross Hanley

1. Approval of minutes of Committee Meeting of Monday 26th September 2016.

These were approved. (Helen, please place minutes on website)

2. Matters arising: None.

3. CACF Funding Bid Update.

This had been submitted on the basis of the Youth Theatre Project; the CACF Grants Committee are meeting on 7th November to make their decisions and we should hear whether or not we have been successful within 10 days of this date.

4. Youth Theatre Project

Following consultation, Frank explained that individual DBS’s were not required. Cornwall Council would not act as an umbrella agency or provide any funding. However, they would be satisfied with the lesser Chaperone status, which can be applied for through the County Council. Frank has copies of the forms. It is in effect a form of lesser DBS and the Council will absorb the costs. A chaperone merely has to be present - not conduct the workshop or instruct – ie, they can only chaperone. Once the form is submitted, and a referee provided, there is a short interview and the possibility of requirement for on-going training. Phil, Jean and Sue offered to be vetted as chaperones; this was felt to be sufficient for our needs.

Frank also pointed out that if an individual child is asked to perform more than 4 days in a row, then that child needs to be licenced. (This does not include rehearsals). Obviously we would ensure that there were no more than 4 consecutive performances. Frank holds the full list of regulations/requirements. There will be another sub-committee meeting for the Youth Project at which a firm date to visit schools will be made. Richard raised the Devon/Cornwall interface (if there are children from Gulworthy School, this is in Devon) but the fact the performance will be in Cornwall means it will be covered by Cornwall Council regulations.

There was a suggestion that perhaps the Youth Theatre Project could be incorporated into the Festival Week to encourage the participation of young people in the Festival.

5. Possible March Production

Interested parties had met again on Tuesday 18th October to discuss options. Michele had identified a suitable black comedy “A Tomb with a View” by Norman Robbins (available through French’s). Unfortunately there is a charge of £65 per performance (plus script fees). Given that we can only seat a maximum of 25 people for say, 4 or 5 performances, charging £6 per ticket, this means that almost half of our daily takings would be absorbed by these costs. Lesley had made enquiries of Frenchs to see if they would lower the charges in the light of the very small houses, but they replied that there was no leeway as the charge depended on the length of the play, and this was a 2 ½ hour performance. They sent a link which had shorter, cheaper play suggestions, which Michele would look at.

There had been discussions about an article appearing in the Gunnislake Gateway “The story of Annie Heard” – a fairly local murder/who-dunnit/cause celebre in the 1930’s and it was

suggested by several people that this might make an excellent play if Frank felt he could undertake it. Lesley had made initial approaches to the authors credited in the Gateway.

It was felt however that it would be a big ask for Frank to have this completed by March.

Other suggestions included approaching Mark Reynolds to see if he could customise his already written murder mystery into a play.

At this meeting Frank said he had already written the first three acts, and having undertaken further research, was enthused by the project. It would require some quite dark and psychological insight. All felt it would be a popular successor to “Trapped”, despite not being so immediately local. Frank thought it would be another 2 to 3 weeks before he could say whether it would be ready for performing in March/April; in the meantime he gave Michele a play he had written for the Edinburgh Fringe some while ago that had never been performed. Michele would read this through before the next meeting of the March production team on 1st November.

6. Passport to Gunnislake

Frank was well on the way with writing this (based on the Ealing Comedy “Passport to Pimlico”) as the GLAD main production for 2017/2018. Unless other suitable venues had become available by then, it was proposed to continue to use the Buccaneer studio, and part of the play involved a bar, so the bar in the studio could be incorporated as part of the set. It was not age specific, so there were no particular requirements for old/young people in it. (Running time about 1 ½ hours). Frank gave an outline synopsis, which was very well received by all present. He explained there would be two endings with an audience vote at the end. There was considerable enthusiasm for the project.

7. Finance Report: Jean reported that the bank balance after all bills had been paid was £2,964.00. Lesley had just received an email/letter announcing that our grant application to Dorothy Kirk’s County Councillor Chest for £500.00 had been successful and that application had been made for payment to our account. There were a few conditions, none of which were onerous. These included recognition of Cornwall Council to be made on promotional material, significant delays to be reported and receipts retained. Lesley would write to Dorothy on behalf of GLAD to thank her.

8. AOB:

• Hilary has set the date for the ‘theatrical’ quiz for Wednesday 18th January at the Rising Sun. To be promulgated on GLAD Website and various FB sites and advertised in the hope of attracting people other than the usual GLAD supporters. A raffle could be held as well. (Post meeting note: Lesley happy to organise this).

• Christmas ‘Bash’ confirmed for Friday 9th December in the Buccaneer. It will comprise of ‘turns’ by the members. As in previous years people are asked to bring contributions of food for a buffet. Some decorating could be done on the day.

• Christmas Tree Festival. Carol Green had booked spaces for a number of organisations, including GLAD. This year’s festival will be at Harrowbarrow Church, which is very small. There was no significant enthusiasm for taking part in this again; it was quite a lot of work for very little return. This did not pose a problem – the entry form need not be submitted.

9. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 22nd November at 19.30 at the Buccaneer