“If music be the food of love, play on”

Our Autumn production will be Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare and will be performed at the Kenton Theatre in Henley-on-Thames on 16th to 19th October 2024.

Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love – hilarious and heartbreaking. Shakespeare’s comedy of mistaken identity is a giddy mix of joy, yearning, farce, frolics and debauched revelry.

Following a shipwreck Viola, who has been separated from her brother Sebastian, disguises herself as a boy in the court of Count Orsino and is tasked on his behalf with wooing the Countess Olivia only to herself become the object of Olivia’s affections. Meanwhile Olivia’s steward Malvolio has ideas above his station when he is tricked into believing his mistress has amorous intentions towards him and wishes to see him dressed in cross-gartered yellow stockings.

Romantic intrigues, cunning deceptions, sexual confusion, and drunken songs abound in one of Shakespeare’s most popular and enduring comedies.

It is with great regret that due to the worsening situation in the UK and globally with the coronavirus, and the Kenton Theatre announcing that as the result of the government advice yesterday it is closing till the end of April, we have no option but to postpone Saturday Sunday Monday until our Autumn slot at the theatre in October.  We had already been discussing this as the safety of our members has to be our top priority , and the risk of  infection with everyone in close proximity during rehearsals in the show week was becoming too greater for us to continue anyway.

I stress that we are not cancelling , but postponing, the production till our Autumn slot at the Kenton Theatre, which is 18th-24th. October. Our director, Teri, and the whole cast have said they are able to remain with the production, which is a great relief. They have all worked so hard and this is such a talented cast, so we are delighted to keep everyone together to do the play as originally intended.

We are still passionate about bringing this fantastic play to the Henley audience and I hope everyone will support the production in the Autumn.

Everyone please stay safe, keep washing your hands and we look forward to seeing you all soon.

Our Kenton Theatre Festival entry is MYSTIC MANDY AND HER LITTLE PEOPLE. Written by our own talented Ronnie Gunn, this show is now doing well in rehearsal…the little people are working their socks off…your support will be much appreciated by first-tme director Charlie McMann and his cast.

We are happy to say that not only did our spring 2016 play attract good houses and excellent reviews, but it made a profit! So congratulations to director Kate Lindsey and all concerned. The GLOWING NODA report can be accessed here.

Georg Briner has kindly written us an absolutely cracking piece on Verdi. Did you know that Verdi was THE superstar composer of his day? Here’s a taster from Georg’s piece: “In the world of opera, Giuseppe Verdi stands as a giant. His works are known and loved all over the world. They were HUGE hits in his own lifetime, as they still are today: Wikipedia counted 2,586 performances of 28 different Verdi operas worldwide in the last 5 years alone, putting him comfortably at the head of the ‘most performed’ league table.”

To read more about the life of this fascinating artist, please access Georg’s full write-up. A translation of the famous Quartet scene is conveniently included.

Thanks again to Darrel and Suri Poulos and their family for making us all so welcome at their wonderful home, for The Henley Players Annual Summer Picnic on 30th June. The weather was perfect, and several brave souls took a dip in the lake whilst the less adventurous of us played lawn tennis, croquet or just lolled around under the pagoda making witty observations. Those of you who didn’t make it, you really missed out! Hope to see you at next year’s Summer Picnic.