In this issue:

From the President

And That’s A Wrap! – The 39 Steps

Our Next Play – It’s Only a Play

Farewell to the Pymble Players Theatre

2025 Subscription Season is Still Open

Condolences

Artists Away

Reviews – The 39 Steps

“Above all, you must remain open and fresh and alive to any new idea.”

— Laurence Olivier

From the President

Happy New Year to all PP members and past members – welcome to Issue 1 of Noises Off for 2025.

For almost a year now, we have had two main streams of work running in parallel: getting the 2024 shows on the road and working on our transition from our Pymble Theatre to the Chatswood Zenith Theatre for 2025.

We concluded our 2024 Season with a highly successful sold-out run of The 39 Steps. This show fulfilled all expectations with very positive audience feedback and excellent reviews. It was the ideal way to say farewell to our 50 years’ Pymble home and to springboard into 2025 in our new home at Chatswood. Congratulations to the director, Dave Allsopp and our brilliant cast and crew.

Rehearsals are up and running for our opening play at the Zenith Theatre; It’s Only a Play led by the highly respected director, Joy Sweeney. The season runs from 14 to 22 March 2025. This show, a Broadway hit, boasts a top-quality cast and crew.

The Zenith transition project continues apace. The theatre dismantling and ‘make good project’ was completed in December 2024. So, we have broken the back of the site clearance work. A big thank you to our fabulous team of volunteers. The remainder of that work will be completed during January and February 2025.

The nostalgic Farewell to Pymble function was a joyful occasion attended by about seventy members and Life members on 4 December. See elsewhere in this newsletter for pics.

We now switch our focus to the Zenith 2025 Season and encourage all of you to support Pymble Players as we adapt to our new environment. To begin with, we will be presenting three productions this year. The theatre is focused on community performance-based arts. It is a professional venue offering an excellent theatre, quality facilities and convenience that includes a major transport hub (regular trains, metro, and bus services), convenient concessional parking for theatre patrons and a wide range of eateries close-by.

Our PP policy as a not-for-profit association is to continue to provide high quality community theatre which is welcoming and affordable. So, ticket pricing remains unchanged, and we will work alongside Council staff to continue the PP spirit of welcome and connection. However, some things will be different.

What’s Different – Your Visit to the Zenith Theatre

At the Zenith Theatre, we will be working under the umbrella of Willoughby City Council, Council staff and different operating procedures. The main departures from past practices are as follows:

Members Night (Final Dress Rehearsal)

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­As we no longer have the luxury of unrestricted access to our theatre, we are unable to invite members to a final dress rehearsal. All our 2025 plays have a shortened season in a larger venue and limited rehearsals in the theatre. We encourage all our members to take advantage of the concession member ticket price of $30 and to come along and support Pymble Players.

Front of House (FoH)

The time-honoured open invitation for FoH volunteers will no longer be required. Ushers and bar staff will be the responsibility of the Zenith Theatre. The Pymble Players Committee and experienced members will augment the Zenith Theatre staff by acting as greeters to welcome our patrons in the carpark and foyer.

Box Office

We will be using our normal ticketing system which will be run by our PP Box Office specialists.

The Zenith Theatre Kiosk and Bar

Theatre patrons will be able to purchase tea, coffee and snacks at the Zenith Theatre Kiosk and Bar in addition to wine, beer and soft drinks prior to each show and during Interval. Therefore, complimentary tea, coffee and orange juice can no longer be provided.

Transport/Parking

Zenith Theatre is located a short walk away from the Chatswood Interchange transport hub (approximately a 5-minute walk down Railway Street). Parking is available at the Zenith Centre Carpark, and a concessional cost of $8 applies to theatre patrons.

Further information can be found here: https://www.zeniththeatre.com.au/Your-visit

Eateries – Food precincts in Chatswood

From the District Dining at The Interchange to the variety of options at The Concourse and Hawker Lane, there is a food precinct for all tastes and budgets for your pre-show or after-show dining.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you at It’s Only a Play! Bookings open on 7 February. Please come along with all your very welcome support for PP in our new venture in our new home at the Zenith Theatre!

Warm regards

Warren Blood
President

AND THAT’S A WRAP! – The 39 Steps

An Amateur Production by Arrangement with ORiGiN™ Theatrical on behalf of Samuel French – A Concord Theatricals Company

30 October – 23 November 2024
From the novel by John Buchan, adapted by Patrick Barlow
Directed by David Allsopp

WINNER of 2 Tony© and Drama Desk Awards 2008
WINNER of BEST NEW COMEDY – Laurence Olivier Awards 2007

Having been given the honour of being the show that closes the curtain on 50 years of Pymble Players’ residency at the Pymble Chapel, our aim was to produce a show that provided 100% pure entertainment and a truly great night out at the theatre. With a sell-out season of shows, fantastic reviews and a wonderful response from the audience, I’m happy to say, “mission accomplished”.

I sincerely thank my supremely talented cast and crew for all their amazing work. This was a complicated show, with more changes in character and location than I’d like to count, but this team made it feel like magic.

I’m sure the team has been enjoying a well-earned break after all that running around.

Thank you to everyone who helped make this chapter in PP history end on a high.

David Allsopp, Director

It’s Only a Play is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection. (www.dramatists.com)

14-22 March 2025
By Terrence McNally
Directed by Joy Sweeney

It’s the opening night of The Golden Egg on Broadway and the wealthy producer, Julia Budder is throwing a lavish party in her lavish Manhattan townhouse. Downstairs the celebrities are pouring in, but the real action is upstairs in the bedroom, where a group of insiders have staked themselves out to await the reviews. Fortunes and reputations will rely on them.

Fun, fast-paced and full of fabulous characters – could Broadway really be like this?

Bookings open on 7 February 2025.

A Note from our Director

Rehearsals are well underway for It’s Only a Play. After great auditions with an amazing array of talent, we have a brilliant cast:

We have an enthusiastic and large production team, and I know that we will be fully prepared for a seamless move into the Zenith Theatre. So much work is going on behind the scenes – it’s impressive!

We are all excited to be involved in the first play in the new venue. It’s Only a Play is a very funny, modern play and great fun to rehearse. It’s fast paced and complicated, but we are steaming ahead!

Joy Sweeney, Director

Cast in rehearsals

Anthea Brown is performing in Improbable Fiction by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by Dave Went, with the Castle Hill Players at The Pavilion Theatre in Castle Hill.

7 Feb – 1 Mar 2025

Margareta Moir, Justin Corcoran and Richard Littlehales are performing in Sylvia by A.R. Gurney, directed by Moja Brand, with set, sound and lighting design by Wayne Chee, at Hunters Hill Theatre at Club Ryde.

7 – 30 March 2025