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About
Act Two

The story so far.....

The Act Two Theatre Company is a venerable dramatic institution with a long and rich history. The club has always been steeped in tradition and after a particularly memorable script, any actor messing around in rehearsals must duly be admonished with “cease this pestilential hopscotch”.

The early days of Act Two; Eileen & David still peform and get involved to this day.

The group was originally started in 1978 in partnership with Bassingham Cricket Club, kicking off with a production of “Red Hot Cinders”. The following year saw “Aladdin” come to the stage with founding member Eileen Martin as Aladdin and Mike Smith as Ebanzar.

 

In its formative years, the club toured local villages with the cast hawking scenery and props from location to location. Aladdin was hosted at Carlton le Moorland and at Harmston Hall Hospital for people with learning difficulties.

Music came by means of a single pianist; first Debbie from Brant Broughton and then Anne from Bassingham Primary School. The cast would put up a screen round the piano and calmly tell the audience that the pianist was on a gin drip.

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Eileen did many of the set designs herself, describing her designs as “slightly ambitious and over the top”, and it took a while to get on and off the stage which at that time was made entirely of blocks.

 

Mike and Penny Smith, a local farming couple wrote two of the first ever scripts performed by the club, one of which was entirely in rhyming verse.

Debbie - the original Act Two pianist!
An early Act Two Pantomime!

In 1979, things became heated when one of the electric fires caused the curtains to catch fire during a performance of Robin Hood in Carlton.

 

A beautifully timed incident, as shortly after a line in the play discussing the curtains catching fire had been delivered, this became a reality.

 

Daisy the prompt battered out the flames and the play went on. Despite their geographical movement, the group had no backing music or travelling props and when the tour circuit added in North Scarle, the set included a back-door from the stage behind which lay a 6-foot drop into a field.

There have been many stalwarts of the drama club over the years including Stella Knight who passed away fifteen years ago and Jan Culpitt who directed plays for over 20 years.

 

Eileen and David, the original and current President and Vice President describe themselves as ‘titular heads’; both still act from time to time.  

Some fabulous outfits from the early days of Act Two!
An early press clipping for a racy comedy play!

The drama club parted ways with the cricket club in October 1981 when it had around 20 members, and formed its own founding committee including David Baker, then Chairman of the Parish Council, village hall and a practicing GP in the local GP surgery, Eileen Martin, and Tony Peacock.

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The name stems from an amateur drama group, Act I, that was created in Bassingham village immediately post-war. Thus “Bassingham Act Two” was born.

 

Four years after the club was created, the spouses of the members created the spin-off “Act Three” for spouses and partners of Act Two. October 2008 saw Act Two’s 30th anniversary with the group hosting a celebration at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Derbyshire.

Much-loved member Gill Griffin very sadly passed from cancer in 1986.

 

A fundraising charity evening of dramatic performances, including “Virtue Rewarded” by Winifred Phillips was held at Bassingham village hall. This sell-out performance raised over £2000 for charity.

 

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A wonderful way to remember Gill, with £2000 raised for charity by Act Two
Tony Peacock, the quintessential Panto Dame!

For many years, the club’s costumes were stored in Eileen’s house until she noticed her bedroom ceiling was starting to bow and crack.

 

John Rowland put fixed rails in but the weight became too much and Irene Tizzard took over the management of the costumes, before Act Two sought planning permission and bought large containers for storage behind the cricket club.

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Today the club has hundreds of costumes and props, organised by the irreplaceable Ellie Allwood. It also owns a lot of lighting and sound equipment, expertly handled by Simon Laughton, Hayden Laughton and Doug Smart, without whom the club simply couldn’t function.

The group has benefited through the years from exponential advances in technology, lighting, music and sound effects but early Bassingham Act Two alumni have gone on to great things; Jonathan Nash, a talented carpenter and joiner who designed and built the stage that the club performed on until. 2020, now works for Pinewood Studios, and David Nelson is now a Stage Manager for global touring theatre companies.

Master carpenter Jonathan Nash, the builder of our original stage....used all the way up to 2020!
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