EAC Magazine - Alleyn's School

S c h o o ln e w sThe Michael Croft Theatre:South London’s latest venueThe School is making good progress in its desire to open thewonderful Michael Croft Theatre (MCT) to audiences beyond theschool community. In addition to our hosting of local danceschools and other community groups which hire the spaceduring school holidays, since the end of November last yearthere have been on average three visiting professional theatreproductions per term. These have included experimental piecesfrom the Battersea Arts Centre, a touring production ofMacbeth (directed by AOB Dennis Lomas’s niece), a stand-upcomedy show, a staging of the life of St Francis of Assisi and avery scary interpretation of Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Add tothis the excellent performances and workshops arranged by theMusic Department under the banner of the Alleyn’sInternational Concert Series and events as varied as children’sbook launches and the staged polemics of George Monbiot (seeright) and you can see that the MCT is playing host to a hugevariety of activities over and above the great swathe ofexcellent School productions and concerts overseen by theMusic and Drama Departments.Kathleen Meehan, our Events Managers, ensure that our frontof house, bar and refreshment arrangements run smoothly at alltimes. Behind the scenes the burden borne by Vivienne Thurlowand Alpha Hopkins, who mastermind the ticketing and boxoffice process, is a heavy one which we hope to make lighter inthe coming months with the introduction of a new onlinebooking and ticketing website for the theatre which will beavailable for use for all School and visiting events in the MCT.Balancing the needs of our pupils and staff with our desire toopen our gates to the wider community takes a huge teamefforton the part of the School staff which I’d like to applaudon your behalf. Peter Stormont, our Theatre Technical Manager,works wonders turning the building around betweenengagements and helping visitors plot and run their shows whileSue Chandler, Assistant Head Co-curricular, achieves the nearimpossiblein finding gaps in the busy school schedule toshoehorn visiting productions into the calendar. Sue Miles andSo if you haven’t already attended a show at the MCT, watchout for our new season’s programme and the link to the MCT’swebsite which will appear on the Club’s own site very shortly. Ilook forward to seeing you there.David YoungDirector of Development and Finance16