Dore to Door internet edition

Local organisations - Spring 2004

T.O.A.D.S. Spring play - Dore Male Voice Choir - Annual Exhibition - Furry Friends - A Million Reasons - The Grand Duke

T.O.A.D.S. Spring play

The Spring production is described by Samuel French, the main publisher of plays, as an "engaging and entertaining thriller", and it certainty is. "Curtain Up on Murder" written by Bettine Manktelow, features an amateur drama company rehearsing in the theatre at the end of the pier. Storms rage overhead and the doors are locked, and they are trapped.

Their sense of foreboding is not improved by the appearance of a ghostly presence! Much worse is to come - but that would be telling, and I'm not about to do that! Rest assured, there is humour too, and a newspaper critic described it as "a skilfully written piece of suspense".

Fortunately, the play is in May, not November, the nights will be a lot lighter and you won't be scared going home. Why not come along and see a well written and, hopefully, well acted play at St. John's Church Hall, Abbeydale Road South, Totley, Wednesday to Saturday, 12th to 15th May, at 7.30pm.

Tickets still £3, or £2.50 Concessions, from me Kate Reynolds, on 236 6891 from the beginning of April.

Dore Male Voice Choir

The two Christmas Concerts presented in the Parish Church were almost a sell out and it was good that £600 should be raised for the Youth Leader Appeal for the Village.

The Choir are now working through new pieces for the repertoire and have another busy season ahead. The next major concert, given for the Lord Mayor in aid of her charities, NSPCC and the Altzheimer's Society will be presented on Friday 23rd April at Eccleshall Parish Church. The Choir is hoping for a big audience, in support of these worthwhile charities, and promises a lively and varied programme.

The membership of the Choir continues to increase. In the past three years we have had 18 new members join the Choir. If you are interested in singing (assuming your voice has broken!) come and join us on a Thursday evening at 7.15, at the Church Hall, Townhead Road. You will be most welcome.

David Heslop

Annual Exhibition

Dore Art Group are once again happy to announce the dates for their annual exhibition which is held every year in the Main Hall of the Old School in Dore Village.

It will before Easter this year and we will have the advantage of the extra hour of daylight to enjoy looking at the pictures - a nice thought.

We were sorry to have to say goodbye to our tutor of three years, Mr Brian Morton. But we have been very fortunate to have had the help and tuition of our new teacher Alison Down, since September, and who we hope has helped us to improve on our previous ‘good works'.

It was lovely to see all of you last year - we even had visitors from overseas. Thank you very much for supporting us, and for all the complimentary comments, which makes all the hard work put in by all the members of the group worthwhile.

We very much hope to see you all again this year on Friday 2nd April and Saturday 3rd April 2004, to view and perhaps to purchase some of our pictures. Admission, as usual is free and we will be happy to provide a nice cup of tea/coffee and cakes at very reasonable prices.

Do come along and bring your friends.

April 2nd Friday 2pm. - 6pm April 3rd Saturday 9.30am - 5pm

Connie Bedford Exhibition organiser

Furry Friends

Twelve years ago Jane Ward clambered onto the roof of Dorothy Perkins shop in Chesterfield after someone told her they had spotted a feral kitten. Jane took the kitten home to her house in Dore and named the kitten Perkins. She has cared for the kitten and hundreds of other feral and ill-treated cats ever since.

Now Jane is Chairman of Furry Friends a registered charity based in Dore which works with the RSPCA. After being rescued all the cats have to be checked over by a Vet and slowly introduced to life living with humans, so eventually they can be found new homes.

As you can imagine the care and feeding of these little animals is a time consuming and very costly business and Jane must rely on good friends and fellow animal lovers to give a much appreciated helping hand. Alas, these are in very short supply as most of us lead very busy lives, but, if there is anyone who can spare an hour or two a week or at anytime convenient to themselves she would be most grateful.

If you could possibly help, or are able to make a donation, then please contact Jane on 07792 683431.

A Million Reasons

In Sheffield and North Derbyshire more than 3,500 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Macmillan Cancer Relief would like to offer help and support to everyone who needs it throughout their cancer journey. However, at the moment they cannot meet the increased demand for their services.

The Million Appeal is raising £1 million to provide new services including 3 new Macmillan nurses, lymphoedema services and patient grants. You can help by:

• Inviting us to talk at a local group or association;
• Organising your own fundraising event;
• Including some fundraising in with an established event, for example a raffle at an annual dinner;
• Volunteering for collections or work in the office;
• Taking part in a national event such as The Worlds Biggest Coffee Morning 2004 or The Big Hush;
• Taking part in the Knitting challenge or £ for LB event;
• Be a Million Coins Collection Point;
• Get an organisation you belong to, to adopt us for their Charity of the Year.

For more information please call Sarah Teale, Community Fundraiser for the Million Appeal on 0114 256 1350 or write to the Macmillan Appeal Office, Vickers Corridor, NGH, Herries Road, Sheffield, S5 7AU

The Grand Duke

Dore Gilbert and Sullivan Society are to present The Grand Duke in April. This was the last of the G & S operettas and was first produced at the Savoy Theatre , March 7th 1896. It was not as successful as some of the other operettas, and for various reasons, is rarely performed by operatic societies or professional companies these days. The last time it was performed in Sheffield was, as far as I know, 1967.

In my view, there are three reasons for it being left (unjustly) on the shelf. The plot is complicated and even by Gilbert's standards, somewhat convoluted. There are 17 named roles (‘though some of them can be doubled up as they only appear in either the first or second acts, not both). The chorus music is technically difficult to sing in places but when sung well is as good as, if not better than much of the other music Sullivan wrote. Personally I think it is wonderful music and as good as anything in The Mikado or The Gondoliers.

This means that societies must have sufficient singers to play the roles and have enough left over for a chorus; the singers have to be fairly adept and the libretto has to be presented clearly to be understood by the paying public such that the comedy comes through.

Dore G & S Society is lucky enough to have such members with some fine singers who act well and a solid chorus who make a good sound so why not take the opportunity to come and see this rare work. I know those that do will enjoy it and so, in order to give you a fighting chance of figuring out what is going on to begin with here is a very brief résumé of the first half:

The Grand Duke is to be married to wealthy Baroness von Krackenfeldt. The good people of Pfennig Halbpfennig, many of whom belong to a theatrical troupe managed by Ernest Dummkopf, are sick of The Duke and intend to de-throne him the next day. Everyone knows of the conspiracy but shouldn't talk of it without discovering if the person listening is a member of the secret organisation, the sign of which is to eat a sausage roll, of which they are sick! (Typical Gilbertian stupidity.)

They intend to rig the election after deposing The Grand Duke and vote in Ernest who has promised to provide for everyone. Julia, an English comedienne who has joined the troupe thinks she is very professional and a cut above the rest.

Ludwig, the leading comedian, unwittingly lets slip the plan to The Grand Duke's detective (because he ate sausage rolls) and so risks death. The Notary (a prodigious legal mind) comes up with a plan. Ernest and Ludwig must fight a Statutory Duel. This is unlike a normal duel as it is a law allowing the winner to take the loser's place and assume his responsibilities while the loser is deemed to have died. The law (due to a quirk of Pfennig Halbpfennig's rules) lasts 100 years unless renewed and this one is due to expire on the morrow. The duel is enacted by drawing of cards, the lowest losing. The plan is for the winner to denounce the "dead" loser as the perpetrator of the plot to de-throne The Grand Duke. On the morrow when the loser comes to life again, everything is back to normal (almost). The loser, having "died" once cannot be condemned to death as their law only allows a person to die once!

In amongst this, all sorts of other things are going on which you will only find out about if you come to see the show. This will be presented at The University Drama Studio, Glossop Road, Tuesday 20th April to Saturday 24th April at 7:30pm with a matinee on the Saturday at 2:30pm. Tickets (£7, concessions £6) are available from Rita Drew on Sheffield 0114 248 7766.