Celebrating John Fletcher born Rye 1579
JUNE 2011 NEWSLETTER
Renaissance Plays, Music & Comedy
FRIENDS OF FLETCHER IN RYE
Dear Friends of Fletcher,
Those of you who live in Rye will by now know the state of play
regarding Lion Street - but, for those of you who live further
afield, the CIC/St Mary's PCC partnership has won the approval
of the SCCH Board to acquire the Lion Street site, in its
entirety, for Rye. It is a stunning victory for Rye and one worth
trumpeting from the famous St Mary's Tower!! Lawyers are
busy hammering out the minor details of the deal and we are
hopeful to have the keys by June ……
The CIC Board is now actively engaged on two fronts to move
the project into the next phase: obtaining detailed planning
consent (hopefully, by October) and fund-raising so as to be
able to commence building work at the earliest possible
moment. The architects, Jonathan Dunn Associates, are in
deep discussions with both English Heritage and the RDC
planners to iron out any glitches with the proposed design.
They have produced a 3-D model and, all being well, we are
hoping to be able to open a Project Office within the old Library
Building, once we own it, where the model will be displayed.
As for the fund-raising - all £1.3m of it - the CIC Board is
engaged on a massive letter-writing exercise across the private
and public sectors. On the basis of 'where there is a will, there
is a way' the funds WILL be secured …..
Should you be interested in helping us by financially
contributing to the Development Fund, there is now a 'Ways to
Donate' information sheet which can be obtained from:
Heidi Foster (Membership Secretary)
T: 01797 229 103; E: heidi@fletcherinrye.co.uk
Or Pip Al-Khafaji (Fund-Raising Committee)
T: 01797 222456; E: pip@fletcherinrye.co.uk
All donations/gifts, big or small, will be gratefully received and
put towards development costs.
MEMBER'S EVENTS
Hugh Kermode, our Artistic Director, has agreed with David
Brown (Director) & James Shepherd (Designer) to bring the
London production of The Wild-Goose Chase - a hugely
popular 1621 Fletcher play on the age-old 'battle of the
sexes' - to the Community Centre in Rye, for an evening
performance on Saturday July 9th Details of ticket prices,
etc. are still been worked out but do please keep this date
in your diaries free.
As reported in the last Newsletter, the play is currently
enjoying a run at the White Bear Theatre in London to very
good reviews - but, staging it here in Rye will be hugely
symbolic: the 1st professional performance of a John
Fletcher play in Rye ever (well, as far as we know!)
Hugh is also still negotiating with Simon Callow to give a
reading of his favourite poetry & prose …. and now this too
is most probably going to be staged at Lion Street; details
will follow when known.
For those of you who came to see The Mad Lover evening
in April 2010, you may remember the Notes in Newsletter 1
that linked the play with both 'Double Falsehood', a play by
Lewis Theobald (a little known 19th century playwright) and
'Cardenio', a play co-written by Shakespeare and Fletcher
which was last performed in 1613 at the Drury Lane
Theatre. 'Cardenio' is currently being performed by the RSC
at the Swan Theatre in Stratford until October 6th. Details
of times/ticket availability can be seen on the RSC website.
But, remember, we got there first!!
SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS
Finally, our heartfelt thanks you to all of you who renewed
their Friends Membership for another year. It shows great
faith in the Fletcher in Rye Team and inspires us to succeed
……