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4th March 2010 - 
The new website for The Henley Fringe (now The Henley Fringe Trust) has just gone live. You can find it here - www.henleyfringe.org Be sure to keep checking it as more details about the shows will be uploaded in the next few weeks. Also keep checking back here as we reveal more details about our two shows at this year's Fringe.
22nd February 2010 -
FalconGrange Productions are proud to anounce their line-up for the 2010 Henley Fringe Festival. We will again be producing two shows, one for young children and one for the young at heart.
This year our children's show will be The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. It is based on the hugely popular, best-selling picture book by Ronda & David Armitage. Mr Grinling the lighthouse keeper tends his light come rain or shine. Every day Mrs Grinling makes him a delicious lunch and sends it out across the sea to the lighthouse. But Mr Grinling isn’t the only one who enjoys the tasty food. Some greedy seagulls keep stealing his lunch! Can Mrs Grinling come up with an ingenious plan to make sure the lighthouse keeper gets his lunch? Join Mr and Mrs Grinling and Hamish the cat for an exciting visual delight inspired by the much loved children’s story.
Our other show at the festival is a play for anyone who has ever been to school, the classic character based comedy Teechers by John Godber. Mr Nixon, the new drama teacher, arrives to find life at the local comprehensive school a massive challenge. Cynical colleagues, obstructive caretakers and troublesome students all combine in a blur of quick-witted and loveable characters. Can Nixon and his students manage to make it to the end of term with their sanity intact? In John Godber's hilarious Teechers expect the unexpected!
We hope both shows will sell really well at this year's festival and we will update the site soon with details of when and where you can get your tickets.
11th February 2010 -
Company founders Yvie and Dan have both had a very busy Christmas and New Year trying to plan 2010 for FalconGrange. To make things more complicated they have both recently been on tour with different companies performing shows around the country. So, from the safe haven of Travelodges and various other hotels all over the place they have been working (when they're not working of course) at sorting out this year's Henley Fringe Festival and a couple of other projects we have in our sights. We've been meeting with the Henley organisers and are very close to being able to announce our shows and venues...check back soon for more details.
18th November 2009 -
At FalconGrange we are trying to provide employment opportunities for talented members of the indsutry in such tough economic times and as such we are looking to expand our base of Actors, Technical Crew and Directors. If you are any of the above and want the chance to work with us on our upcoming projects please send us your details (Headshot, CV etc.) to info@falcongrange.com. We look forward to hearing from you!
29th October 2009 -
The FalconGrange diary is certainly filling up! We now have plans for a couple of shows in 2011 that we are really looking forward to. However, back to the present (well, next year at least) and our upcoming shows. We can't wait to get back to The Henley Fringe and are working hard on our choice of play(s). As having two shows worked so well for us this year we would love to do two again, it's just a case of finding two shows that we think the people of Henley will enjoy. We're also looking into putting on another show in an as yet undisclosed location...so we really have our work cut out for us in the coming weeks and months! As always, feel free to contact us if you have any suggestions or comments, we would love to hear from you.
28th September 2009 -
We are busy, busy, busy planning the next few shows. We have been contacting some beautiful theatres with the hope of touring a show in 2010. Also we've got our minds firmly on The Henley Fringe 2010...deliberating what shows to suggest to the organisers and how to make it even more successful than this year. If you've got a favourite show you would like to see performed in Henley (or indeed anywhere else) then get in touch with us and tell us about it. We are always looking for new spaces to perform in, so if you know of anywhere don't keep it to yourself! Click here to go to our contact page. FalconGrange could be coming to a theatre near you soon!
11th September 2009 -
We're back! The cruise was a huge success and the whole FalconGrange team had a great time. The feedback we got f
rom the other passengers was even better than last year, there were even demands for us to repeat the shows! We thank everyone who came to see the two shows and of course we have to thank all of the staff of the Mv Discovery for being so welcoming and helpful. We received comments about how well the shows were written as well as performed, so for that we have to thank John Godber! The picture on the right is of the cast enjoying themselves on deck with Gibraltar in the background. From left to right they are - Lara, Madeleine, Katherine, Yvie and Daniel.
27th August 2009 -
Rehearsals are well underway for Teechers and Shakers for the productions aboard the Mv Discovery. FalconGrange can't wait to take to the Mediterranean again and just hope that the weather is better than the first few days we experienced last year! Working aboard the ship is an amazing experience and one that FalconGrange hope to be able to repeat year after year. We're also still looking into the possibilities for FalconGrange for 2010 and we can't wait to start the ball rolling on these projects...we think it's going to be a good year!
4th August 2009 -
We're very pleased with the response we got for both Abigail's Party and The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse, here are the reviews we got in The Henley Standard -
The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse -
"A child's laugh is music to their ears. The sound of a young child giggling is without doubt one of the most attractive and compelling sounds you can ever hope to hear - so for the cast of The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse it must have been more than music to their ears to hear a bubble of mirth right at the start of this highly attractive show in the Kenton Theatre's Green Room. Based on one of Aesop's Fables, over the course of 50 minutes we learn that you have to accept other people's differences - the contrasting ways and lifestyles of soft and gentle country folk and the rather more material and harsh existence of the town dweller. Both performers - Yvie Magee and Daniel Creasey play their roles with absolute conviction and charm and the proof of the play's success is in the rapt attention of the numerous young members of the audience: you quickly know when a young audience is bored! The simplicity of the plot means that we get the message pretty early on, but nonetheless an attractive assembly of props helped take us through a very happy and gently educative session." S.C.
Abigail's Party -
"Stimulating Suburbia. Most people are happy to spend an evening discussing cars, house prices, curtains and the ordinary things which go to make up day-to-day life. Only a few seek to talk of art, music, theatre, literature and politics - and Mike Leigh wasn't interested in them when he wrote Abigail's Party in 1977. FalconGrange Productions recognised that in their stimulating interpretation of the play which is set in home counties suburbia. This was energetic and pacey with some excellent character portrayals. The Green Room, HAOD's rehearsal and social space next to the Kenton Theatre, may not be the easiest of venues in which to put on a show but the young FalconGrange didn't let that get in their way. Yvie Magee set the pace in the opening scene as she shimmied around her living room, setting out the peanuts and cheese and pineapple snacks, drinking wine. This woman was in your face from the start with exaggerated movements and speech. She was matched by the one character in the play who had any time for reflection - and he wasn't liked for it. Daniel Creasey as Lawrence, Beverley's husband, was the put-upon unhappily married estate agent who cared about art and wished he had talent. No one else cared about talent, they were happy as they were, and as the drink flowed they became happpier and mroe argumentative. Perhaps the characters were close to caricature at times, but that helped to highlight their foibles. The play built from a running start to a high intensity and the cast never let up on the pressure." M.R.
27th July 2009 -
After a very busy and immensely satisfying week in Henley, FalconGrange is pleased to announce that both The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse and Abigail's Party were a huge success. Abigail's Party oversold every night and the cast loved playing to full audiences. The feedback we got from the people of Henley was amazing and we can't thank them enough for their support. With such a positive response FalconGrange is considering returning to the Kenton Theatre in Henley with another production early next year...watch this space for updates! We of course have to thank all of the people involved in the Henley Fringe Festival for helping to make it such a success and everyone involved in FalconGrange for making us the best-selling shows at the Festival. Now comes a short break for FalconGrange before we perform aboard Mv Discovery Cruises and plan the next show!
20th July 2009 -
The Festival is finally underway and everyone at FalconGrange can't wait to get started. We're so happy with the response we have already got from the locals in Henley and hope that they all turn up to see the shows that we are all so proud of.
9th July 2009 -
Tickets for both the shows at The Henley Fringe Festival are selling fast...book yours soon to avoid missing out! To book tickets for The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse click here and to book for Abigail's Party click here.
6th July 2009 -
Abigail's Party rehearsals are going swimmingly and all of the cast can't wait to be performing for an audience. Good thing too as the festival is now only two weeks away! We'll be uploading some rehearsal pictures soon, be sure to check back.
4th July 2009 -
We started off today with another live radio interview with Phil Kennedy, this time on BBC Radio Oxford. FalconGrange would like to thank Phil and the teams at BBC Radio Berkshire and Oxford for the amazing opportunities to plug the company and the shows, that kind of publicity is hard to come by! To listen to the interview please click here (we're on about 10 minutes into the show). Today was also the final stop on our library tour. We had a great last storytime with the children in Wargrave. FalconGrange would like to thank all of the libraries and staff involved in our mini-tour, we had great fun and hopefully sold a few tickets for the show along the way!
1st July 2009 -
Rehearsals for Abigail's Party are finally underway! The cast converged on the studio for a weeks intensive rehearsals and everyone is eager to get underway.
27th June 2009 -
Another busy day of promoting the shows. We started off with a library reading to a lovely bunch of kids in Sonning Common. Then a few of the cast went to Henley for an interview with the fringe festival organiser on Regatta Radio. The radio interview went well, a great way to get our details out to the locals in Henley.
25th June 2009 -
The kind folks at BBC Radio Berkshire have put an interview with Yvie on their website. You can read it here.
24th June 2009 -
Another couple of days of The Town Mouse and The Country Mouse rehearsals. Dan and Yvie were working hard in the studio to put the finishing touches to the show before the final dress rehearsals next month. It was hard but rewarding work and we're confident we have a show that the kids will love watching as much as we love performing it!
22nd June 2009 -
Busy day today! First another storytime at the delightful library in Twyford, an awesome bunch of kids (and parents too!) who were great at getting involved in the songs and games. Then it was off to BBC Radio Berkshire for a live radio interview about FalconGrange, The Henley Fringe Festival, Abigail's Party and Children's Theatre. You can listen to the interview by clicking here (we are about 1hr and 17mins into the show). It was an amazing opportunity for us to talk about the shows and get the company name out to so many people. If that wasn't enough, we then went on to Henley to distribute posters and flyers for both our upcoming shows, hopefully you should start to see Abigail's Party and The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse posters and flyers all over Henley!
20th June 2009 -
Another stop on our tour of local libraries to promote The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse this time in Henley-on-Thames. We had a great time with the kids who came to see us, reading an abridged version of the story, singing songs from the show and doing fun activities with them. More stops on the library tour to come soon - look out for us in your local library!
5th June 2009 -
Rehearsals have now started in earnest for The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse. Dan and Yvie have taken delivery of the wonderful set (a giant bean can, a giant oxo cube, a giant yoghurt pot and much much more!) and have had an amazing time getting to grips with it all!
1st June 2009 -
The FalconGrange Studio is now open! Today we put the finishing touches to the studio where we will be spending most of our summer rehearsing Abigail's Party and The Town Mouse & The Country Mouse. It's a great space that we're very lucky to have and we can't wait to make good use of it!
07-Jun-09 17:44