News
Latest News
Please scroll down to see older posts.
4th January 2012 -
We are delighted to announce that in May we will be touring our production of Touch and Go, a hilarious comedy by Derek Benfield. The response we got when we performed Bedside Manners (also by Derek Benfield) was so great that we decided another hilarious show from this amazing playwright would be just the thing to start off our 2012 season. The show will be performed at The Kenton Theatre, Haslemere Hall and the Billingshurst Community Centre. We are still taking bookings for this tour and if you would like a show at your venue then please contact us at admin@falcongrange.com.This well-woven tale of suburban married life hilariously portrays the complications encountered when the fallout of two couple's affairs catches up with them. Brian is encouraged by his wife Hilary to take up jogging; he dons his track suit but instead of running around the park runs straight to his good friend George's flat, where Wendy is waiting for him! Little does Brian know that while the pair are using George's flat George has romantic plans of his own. The arrangement works well, until George's wife Jessica returns early from a business trip and discovers something unexpected in her front room. The resulting confusions and mistaken identities provide an evening of uproarious and innocent fun. We hope to see youy there.
26th July 2011 -
The Henley Fringe is over for another year and we had an absolute blast. Firstly thank you so much to the 1,100 people that came to see our shows over the week. We had great feedback from everyone and both shows were really well received. Another huge thank-you to all of the people involved in the fringe, fringe organiser Jo Southwell, our techie for the week Hannah and Mary and Jeremy from the Rugby Club, we are so appreciative of all of their very generous help. We can't wait for the Henley Fringe 2012 and have some thoughts already about what shows we might put on. Next for FalconGrange is organising a tour for 2012 and the possibility of another show later this year, check back soon for more updates. Lucky Sods was reviewed in The Henley Standard (published 21st July) take a look at the review below -
JUST imagine, two million quid on the lottery and your life changed forever - yes, but not how you'd want it to be. John Godber's Lucky Sods from FalconGrange isn't the first play to examine sudden riches, but it's no less effective for that.
Fringe favourites FalconGrange - in the form of Yvie Magee and Dan Creasey - have become unmissable appointments in this July week and their championship run continues with this morality tale.
They have become masters in delivering stripped-down theatre which punches above its weight - just four actors serve this show which has a cast of eight. The only props are two chairs and a TV set, only visible from the front row, the only scenery a symbolic cross or windmill sail to denote location.
Much of the story mirrors the Viv Nicholson story as portrayed in Spend Spend Spend but there are important differences. We start with the snappy accepting comfort of a struggling household and move through sudden riches, to resenting and grasping family, nowhere they can call home any more and the sad destruction of everything they thought they knew.
The play is always funny and always sad and Magee and Creasey do well to continually tread that line so that we laugh and cry simultaneously. Every scene works but those where those two are together have an intensity and a sparkle which is riveting.
They, particularly, have a range and they use it to telling effect so that the two hours of the play fly by - even with the distraction of noisy rugby training going on just outside.
10th July 2011 -
| We were at Henley Library today for a Hare & Tortoise storytime. We've had a great time visiting all of the local libraries and watching all of the kids really get into following the story and having fun joining in with games, songs and colouring afterwards...hopefully we'll see lots of them at the show so that they can get the full experience! To promote our shows we put up a display on the window boards at the library. We wanted something special as the centre-piece of our display and were lucky enough to meet local girl Grace Caldwell who expertly coloured in a picture of Hare for us. Here is a picture of Grace with her colouring at the centre of our display, thank-you Grace! You can see Grace's handywork in the window of Henley Library right up to the week of the festival. The festival runs from the 18th - 23rd July and both of our shows (The Hare & The Tortoise and Lucky Sods) are on all week. Tickets can be purchased from www.henleyfringe.org |  |
1st July 2011 -
Week one of Lucky Sods rehearsals is over and the show is shaping up to be an amazing one, we're so happy with how the cast are all working together. Our superb director Redvers Lawson has been in his element this week and we're confident that all of the hard work (his and ours) will come together on stage to create a great show. Tickets for both of our Fringe shows are selling fast so be sure to book yours soon. The best place to book is on The Henley Fringe website - www.henleyfringe.org, or you can also book from the Henley Fringe box office on 01491 578631. We're just getting the last few bits of set and props together before starting our second week of rehearsals and then The Fringe will be upon us before we know it...see you all there.
20th June 2011 -
We are delighted to announce the casts for our upcoming shows at The Henley Fringe. For our children's show, The Hare & The Tortoise we have Kimberley Eyles as Hare and Susanna Widenbar as Tortoise. Both of these actors are incredibly talented and we are delighted to welcome them to FalconGrange. Today was the first day of rehearsals for The Hare & the Tortoise and already it is shaping up to be an incredibly exciting show! For Lucky Sods we are delighted to welcome back some actors that have worked with us in the past. The cast is as follows - Madeliene Feather, John Doughty, Yvie Magee and Daniel Creasey. John and Madeliene are both extremely talented and we can't wait to work with them both again, we've always had so much fun working with them in the past and the results have been great so we're hoping for more of the same! Information about all of our actors, old and new, is up now on the FalconGrange People page.
14th June 2011 -
We had a great time at the auditions for The Hare & The Tortoise last week and were spoiled for choice with all of the talent that showed up! Today we have been out and about spreading the word about our two upcoming Henley Fringe shows and had a meeting at The Kenton theatre to try and sort out going back there to do another show. The last show we did there was such a success and we can't wait to get in there again. We've also put up all of the pictures from Round and Round the Garden in our gallery - be sure to check them out here.
8th June 2011 -
Busy, busy, busy. The Henley Fringe is fast approaching and we are getting set for the auditions for The Hare & The Tortoise this Friday. We are looking for excellent actor musicians as we want live music to play a big part in this production - we know how much the kids enjoy it. We are also fully cast for Lucky Sods, we are delighted to welcome back two people who have worked with us before - one fairly new face and one who we haven't worked with in a while. We are very excited to get started as it is such a great play and we think we have a great cast too. Check back soon for the full details. We have put up the fronts of our flyers for both shows on our home page - expect to see the real thing coming your way soon. We have to say a huge thank-you to a very talented friend of ours - Lisa Verrall - for creating the pictures for the Hare & The Tortoise flyer - we are so happy with them.
1st June 2011 -
Preperations are going well for our Henley Fringe shows and we have just started the casting process for The Hare & The Tortoise. The ticket system for this year's Henley Fringe is now fully live at www.henleyfringe.org. As well as the online ticket system there are 3 box office telephone numbers - 01491 578631, 0777 2541957 & 0777 2539885.
27th May 2011 -
After a little bit of time off we have started working in earnest on our next two shows. The flyer designs have been sent off to the printers and we should be getting them back soon. We will put a copy of each of the flyers up on the site for you to have a look at as soon as we get the proofs back from the printers. Last year both of our shows at The Henley Fringe sold really well and we are hoping that thanks to the support of our audiences this year's numbers will be even better. To ensure your tickets book early to avoid disappointment. You can book by clicking on 'Book Tickets' and following the link to the official Henley Fringe website. We hope to see you there.
18th May 2011 -
Well, it is the day of the last show of Round and Round the Garden and it all seems to have gone so quickly. The audiences in Henley were amazing, even better than we expected - we played to near capacity houses (which, we are told, is a rarity) on both nights and they really seemed to enjoy the show. Similarly, last night's audience in Haslemere was brilliant, even in such a big space the laughs from the audience filled the room. After tonight (or after a bit of a lie-in tomorrow I should say) we have to get straight back into work mode and continue our preparations for our two shows coming up at The Henley Fringe - Lucky Sods by John Godber and The Hare & The Tortoise - an Aesop's Fable that has been adapted for the stage. More information about both shows, including where you can book your tickets, can be found by clicking here.
10th May 2011 -
We are delighted to announce the two plays we will be presenting at The Henley Fringe festival this year - the hilarious comedy Lucky Sods by John Godber and The Hare & The Tortoise - an Aesop's Fable that has been adapted for the stage. Both shows will be on at The Henley Rugby Club, the same venue that we used last year. We found it such a great space for us to use as well as being very convenient for the audience as it has on-site parking and a great bar that will also be serving hot and cold snacks. This year the festival is running from Monday 18th July to Saturday 23rd July and as always, there is a wide variety of shows being put on. Lucky Sods will be performed daily at 7:00pm and The Hare & The Tortoise will be performed at 1:30pm & 4:30pm daily. For more information on the shows please click here.
7th May 2011 -
Week two of rehearsals done and the show is really coming together. When we're not in rehearsals we're busy making sure the set and costumes are going to be perfect. This weekend we have been finalising the last few bits of costume and putting the finishing touches on the set, we can't wait to see what it is all going to look like in the venues. We are back in rehearsals on Monday and are working through until opening night on Thursday in The Kenton. If you haven't booked your tickets yet be sure to book them soon to avoid disappointment, both venues are really filling up and we are confident we've got a show that you won't want to miss out on.
28th April 2011 -
Week one of rehearsals is at an end and we're having a blast already! The whole cast are great, working really well together and all working towards putting on the best show possible. We even got the opportunity to rehearse outside today and really soak up the garden atmosphere. We all got into our costumes for press photos this week and we'll put some of them up on the site for you to see soon. Speaking of costumes, we were very lucky to find Surrey Arts Wardrobe to help us in our quest for 70's clothes, they have such a great range that is all very well priced. You can check them out by clicking here. Now we have a few days off to learn some lines and watch a wedding. Don't forget, to get all of our latest updates you can follow us on Twitter by searching @FalconGrange.
23rd April 2011 -
After a long, hard search we finally have our cast for Round and Round the Garden and we are so happy with our new team. The standard at the auditions was very high and we wanted to, once again, thank everyone who applied, the decisions were not easy to make. You can read a little more about our newest cast members by clicking here. The full cast list is -
Norman - Austin Spangler
Tom - John Doughty
Reg - Daniel Creasey
Sarah - Natalie Hughes
Ruth - Bethany Thompson
Annie - Yvie Magee
15th April 2011 -
FalconGrange have joined Twitter. Click the button below to follow us and get our latest tweets.
Or you can follow us on Facebook by clicking below.
FalconGrange Productions
Promote your Page too
11th April 2011 -
We have just put up the biog of our new director Jo Harris, who we are very excited to be working with. Click here to read more about her. The auditions we held last week were very productive and we will hopefully be making some decisions this week. Be sure to check back soon to read the cast list in full.
4th April 2011 -
Casting is well underway for Round and Round the Garden and we have just sent out all of our invitations to our prospective actors. The auditions are being held over two days at the end of this week and we can't wait to get stuck into them. Thank you so much to all of the people who applied, we're just sorry that we don't have enough time to see everyone. Also, we have just secured the rights to the plays that we will be presenting at this year's Henley Fringe Festival...be sure to check back soon to find out what they will be.
28th March 2011 -
FalconGrange Productions in conjunction with The Kenton Theatre are delighted to be supporting the Jamie Colwell Fund. Jamie is a very cheeky, smiley 7 year-old boy. Jamie was born 10 weeks early and shortly after birth suffered a bleed to the brain leaving him with quadriplegic cerebral palsy. Surgery to help give Jamie a better quality of life is available in the US but is very expensive (with physio about £40,000). Any donations are gratefully received, you can donate and find out more about Jamie by clicking here - Jamie Colwell Fund. Please give generously, thank you.
24th March 2011 -
We have been very lucky to secure a venue for us to rehearse Round and Round the Garden in. While our studio has been amazing for us to use over the past 3 years this is a bigger production than any we have done before and we felt that we needed a bit more space to produce the best show we can. We will definitely have ample space for all of our needs at The Bisley Pavilion and can't wait to get all of our actors together in the space. To find out more about The Bisley Pavilion go to their website by clicking below.
23rd March 2011 -
We have been overwhelmed with the amount of submissions we have received for the casting of Round and Round the Garden. We are currently in the process of going through all of them, which could take some time, but we are confident that we will be able to complete a great cast from all of the people who applied. Auditions are being held at the beginning of April and we can't wait to see as many of the applicants as possible.
We have to say a massive thank-you to the very kind people at The Lightbox in Woking for allowing us temporary use of one of their spaces for the two audition days we have planned. Whether you're passionate about the arts and history, want activities and fun, or would just like somewhere quiet to relax and think, you'll find it all at The Lightbox, Woking's new gallery and museum. Check out their website by clicking below.
20th March 2011 -
The launch party for the Haslemere Festival was excellent. Hamish Donaldson had done a brilliant job of organising the event and it was great to see the amount of people that turned out. The programme of events for the main festival as well as the Haslemere fringe is well varied and packed with lots of quality events (us included of course!). At the end of the evening we had a lovely chat with the Mayor of Haslemere who wished us every success with our production and said she would definitely make the effort to come and see it. The support from everyone in Haslemere for both festivals is very apparent, especially at events like this one; it's great to see festivals like these really bringing the community together.
17th March 2011 -
We are now casting for Round and Round the Garden. If you would like to apply for a role please e-mail your details (CV, Headshot, Spotlight Link) to admin@falcongrange.com We look forward to hearing from you.
10th March 2011 -
Another thank-you to the people at Dragon Print for our posters, they can now be seen outside both theatres and are really helping with ticket sales...be sure to book yours soon.
20th February 2011 -
We are looking forward to attending the launch of the Haslemere Festival next month, it will be a great opportunity to meet everyone involved and really feel like the show is about to get underway.
12th February 2011 -
During our preparations for Round and Round the Garden we haven't forgotten about the Henley Fringe Festival! We have just secured the rights to another great play and are really excited about putting it on for Henley's amazing audiences. Check back soon for more details on our upcoming shows.
9th February 2011 -
A huge thank-you to Roger at Dragon Print for printing our show posters for Round and Round the Garden. We have posters in a variety of sizes, so expect to see them in and around your local venue soon.
25th January 2011 -
The designs for the Round and Round the Garden flyers have been finalised. We are sending them off to the printers later this week and hope to have them out to the theatres by the end of the month. Be sure to look out for them at The Kenton Theatre and The Haslemere Hall but before you pick up your copy you can have a sneak-peek here. This version shows the times and dates for both venues, we also have versions that are venue-specific.
16th January 2011 -
We have just uploaded the reviews from our latest productions - you can check them out on our new Reviews Page by clicking here.
9th January 2011 -
Tickets for Round and Round the Garden are selling fast even though we are still 4 months away from the show. Here are the links again for you to book yours -
The Kenton Theatre (12th & 13th May)
The Haslemere Hall (17th & 18th May)
5th January 2011 -
Work on the flyer for Round and Round the Garden is nearing completion and we have to say a big thank-you to the people at www.abeachcottage.com for allowing us to use an image of one of their suitcases on the front. Once the flyer is fully complete and has been sent to the printers we will put the images of the front and back on the website for you to all have a look at.
29th December 2010 -
We are happy to announce that technician Joy Iliff will be working with us again on Round and Round the Garden. We love working with Joy as not only is she excellent at what she does but she is always great fun to work with.
20th December 2010 -
Work on Round and Round the Garden continues and we are really excited to welcome a new member to our team. Jo Harris will be joining us as the director and we can't wait to start working with her. We first saw her work when she directed Planting David at Waterloo East Theatre and we were very impressed with what we saw. A bio for Jo will be going up on the site soon.
29th November 2010 -
Tickets for our forthcoming productions of Round and Round the Garden can now also be booked online via the following links -
12th & 13th May at The Kenton Theatre - click here
17th & 18th May at The Haslemere Halls - click here
20th November 2010 -
Tickets for Round and Round the Garden are already selling fast! The show may be six months away but that hasn't stopped people booking tickets already. Be sure to book yours soon to avoid disappointment.
8th November 2010 -
Tickets for our forthcoming productions of Round and Round the Garden can be booked now on the following numbers -
12th & 13th May at The Kenton Theatre - 01491 575698
17th & 18th May at The Haslemere Halls - 01428 642161
2nd Novemer 2010 -
FalconGrange are delighted to announce that we will be performing Round and Round the Garden, the classic comedy by award-winning playwright Sir Alan Ayckbourn. The play will be performed on the 12th & 13th May in the main house at the Kenton Theatre, Henley-On-Thames and on the 17th & 18th May at the Haslemere Halls, Haslemere. We are so excited to have been granted the rights to such an excellent, well-written play and can't wait to start working on it. Check back soon for more information and how to book tickets.
4th October 2010 -
We have finally got round to putting the pictures from our three latest productions up in our gallery. You can check out all the new pictures by clicking though to the gallery here.
30th September 2010 -
We've just got back from a very productive meeting with the directors at The Kenton Theatre in Henley. We've been keen to work with them for a while and we were delighted to find out that the feeling was mutual! Check back soon for more news on our forthcoming productions.
10th September 2010 -
We've had two more reviews for Bedside Manners you can check them both out by following the links below -
"Amazing Local Production! What Next?"
"An Actor's Circus Of Calamities"
8th September 2010 -
The lovely people at The Toddler Review have written a review for The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. You can check it out by following the link below, but be sure to check out the rest of their site for reviews and competitions for all the kids (both big and small) in your family!
4th September 2010 -
We were very lucky to have photographer Jonathan Hilder from Piers Photography come and take some production shots of Bedside Manners. We are delighted with the shots he took and will be uploading them to the Bedside Manners gallery as soon as we can. Check out the Piers Photography website to see some of Jonathan's work.
1st September 2010 -
As promised, here is the review for Bedside Manners as published in the Henley Standard -
There were trousers on the floor and wanton women sprawled over the beds; yes, FalconGrange Productions were back in town.
This slick, fast, ultra-professional troupe has already wowed us this year with two fine shows for the fringe, now they've added Derek Benfield's Bedroom Manners to their repertoire - and they've rocked the house again.
The house in question was The Green Room where FalconGrange played to capacity audiences on a four-night run of Benfield's marriage and infidelity farce.
The story: two couples meet in an out-of-the-way Fawlty Towers-like hotel for illicit fun. Everyone is called Smith and they are served by an unwilling and cynical concierge - played beautifully by the peerless Daniel Creasey.
The two women, played by Yvie Magee and Lara Lemon, and their partners, Martin Clark and Chris Lehec, work every possibility - and quite a few improbabilities - from the sometime obvious script. And they do it with such energy that it overrides any predictability.
Yes, during one 20-minute stretch the two men racked up a 100 per cent trouser deficit. And the double entendres and misheard words come thick and fast.
But when played with conviction these things don't matter and we are left with a sense of place, situation and character. Director Redvers Lawson has once more cut and shaped these actors; they throw themselves across beds, from room to room, in and out of bathrooms, with control and passion.
FalconGrange started their Henley appearances two years ago at the first Fringe festival when they played Two. Last year's Fringe saw Abigail's Party, and this year, just two months ago, brought sell-out performances of Teechers and The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch.
Henley has become their spiritual home: Bedside Manners again brought it full houses and they hope to do more in the future. Other professional groups might wonder how Yvie and Dan succeed at a time when getting anyone to the theatre is hard work.
Perhaps it's their level of professionalism - these people are the real deal. How about a residency at the Kenton? They deserve a bigger stage and they can pull a crowd.
25th August 2010 -
Bedside Manners is over and the show was a resounding success! We had excellent feedback from the audience and a glowing review that we will publish here soon. Everyone at FalconGrange would like to thank all of the people who came to watch the show, without your support we really couldn't do it (also there wouldn't be much point performing to an empty auditorium!). It is this support that we need in order to take our shows to the next level. In the future we are hoping to perform our shows in bigger venues on longer runs and we can only do this if people turn out to see them. We should also thank all of the people involved in the production - the cast were all wonderful and we can't thank them enough for all of their hard work and dedication, also another huge thank you to all of the people who helped with rehearsal space and the construction of the set and finally a thank you to Joy Iliff our technician for the run whose help was invaluable. Check back soon for more news on our next production, the planning is already in motion!
11th August 2010 -
Rehearsals for Bedside Manners are coming along excellently with the whole cast now desperate to put the show in front of a live audience! Unfortunately our studio wasn't quite big enough to accommodate the 2 hotel bedrooms and reception area that the play demands so we have had to rehearse elsewhere! After weeks of searching for a set that would fit the bill we decided it would be much better to have a bespoke one made for us to suit the plays' numerous entrances and exits. The construction of the set is now nearing completion and everyone is extremely happy with how it is shaping up, the cast can't wait to get their hands on it!
9th August 2010 -
Tickets are selling fast for Bedside Manners so be sure to book yours soon to avoid disappointment. You can book by calling the FalconGrange box office on 07789 991301 and your tickets will be sent out to you free of charge. Alternatively you can book online using a credit card (£1 booking fee per ticket) by clicking the links below.
2nd August 2010 -
We have two actors new to FalconGrange joining us for Bedside Manners. We are delighted to welcome Chris Lehec (playing Roger) and Martin Clark (playing Geoff). Rounding out the cast is the usual suspects of Yvie Magee (playing Helen), Lara Lemon (playing Sally) and Daniel Creasey (playing Ferris). To find out a little more about the two new FalconGrange actors be sure to check out their biogs and headshots on the 'FalconGrange People' page by clicking here.
26th July 2010 -
If you haven't already, be sure to join the FalconGrange mailing list for your chance to win two free tickets to our next show, Bedside Manners. To join our mailing list simply enter your information on the 'Contact Us' page of our website.
25th July 2010 -
The Henley Fringe is over for another year...and what a year it's been! The whole team at FalconGrange had so much fun at the festival and would like to say a huge Thank-You to everyone who came and supported us, we really couldn't do it without you. Preperations are now underway for our next show in Henley, which opens in just under a month. Bedside Manners by Derek Benfield is a hilarious comedy that will be performed in The Green Room, next to the Kenton Theatre, Henley-On-Thames from the 19th - 22nd August. Tickets are on sale now from our 'Book Tickets' tab or you can ring the FalconGrange box office on 07789 991301, we hope to see you there!
24th July 2010 -
As promised, here is the review of Teechers from this week's Henley Standard -
Schooldays: the best years of your life according to some idiot who must have peaked in his teens.
Not if you're sixteen, spilling over with hormones, in a sink school on a sunk estate. That's the recipe for John Godber's Teechers (sic) from the admirable FalconGrange Productions.
Godber wrote the piece in 1987 but things haven't changed. And FalconGrange, in the forms of Yvie Magee, Daniel Creasey and Lara Lemon, apply their exceptional energy, talent and skill to these ingredients to come up with a pacey comedy.
Every laugh hides a tear. We giggle at illiteracy, innumeracy and sexual frustration - what else can we do? Only cry!
Godber's style is to write in a series of short but linked sketches with a multitude of characters. This requires immense concentration and versatility from the actors and the director, Redvers Lawson, has drilled them well.
The cast is always convincing and invested in the character no matter how short-lived they may be in a scene.
This is another triumph from FalconGrange Productions who have become a Must-see at the Henley Fringe.
Teechers is at Henley Rugby Club all week.
Mike Rowbottom
22nd July 2010 -
Both shows are going down really well with the audiences in Henley. We have had a sneak preview of the review for Teechers and couldn't be more pleased with it, we'll post it here once it has gone into the paper (Henley Standard - Out on Friday). There are plenty of tickets for both shows at The Henley Fringe still available on the door. If you are having trouble booking tickets please call 07789 991301 and we will reserve some for you.
17th July 2010 
-
Today the FalconGrange team were in Henley to promote our shows on the official preview day for The Henley Fringe. The people of Henley were very keen to talk to us about Teechers and The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch and our excerpt from Teechers went down a storm with the locals. Some local children even got to meet Hamish the cat (pictured left with the rest of the cast). Ticket sales are going really well so make sure you book yours soon to avoid disappointment. To book tickets click here. We now can't wait to start our week of performances and hope to see lots of you there!
14th July 2010 -
Tickets have now gone live for our next show - Bedside Manners, a comedy by Derek Benfield. The show runs from the 19th - 22nd August at 7:30pm in The Green Room at The Kenton Theatre, Henley-On-Thames. All tickets are £10 and can be booked by calling the FalconGrange box office on 07789 991301, your tickets will then be sent to you, free of charge. Alternatively you can book online with a credit card (£1 booking fee per ticket) by clicking below on the day you wish to come.
12th July 2010 -
We were at BBC Radio Berkshire today for a live radio interview with Phil Kennedy. It was a great opportunity for us to plug the company and our upcoming shows at The Henley Fringe. A huge thank-you to Phil and all of the team. To hear our interview you can listen to it by clicking here (we're about 1hr 45mins in).
6th July 2010 -
FalconGrange Productions is delighted to announce it's next show! Returning to The Green Room at The Kenton Theatre in August, FalconGrange will be performing Bedside Manners by Derek Benfield. The show will run from the 19th - 22nd August 2010 and will start at 7:30pm, tickets will be £10 and will be available from the FalconGrange website soon. A bit about Bedside Manners -
When Ferris reluctantly agrees to look after his sister’s seedy hotel in the country while she is on vacation, he does not foresee the wild comings and goings that are to burst upon him one sunny spring evening.
Roger and Sally arrive for a secret rendezvous, Roger having left his wife Helen at home to care for the goldfish and Sally having left her husband Geoff to dig the garden. However, all does not go as planned when the hotel’s other two guests arive for their own romantic getaway!
Ferris soon becomes engulfed in a dizzy round of deceipt, confusion and bewilderment as he dashes around trying to prevent the inevitable meeting of husbands, wives and lovers in this delightful farce.
Be sure to check back soon for more details and to book your tickets!
5th July 2010 -
Rehearsals for Teechers got underway today and after a very productive stint in the studio we were all very pleased with the progress of the first day. We've got one more day of putting the main bits together before our director (Redvers Lawson) arrives to perfect the show with his expert eye!
2nd July 2010 -
Today was the last day of our Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch tour. While we may not miss having to lift the set in and out of venues twice a day we will certainly miss entertaining so many children on a daily basis. However, we won't have to wait too long as we will soon be back performing to (hopefully) packed audiences at The Rugby Club for the Henley Fringe!
30th June 2010 - 
Another week of our Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch tour is nearly at an end and we have just performed in the absolutely beautiful New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. The theatre itself is stunning, built in the 1800's it is soon to undergo refurbishment so it was both a pleasure and an honour to perform there. We played to a near-capacity audience of 460 who all enjoyed watching the show just as much as we enjoyed performing it! We now have only two more school's performances left and the tour is over, it all seems to have gone by so quickly! No rest for the wicked though, as soon as the tour is over we begin rehearsals for Teechers and can't wait to start!
28th June 2010 -
Ticket sales for The Henley Fringe Festival are going well for both Teechers and The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. Be sure to book your tickets soon to avoid disappointment! Click here to be taken to the Henley Trust's website where you can make your booking, or alternatively you can ring the festival box office on 01491 578631.
26th June 2010 - 
On a rare day off, some of the FalconGrange team (Yvie Magee, Daniel Creasey, Lara Lemon and Katherine Bower) were delighted to attend the wedding of another FalconGrange performer, Madeleine Feather. Maddie has performed with us in Shakers and Teechers and accompanied us on our last Cruise To The Riviera. The wedding took place in the stunning surroundings of Mylor Harbour, Falmouth and we would like to wish Maddie & Patrick all the best for the rest of their lives together. Unfortunately we don't yet have a picture of the happy couple, but in the mean time, here is a picture of us in our glad rags!
24th June 2010 -
The first week of our tour has come to an end and it has been a busy one! After opening at The Ropetackle Arts Centre we have played at The Clocktower Arts Centre in Croydon and done 10 school's performances. We are all exhausted but have had an amazing week performing in such a wide variety of spaces to such a wide variety of children. The feedback we are receiving is certainly testament to how much the children are enjoying the show, we have even had one child exclaim "it's the best show i have ever seen"!
17th June 2010 -
We were at Roptackle Arts Centre in Shoreham today for our first performance of The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch in a venue. We were delighted to see so many children had come to see us and from their reactions throughout they seemed to thoroughly enjoy it! It makes such a difference performing to such a large and responsive audience; it really adds another dimension to the show. A huge thank-you to all of the guys at the Ropetackle for the help they gave us on the day and the work they put in to ensure we had such a good audience.
16th June 2010 -
Today was the last day of rehearsals and our dress run turned into our first preview performance for a few classes at the Shalford Infant School. The run went well and was very much enjoyed by the children. We can't wait now to get this show on the road!
14th June 2010 -
We are now into our last week of rehearsals for The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. We are all really pleased with how well the show has come together and how well the studio has served us yet again! We're now off to Shalford Infant School for the last few days of rehearsals and a dress run in their school hall.
9th June 2010 -
We must say a huge thank-you to one of our current sponsors, LAS T-Shirts for providing us with FalconGrange branded Polo Shirts and Hoodies to use when we are promoting our shows. You will, no doubt, see us sporting them as we flyer the good people of Henley and attend other marketing events (pictures to follow). We are so pleased with how the designs for the tops have come out and the quality of the printing is great. Click the banner below to go through to the LAS T-Shirts website and see how easy and reasonable it is to have your own branded clothing.
5th June 2010 -
Tickets for Teechers and The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch at The Henley Fringe Festival are now on sale. Click here to be taken to the Henley Fringe Trust website. From the homepage simply select the day you wish to book for and then click 'BUY NOW' to purchase your tickets. Tickets can also be purchased over the phone through the festival box office on 01491 578631. We look forward to seeing you there and hope you enjoy the shows!
3rd June 2010 -
Rehearsals rumble on and today was the first day for musical director Carole Carpenter. Carole is amazingly talented at playing the violin and arranging music (among other things of course!) and adding live music to the story makes it all the more magical. Having practised the songs without the music so far, it was great to sing them with the accompaniment of the violin; you could almost say that before Carole, our whole lives were acapella!
1st June 2010 -
Rehearsals for The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch are finally underway! It was great to actually get working with the set and all of the puppets. It's going to be hard but very rewarding work to flesh out Mr & Mrs Grinling and bring the story to life.
25th May 2010 -
FalconGrange are teaming up with Pied Piper Theatre Company for our forthcoming schools and theatre tour of The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. We are delighted to be working with such a well-established company and such a talented director in Tina Williams. More information about Pied Piper Theatre Company can be found at their website here.
24th May 2010 -
We are doing a small tour of local libraries performing a free story time of The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. Bring the kids along to hear the story, meet Mr & Mrs Grinling, learn some of the songs from the show and take part in some fun craft activities. The dates and times for all of the library story times can be found at the bottom of the forthcoming show page for The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch here.
21st May 2010 -
We would just like to make a couple of quick thank-yous to some people who have helped us out over the last few days. Firstly a big thanks to Pressed For Time dry cleaners in Sonning Common for dry cleaning Mr & Mrs Grinling's curtains, they're sure to make The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch set look even more amazing! Check out their website here - www.pressedfor.co.uk Another big thank you to Dave from Print Room in Reading for providing us with his expert cutting services. You can check out the Print Room website here - www.print-room.co.uk
17th May 2010 -
Our search for a musician is finally over and we are delighted to welcome Carole Carpenter to FalconGrange Productions. Carole blew us away at the auditions with her musical talent on the violin and seems to be very enthusiastic about playing during The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. You can find out more about Carole at her website here - www.carole-carpenter.co.uk
15th May 2010 -
Today we had a visit from Lizzy Dive, a former Mrs Grinling, and Tina Williams (director) to show us how to put the Lighthouse set together. Seeing it all up and seeing how everything works was great - it really is a clever set! A big thank-you to Lizzy for helping to set it all up, we can't wait to start working on it.
12th May 2010 -
It was audition day today as we tried to finalise our choice for a musician to tour with us on The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. We were very impressed with the standard of all of the auditionees and wanted to thank them all for coming along. We should make a decision fairly soon and are happy that our search provided so much talent to choose from. Plans for the show in Henley in August are firming up...expect an announcement soon!
10th May 2010 -
Winter had not been kind to our humble little rehearsal studio so we spent today organising, dusting, hoovering and preparing it for the start of rehearsals for The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch on June 1st. After a hard day's work the FalconGrange studio is now ready and will, once again, become our summer home away from home.
5th May 2010 -
Booking for The Henley Fringe will soon be live on The Henley Fringe website - www.henleyfringe.org. Be sure to book your tickets early to avoid disappointment! As soon as the tickets go live we'll attach a direct link to the booking site for our two shows onto the news page and our home page.
4th May 2010 -
The jobs really are coming in thick and fast now! Whilst trying to organise both of our shows at The Henley Fringe Festival and trying to plan another show for August we've now been asked to perform at another festival in 2011. We are in talks with the festival organisers already and we are delighted to have been asked to join such a well-established and varied festival! More news about what, when and where we will be performing will follow as soon as it has all been confirmed.
3rd May 2010 -
Finally, after a lot of tweaking, both flyers for this year's Henley Fringe have gone to print. Once again, a massive thank-you to Marc and the rest of the guys at Low Cost Print for all of their help, we can't wait to see the finished article!
To check out how competitive Low Cost Print are, not only in price but also in quality, follow this link to their website - www.low-cost-print.co.uk
1st May 2010 -
As if we didn't already have enough work to do we're taking on some more! We are in the process of finding another play that we can stage in Henley in August and are extremely pleased with the thought of performing another amazing show in Henley. We've whittled a long list of potential plays down to just a few and are now pursuing the rights for them. We hope that the good people of Henley (and of course, the surrounding areas) will show as much support to this production as they have for all our others. Also, the preparations for The Henley Fringe roll on and it seems that July will be with us before we know it!
20th April 2010 -
Preparations for the Henley Fringe and our short schools tour are both well underway. After making the decision to employ a musician to play live music during The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch we have reviewed all of the submissions and will be auditioning the suitable candidates next month. There's still time to make a submission so if you are a violin or piano accordian player living in Surrey or the surrounding areas then e-mail us a copy of your CV to info@falcongrange.com We are nearing the final design for our flyers for The Henley Fringe. The fronts of both flyers can now be viewed on our home page.
7th April 2010 -
FalconGrange will be casting shortly for a musician to play live music during performances of The Lighthouse Kepper's Lunch. We are looking for a musician experienced in string instruments to join us on a short tour of schools and a week at The Henley Fringe. Please e-mail all applications to info@falcongrange.com with 'Lighthouse Musician' as the subject header. We look forward to hearing from you. 
6th April 2010 -
The cast of Teechers spent today taking press shots for the show. We were ably assisted by our photographer Josephine James and spent most of the day on the swings in our local playground acting like big kids (all in the name of research obviously!). More photos will folow shortly.
25th March 2010 -
Cast announcement for this year's Henley Fringe - Yvie Magee and Daniel Creasey will be playing Mrs & Mr Grinling (respectively) in our production of The Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. Lara Lemon is returning to FalconGrange to play Hobby in Teechers, accompanied by Yvie Magee as Gail and Daniel Creasey as Salty.
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 across the sea to the lighthouse. However, 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 ensure 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 that life at Whitewall High School will be a massive challenge. Cynical staff, a fanatical head teacher and disobedient students all combine in a blur of quick-witted and loveable characters with all twenty-one parts played by only three actors. Can Nixon and his students manage to make it to the end of term with their sanity intact? Are the school leavers prepared for the ‘real world'? Will Mrs Parry ever perfect The Mikado? Join Salty, Gail and Hobby in Teechers, a truly hilarious comedy, written by one of Britain's most popular playwrights.
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