The cast run through the play with just over a week to go, and ALL SOLD OUT!

Well here we are again! This time with a murder mystery (supper) theatre. Oddly, we've not produced one of these before but with the wealth of talent available, both on and off stage, we're well-placed to pull this off with aplomb! 

Lots of plans are being made to make this an original murder mystery evening - you can be sure that HAG will make it a terrific production.

Our cast are already rehearsing, and what a cast!

Newsreader- Gabriel Hearst

Caroline Maltravers - Antonia Demetriadi

Richard Maltravers - Peter Francis

Alice Maltravers - Carolyn Miles

Rebecca Maltravers - Joy Newman

John Cruickshank - Andrew Hillier

Susan Taylor - Caroline Morgan

Mary Wells - Lesley Nicholls

Alan Smith - Gerry Morgan

Dr. Harold Williams - Keith Robertson

On-stage Sound Technicians - Ray Johnson & Lindsay Elliott

What a fabulous production it was! The reviews were unanimously glowing and all the voluntary efforts by the cast and crew were well worth it. We had a celebratory curry after the Friday performance (spot special guest David Puttnam!).

 

The chalkboard photograph shows the names of the steam engines 'used' for each performance.

 

Thank you to everyone who came along to support us and show their appreciation. The set has been struck and all the technical equipment packed away. Even the cast have been stored in bubble wrap just so we can use them again in another production.

 

But wait! Even though the train has disappeared into the smoke we have auditions this week for the next production - Jack & the Beanstalk for January 2012! Coming soon - a green theme for this site...

After four months of rehearsals, creative work and meetings, Hartley Arts Group's production of The Ghost Train finally pulls in to the station at The Victoria Hall, Hartley Wintney!

We are thrilled with the result and cannot wait to perform it in front of the audience.

We have a truly excellent cast doing Arnold Ridley's play justice for this Halloween. Along with very creative lighting effects, we have some awesome sound effects and for the first time - video! We're grateful to The Watercress Line in Alton for allowing us to filn the opening segment on their line a couple of months back.

Some tickets are still available, but Friday is completely sold out.

Break those collective legs everyone!

It all happens here. No, Shakin Stevens doesn't come out singing but a succession of characters for the play. We're about to run through our final rehearsal - this time it's the 'trial' performance. Everything is run as per a live performance. This time tomorrow we'll be getting ready for our first public performance! What fun!

This afternoon sees our first performance in the Victoria Hall prior to the public staging from Wednesday this week.

The technical rehearsal is quite ambitious for this production - lighting, sound and video have to be tuned in unison to create the effect we're going for.

For the cast, it's their first run-through on the actual stage, albeit stop and start.

It's exciting and nerve-wracking all at the same time!

Here's a visual roll-call of our lovely cast!

Top row (L to R): Raith, Juliet, Gary, Jo.

Middle row: Jason, Peter, Brian.

Third row: Kevin, Carolyn, Andrew, Amy.

Plus we have the inimitable Shaun playing a part (but not on stage...in-ter-rest-ing, no?).

Rehearsals are going very well. This week we played in the sound effects in to the performances - they're rather huge! (both the performances and the sound effects).

This coming Sunday sees the first coat of paint applied to the set and another rehearsal, plus some filming for the show itself!

We're really pulling out all the stops with this show - we've rehearsed for a VERY long time, we've got a new video projection system, the lighting is experimental and the sound is being played out by additional speakers at the rear of the hall with an extra sub-woofer for those low-bass scares.

Be sure to get your tickets now as we're filling up fast - Saturday's matinee is a great call for those of you who have busy evenings... http://bit.ly/r30mwZ

What a great time we had!

Just a few photos of the evening. Thank you all for a lovely evening. Absent friends toasted!

Phew! Time flies, the Ghost Train can be heard coming down the line if you put your ear to the tracks!

We rehearsed again on the set, this time every line was delivered for all acts. So now it's tightening up to fit the allotted time for each act.