The year 2000 brought a change in Chairman of the SLT for the first time in my memory of the Club and I was rather taken aback to discover that John Anderson favoured me to step into his shoes. After much hesitation and discussion, I agreed to stand with the proviso that he would be around for help and advice. The news of John's subsequent accident came as a nasty shock and I sure everyone will agree that we're very glad to see him recovered and setting his usual good example of attending every production. I would like to take this opportunity to thank John on behalf of all of us for all his years of hard work on behalf of SLT.
Several of the officers on General Council were new to their respective jobs this year and there has been a steep learning curve to negotiate, not least for myself. A fairly large proportion of 2000 has been spent gaining enough knowledge to keep us on an even keel in order that we can progress in the coming year.
The year has seen a large amount of "behind the scenes" work for General Council, not least of which has been spent dealing with the various authorities who have decided to tighten their procedures and has meant a series of inspections from health and safety and fire safety officers. There is still work to be done, as always with our building, but we are making progress. Unfortunately, this has meant a couple of projects have been put on hold such as the foyer refurbishment plan, but rest assured (especially all those of you who have raised funds so successfully) that this has not been forgotten.
The year 2000 also saw another of our best-known members making what I'm sure was the very hard decision to step down from her many positions. Frances Walker has worked tirelessly for the SLT for more years than is probably polite to mention and we will miss her in many departments. I do hope she enjoys her well-earned rest!
Sadly, I also have to report the deaths of three of our members since the last Chairman's report: Leslie Lidyard, John Cooke and Barry White. All three were extremely well-known and long-standing members of the Club and I'm sure everyone will join me in sending our best wishes to Ruth, Sheila and Linda. They will be greatly missed.
On a lighter note, we took part in the Open House scheme this year again and spent a weekend receiving many visitors, some of whom became audience members. The Sunday in particular was extremely busy with up to six groups of people taking the tour at once. This scheme seems to be becoming more popular every year and the publicity generated is extremely useful. We look forward to participating in the year 2001.
The SLT was also able to host a Gala evening in October, on the first night of the BT Biennial production of "Sandcastles", and we were very pleased to welcome Clare Whelan, the Mayor of Lambeth, as our guest, together with a variety of other local councillors, representatives of other community groups and local businesses. Some good contacts came out of this evening and we hope to stage another in the forthcoming year. BT have since announced however that they will not be sponsoring any more biennials as they feel that the idea has run its course over a period of 10 years. Whilst this is regrettable, it has been an interesting project and it was certainly a pleasant change to see big business supporting amateur theatre.
Whilst on the subject of support, we have seen a worrying trend which only appears to be getting worse rather than better, of a serious lack of support amongst the membership for each other. By that I am referring to the audience figures. There has always been a small core of members who try to attend every production and that kind of commitment is certainly not expected from every member but I would ask all those who do participate in productions and expect members to come and see them - are you reciprocating? I am also a firm believer that something can be learnt from every single production and if any of us are serious about what we do, we should always be looking for opportunities to improve and learn.
Another point of concern relates directly to the above, which is a lack of respect for the Club as a whole. There is a growing amount of rubbish being left around the building, props and costumes being borrowed and not returned, membership subscriptions being paid 6 months late even though the facilities were still being used, members not turning up for auditions and, worse, rehearsals. The SLT is not just about those of us who take on an officer post, but about every single one of us. The attitude of doing "just enough" or "it's not my job" is becoming more prevalent, and I would urge everyone to question whether they could do more.
Having said all of the above, we had a good turnout for the clearout of the Rehearsal Room and although it occurred in 2001, I would like to mention the hard work and commitment that was shown by those who helped make the Prompt Corner and Stage Manager's Room clearouts a success. The number of people who gave a small amount of their time made this day not only productive but also fun.
July of 2000 saw SLT have our usual spot at the Lambeth Country Show and whilst we probably had the windiest two days of that month meaning keeping our stands vertical was not easy, we made some more good contacts and gained a lot of local interest. Again, we hope to be taking part again in the coming year.
I must finish by thanking all the members of General Council in what has been quite a hectic year, and all those who have put their time and effort into officer posts in wardrobe, box office, the members club, the technical departments, fundraising and the archives. Without the dedication of all these members, the Club simply wouldn't function and I hope that all of them will stay on for the coming year.
Helen Chadney
Chairman
helen.chadney@southlondontheatre.co.uk
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