The 2011 AGM was very successful - we think it had something to do with holding it in a bar!! Below are the minutes from the meeting. Thanks to everyone who came to be involved in the society.
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of ‘Atlantic Coast Theatre’
Held at Lillico’s, Bridge Buildings, Barnstaple on Monday 17th October 2011
25 members of the society were present and 2 non-members, which meant the meeting could commence. Apologies were received from Theresa Bartlett and Miranda Wyre.
1. Minutes of the 2010 AGM
Proposed by Sue Goodenough and Seconded by Lynda McLaughlin that they were a true record. Unanimously agreed.
2. Treasurer’s Report
Copies of the audited accounts were issued (attached).
Barbara presented the Accounts to us, as prepared by David Crick. Barbara reported that we started the year with approximately £18,000 and finished with approximately £13,000 in the bank. Due to problems with Committee members and Production Team members having to pay out alot of their own money this year it was decided to change the bank account to the Co-operative who will allow us a debit card. There were no questions concerning the accounts. Barbara requested that we buy David Crick a bottle of port as he audits the accounts for free. Unanimously agreed.
3. Adoption of Accounts and Nomination of Auditor
It was proposed by Ian Goodenough and seconded by Julie Scott that the accounts be adopted.
It was proposed by Julie Scott and seconded by Andy Andrew that David Crick should continue as the society auditor. Unanimously agreed.
4. President’s Report by Val Lambeth
Hello everyone, welcome and thankyou for coming. It seems people prefer this venue to a draughty school hall.
First I'd like to say what a privilege it is to have been your president for another year even though I didn't expect to do six months of it as a solo act. It's a great society and a very hard working committee and I am proud to be a part of it.
I think it's been a specially exciting year because of our choice of shows.From the word go we knew that it was a risk to do "the producers" but we just couldn't let it pass us by. And there's nothing wrong with being self-indulgent now and again.We really wanted to do it and that determination paid off in bucket loads................ Maybe not financially, we did make a loss as expected,BUT in every other way it was a towering success.
From the critical acclaim you certainly can't be left in any doubt that everyone who saw it loved it.Just not enough people saw it!! People are still talking about how good you all were. what a fantastic show, best thing they've ever seen, fit for the west end etc.etc.
Of course that was down to the people involved and by that I mean everyone. It's not just down to having a hugely talented cast, which it was, but a whole jigsaw puzzle of people who fitted together to form a perfect picture.
The musical director, choreographer and director are always the ones you think of first, and quite rightly so because it's their idesa and vision which make the framework and the building blocks.
Musically the show was fantastic because Cat and Paul worked so hard and made everyone live up th their high standards.Sarah's choreography was stunning,as always,and again she just expects that everyone will be able to come up to scratch, so they do. There is no lowering the bar,she gets the best out of everyone because they want to please her they try hard and they succeed.
Then as directors go, Jake is at once a genius and a risk taker. He comes up with superb, different and seemingly impossible slants on things. But he just be just knows what's going to work and because he believes 100% in everyone around, him he makes us all believe in ourselves . And it works.
But even Paul, Sarah and Jake couldn't have done it without someone else and that was Katie.
Well you cant do "the producers" without a producer!! She was the whole scaffolding that held it together whilst it grew to completion.She worked quietly in the background, well maybe not always quietly,but she kept everything going, got problems sorted, kept people informed and generally made sure that the team could get on and concentrate on the big stuff.
And of course as I previously said, A hugely talented cast prepared to give their all plus a bit more besides. just because they wanted to be a part of it. From a leading lady who danced most of the week on a sprained ankle , right down to all the little old ladies who stole walking frames out from under unsteady relatives just so that they could rehearse properly.
So, we made a financial loss but it was more than out-weighed by the success that matters.
Then hot on the heels of "the producers" and without time to pause for breath, came the summer season at Croyde.
"What a Relief 2011" was written, filmed rehearsed, costumed and staged in 2 weeks flat.
You might say " how was that possible?" I don't know maybe MAGIC.
Once again Croyde was home to a bit of AM- DRAM history in the making.
The show itself was so progressive with lots of video work as well as live performance and even the two done simultaneously which was hilarious.
A game show involving audience participation and a real time vote for the sketch ending.
You wouldn't get better than that on SKY.
AND all put together in the 2 weeks following the "producers"................... HOW??
Well only because of the hard work and talents of Ian and Martin who dreamt it up, wrote it and filmed it and obviously can survive without sleep.
The whole cast, which never seemed to be the same 2 weeks running,had a fabulous time, as did the audiences. We not only turned a healthy profit but have an invitation from Croyde Hall committee to go back in 2012 for another season.
With 2 productions taking so much time and energy it didn't leave room for any major fund raising events which we will have to concentrate on next year.
But there was a very successful xmas party organised and I believe MC'd in a brilliant way by Martin. Who also organised and hosted the "End of Summer Season Party"
That leads me on to what is the most important thing to come out of this year.
There are lots of buzz words I could use like,PRO-ACTIVE, HANDS- ON, DYNAMIC ETC ETC.
But what I really mean is not just little old ladyville invading Barnstaple..............although that was quite HANDS - On from what I heard. But it's the stuff in the background, people wanting to be involved on more than just a performance level.
The night of the Summer season party to me really explains that. WE had cast, crew, family and an age range from 60's down to toddlers. All chatting together, the lads singing accapella, songs which were the era of the oldies. Just everyone getting along and having fun,.
To me that's what Braunton Productions used to be and now ACT has become.
We have values, family involvement, nurture and Friendship. That's us, that's Atlantic Coast Theatre.
And I know on a personal level how much that means because I can't finish this report on the year without without talking about our losses.
We lost Tom Sampson who was one of us forever and he will always be missed.
And we also lost Martyn, half of your president and half of me.
Martyn only joined BP because of me, but once the kids were old enough for him not to be supporting me by babysitting he supported me by being backstage.
Of course Martyn being Martyn he soon realised he loved it and before long he was stage manager, set builder and committee member. He loved BP and was so proud when his idea for the choice of new name was taken up.You are all going to miss him. I miss him every day.
But the point I want to make is this.
Martyn was part of something special, we all are. That is Atlantic Coast Theatre. It is a family, we stand for great things, we do great things, but above all we care about each other.
I couldn't have got through the last six months without the support of my friends, so thankyou all.
Long Live ACT
5. Chairman’s Report by Ian Goodenough
First off I want to congratulate and thank everyone for the excellent job done on this year's shows. The Producers was indulgent, but awesome and The Summer Season surprised it's audiences for all the right reasons!
ACT's committee and production teams have outdone themselves with what we've produced this year. Thankyou all.
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I'd like to start by giving my heartfelt thanks to my fellow committee members for working so hard to help make ACT the vibrant and exciting society it is becoming. You could have decided to all. Sit back and do nothing, but because you all cared about it so much, you've made it great.
This year there are three members of the committee who will not be standing for re-election for various reasons.
Vicky was our fund-raising officer, but as some of you know she's moved to Swindon - the heart wants what it wants, but we're losing a great asset and we wish her all the best.
Martin has been on the committee for 3 years (?), and when we became hwr'ACT' he took on the mantle of Membership Officer. He's done a brilliant job and has been incredibly pro-active, managing the membership both financially as well as getting lots of crazy social events going - from which we all have dubious memories!
And then we have someone liwho's been on our committee kfor ever. Am I right Julie? Julie has been our secretary through good times and bad and has been a real stalwart, and someone who's ear I have bent on many occasions, and will continue to do so! As such a long serving committee member we wanted to say an extra special thankyou for serving ACT and Braunton Productions for so long...
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But I'm here to tell you about how we're moving forward into our next year, and chief for most of you is the productions we're staging.
So number one is Acorn Antiques the Musical, and anyone who went to see the production in Newport last month knows that we've got a great show to produce. Let's face it, they weren't that great a cast, and we were still wetting ourselves with such a good script... So just think what the audiences will think when we get our hands on it!!
It's going to be important for ACT in a few ways. First off it's the first show for ages that has been led by female characters, unlike shows like The Producers that were dominated by men - and let's face it we've got a large number of talented ladies in ACT who deserve a look in at some decent lead roles.
Second it's carrying on ACT's character of doing more modern shows, something which sets us apart. It's not an easy choice for us to make from a box office point of view, but we do it well.
And thirdly it's going to be a much smaller budget, simply because of the facts that it's a single set, and simpler wardrobe and a much smaller cast - limited to 19 or 20.
That'll be followed up with another season in Croyde - they were desperate for us to come back again next year, so much so that they've volunteered to help sell tickets from various locations in the village which will help commit audience members to come along.
Acorn has it's production team in place, and the Summer show has a couple of members on board already.
Keep an eye on the website, newsletters and Facebook for news of a little party to introduce Acorn Antiques to you all in the next couple of months - particularly as it's relatively unknown to anyone under 35!
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In my first couple of years as Chairman I've been focusing a lot of my attention on the 'branding' and identity of ACT - I guess that's my design background! But as we move into this next year, my plan is to focus more of my attention on fundraising, so that we can indulge ourselves again in the future!
I'll be working closely with the Fundraising officer to promote our shows to potential sponsors, but we also have a plan for a couple of larger fund-raising activities to involve the rest of the society too.
Firstly an idea we bounced around a couple of years ago to set up a sponsored even anyone can get involved in along the lines of a 12 or 24hr dance-a-thon. This will be set up so anyone can do a stint, or the whole thing. Having a laugh and raising sponsors who want to see us sweat!
On a larger scale we will also be staging another sponsorship event in which several of our members will be climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. This will be a big deal, with hopes of netting lots of sponsorship money from sources that a smaller event could not, as well as giving us oodles of material for PR opportunities.
News about both of these events will emerge as the new committee formulate them, but we'll be counting on everyone to get involved somehow - even if it's supporting from the sidelines with a glass of squash and a few more sponsors. Every penny will count over the next year.
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Finally I want to tell you about another exciting venture the committee have been investigating over the past few months, and that is a potential joint venture with local youth group, The North Devon Allstars. We have a few representatives with us here this evening.
As most of you know the Allstars are a relatively new society in the area that have been making some noise with some brave and successful productions, the last of which was 'Peter Pan' in July.
The whole idea came about when Tolley and I were chatting and not paying attention during a rehearsal for The Producers and we realised that we were two societies with almost exclusive memberships (except for Bordan)! It seemed a good thought that as such we could be stronger if we were to bring all our members together in some fashion.
We each have our own strengths and weaknesses and after our two committees met a couple of months ago, we mutually decided to explore the idea further.
Right now nothing has been decided as both societies needed to get their respective AGMs out of the way, but in the next couple of months we plan to meet again to try to put together a proposal to take to both memberships for approval (or not!).
So it's basically a case of watch this space until we have something more concrete to present to everyone. If we do agree on a plan, ACT will call an EGM to get a membership vote on whether to go ahead or not.
It's an exciting idea, and it will mean a lot of work on both sides to pull it off, but it has the potential of making us a pair of kick-ass societies!
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That's it. I've droned on for long enough. You're bound to have Questions about some of the stuff I 've been talking about, but if you could hold onto them til the end we can all have a good chin-wag!
6. Proposal to raise membership fees
Sue Goodenough said that last year we reviewed and raised subs. Should we be doing that this year? Some members asked if the time was now appropriate to put up subs in line with other societies. Marsh Pullen said that Operatic were looking to put theirs up to £30 plus. Barbara pointed out that if subs were kept low we are able to go back to the membership to ask for fundraising support. Marsh said we are better value for money than the other societies.
Barbara suggested £20. Marsh Pullen proposed it and Lynda McLaughlin Seconded. The Meeting all agreed except two members to put the subs up from £15 to £20 per year.
7. Discussion of matters at the discretion of the Chairman
Jake wanted to let the meeting know that after Acorn Antiques he will be stepping down as Director as he does not want to be in the way of anyone else who wants to direct. A.C.T. gave him his start and he hopes that there will be others who would like to venture into directing. He is of course available if required.
Andy Andrews thought that for the Summer Season it would be a good idea if it was organised earlier so that those members who are not in Acorn Antiques might get the opportunity to get involved. Ian confirmed that this was being looked at.
Allen Oliver asked whether it was possible to take the Summer Season on tour after it finishes at Croyde: maybe with a cut down version? Marsh pointed out that it is harder than it looks to take it on tour. It is not easy to find venues with the right facilities.
Andy wondered if it was worth splitting our time in the Queens Theatre as with Kisses on a Postcard, unfortunately it would work out more expensive and most people felt that it was preferable to do the show in one week apart from the logistics of moving the set in and out of the theatre.
8. Election of Executive Committee for 2011/2012
There were three vacancies as Vicky Cain, Martin Youngs and Julie Scott have stepped down. Sarah King was the only nominee for Secretary and Michelle Stott was the only nominee for Membership Secretary so both were duly elected. There were two nominees for Fundraising officer: - Hayley Grebby and Karen Tithecott. The membership present voted and Karen was duly elected. Therefore the following members were elected:
- Chairman: Ian Goodenough
- Treasurer: Barbara Haywood
- Secretary: Sarah King
- Membership Officer: Michelle Stott
- PR Officer: Holly Bransby
- Fundraising Officer: Karen Tithecott
Val Lambeth was also invited to be our President for another year. She duly accepted.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 8.40pm
