| Performance info | Where: - People’s Theatre Stephenson Road
When: - Tuesday 12th to Saturday 16th October at 7:30pm each evening
Tickets: - Tickets are available at the People’s Theatre Box Office on (0191) 265 5020 at a cost of £8 adult and £6 concession (discount available for groups).
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The play, which was turned into an Oscar winning movie, is set in the 18th Century which proves quite a task for the People’s costume and props team. Rosie Firth, who is head of properties for this play, says that working on Amadeus is “fun” especially because “there’s a scene when we have to turn everything gold” – quite a challenge! Rosie who joined the People’s last December is working with Sarah Watson, who joined the theatre in January, and Helga McNeil, who joined the People’s in 1972. They all became involved with the production after director, Anna Kelly, headhunted them.
 | | Period seating for Amadeus |
Props is a very challenging role within the production – making a lot of period pieces takes a lot of time and patience, not to mention creativity. Rosie thinks she’ll spend about “sixty to seventy hours” on this play before curtain up, but creativity is what Helga enjoys: “I’m working between props, sets and costumes.” Rosie’s most exciting moment, working on props for the play which charts the life of Mozart, is going out to watch the last half of the show saying “it feels wonderful!” When asked, what the most difficult prop to find, all of the team agreed - an "eighteenth century wheelchair", because they “didn’t know what it looked like!” | "The most difficult prop: an eighteenth century wheelchair" | | Rosie Firth |
There’s not just props to be made – designing and making the costumes for a period play is “exciting and rewarding” says Dianne Edwards, a volunteer at the People’s Theatre working as head of wardrobe. Dianne is costume designer for Amadeus and along with her crew is making virtually all costumes for the thirty strong cast. Dianne became involved with the wardrobe department because she was “always interested in costume!” She became involved with Amadeus because “a large production required someone to head a team.” Although working in a local library, Dianne still finds time to contribute over “sixty hours” to the production inside the theatre, adding that she’s “already spent two days at home making costumes along with another member of the team contributing the same!”
 | | Dianne Edwards sorting costumes |
Dianne enjoys wardrobe because it lets her “use creativity that I don’t use in my working life.” When asked what she likes best about Amadeus, Dianne says it’s “very interesting because it’s a play about real people in history – a slant on how events could have been.” Dianne also works closely with Keith Wigham who has made thirty wigs for actors to wear on stage! Although, everyone will be exhausted after Amadeus, there’s further productions to work on – Dianne, Rosie, Sarah and Helga are all involved in this year’s Panto in December!
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