Shed Theatre

Sun 11 Dec 2005, 23:05

I am really disappointed that the Shed Theatre posting has made things personal. Every effort has been made on our part to avoid this. It is extremely important that rumour and speculation are not allowed to inflame the already difficult situation.

I do not think it serves any purpose to enter into a public tit-for-tat on a community website, so will not answer the serious allegations made in the previous posting in this forum. Suffice to say, they are misleading and factually inaccurate.

Nothing is more important to me than my continued good relationship with the parents, children and young people of Charlbury which is why I have now involved parents of children attending both organisations in a managerial capacity. It pains me that despite our best efforts, the young people involved in Centre Stage, Street Stage and Shed Theatre have now been caught up in the unpleasantness.

As Artistic Director of Centre Stage and Street Stage, I am available, and will be happy to speak to anyone who is concerned about the situation. I will answer any question and discuss any concerns. My telephone number is 01608 811269 (or email centrestage.charlbury@btopenworld.com).

Recent correspondence between Centre Stage/Street Stage and Shed Theatre will be made available to any parent who wishes to view it, including the eviction letter served on Centre/Street Stage by Shed Theatre on Sunday December 4, which co-incided with the new lock being put on the door.

Alternatively you may wish to contact Stuart Parker on 01608 810588. As joint Centre Stage/Street Stage Committee Chair with Tim Crisp, he has been involved in discussions with Shed Theatre to attempt to overcome the operational difficulties.

Please note that Sue Cochrane no longer has any connection with Centre Stage or Street Stage whatsoever.

Anneke Hay, Artistic Director, Centre Stage and Street Stage, Charlbury Youth Theatre Trustee and joint leaseholder.

Fri 9 Dec 2005, 19:39

Why were 16 children locked out of the Shed on Monday? We want to know. Chris Wray, Sue Cochrane and Trish Fraser, leaders, founders and trustees of Shed Theatre (formerly known as Charlbury Youth Theatre) are appalled that this has happened and cannot understand how it did.

The lock on the door has not been changed and the additional lock (which is long overdue for the security of the premises) was not in operation. Two Charlbury residents independently went to the Shed on Mon to ensure that this was so. At 11 O clock that same evening the Shed was again checked to ensure that access, via the original Shed key was available, and it was.

Why did Anneke's key not work on Mon, why did Anneke not contact one of us immediately, why did Anneke not go to Trish Fraser's house to obtain another Shed key, as she has so many times before? Why would Shed wish to cause any distress to children or parents of Centre Stage? We simply do not understand what is going on, especially as we wrote to Anneke to assure her of our commitment to Centre Stage and its access to the Shed.

We are all very proud that Shed Theatre has been running for fourteen years on a voluntary basis in Charlbury and fiercly protective of its good name. We are very sorry that such a breakdown has occured that allows children to be locked out, and we are available to any Centre Stage parent who wishes to contact us on 01993 844741.

Finally we now feel that we have to record that the breakdown in trust that has occurred between Anneke and the Shed leaders does not have anythimg to do with Centre Stage or any problems with the key.
We are constrained to give any information other than that the problems are of a deeply serious nature and have been ongoing for six months.

We are anxious to resolve this with the utmost urgency and invite Anneke, again, to contact any one of us as soon as possible.