Who says rugby players never have good ideas?
They did once, when they formed the NAGs in
January 1976! A few rugby players and their mates, hanging around the Tranzac
Club one winter night, decided to "start an acting group". And they did. Our
founding members were David Ridsdale, Maggie and David (the Fysh) White, Lorna
Miller, Pat Baker, Joe and Gail Wray, Bernie and Rose Duff, Zoe Jones and Peter
Daly.
These future thespians--Brits, Aussies, an
American and Canadians--brought a freshness and a devil-may-care approach to
their first productions, Cupid is a Bum,
Is a Bum, Is a Bum and Meet the Folks.
They even decided to open on April Fools Day (1976)!
In quick succession, they convinced the Tranzac
Club to extend its tiny stage to its current large size; they used Bernie's
metal workshop to build the sets; they scrounged a couple of French spots from
Lorna's Wax Museum; they coerced unlikely rugby players to act, stage manage
and produce the plays; they pillaged their homes for furniture and props and
clothing.
But, one special prop
was left to be built: a computer. And a computer in 1976 wasn't a small
desktop jobbie. Oh no. This computer was a large machine with flashing lights
and clicking noises and which would, on command, spew forth paper. The machine
was built in no time flat. It had painted dials, flashing lights and was
operated from inside by Bernie flicking switches on and off and pressing the
receipt button on an adding machine, thus producing the necessary noises and
paper. Bernie would crouch inside, smoking to pass the time--an added effect.
At the end of the play each night, they would extricate him and then physically
unfold him.
Corny as it may sound,
the NAGs' ability to let nothing stand in our way has stood us in good stead
down all the years. We've done amazing productions, like Joseph and the
Amazing Technicolour Coat, where our wardrobe mistress hand-sewed a
coat that even Donny Osmond would have been proud to wear. We've been writing
great Pantomimes for 28 years, peopling them with the most eccentric set of
characters found this side of the Grimm Brothers and building delightful
fairy-tale sets that would be at home at the O'Keefe (oops, the
Hummingbird...). We stage comedies, thrillers and melodramas. There's nothing
we won't try. We've matured from a bunch of "rough diamonds" to a
well-honed community drama group that consistently strives for excellence in all
its productions. We're very proud of our achievements. And we have a lot of
fun into the bargain.
We have been blessed with players who keep coming back for auditions (thank goodness), brilliant set designers and constructors, inventive producers and fabulous directors. Most of all, we've had audiences that the Royal Alex would kill for. They come back year after year. They laugh at our comedies, ooh and aah at our sets, shriek at our murder-mysteries, hurl abuse at our panto 'baddies', cheer our panto 'goodies' and seem to have a great time.
We're an integral part of the Tranzac Club and have helped out with Caravan, the Fringe Festival, Flying Cloud and other groups who entertain people and support the arts. We donate the proceeds of our pantomime matinées to charities such as Variety Village and Kids Help Phone.
We're always looking for new blood, so please get in touch with us if you'd like to join us. You'll learn a lot about theatre while working with a great group of people.