The title of our recently read play "Death by Chocolate" was a little daunting, given some of our members were looking forward to Easter and the abundance of chocolate that would be available. The play was far removed from the pleasant  partaking of such delight by participants in Benalla!

Set in a newly renovated health resort and following the unexpected death of famed chef Edith Chiles, slick and cynical  manager John Stone teamed up with mystery writer Ed Parlor to find the cause and the murderer, in a crazy race against time.  Clues pointed to a sinister box of chocolates and a variety of suspects from the outlandish characters working at the resort. 

An American play combining comedy and mystery, "Death by Chocolate" highlighted the talent of our newcomers, who embraced their roles with  flair and enthusiasm.   

Discussion that ensued decided that the Brits take the honours for comedy rather than American based shows.

Next month our play is  set on a Queensland station following the war.   "Here under Heaven", by Australian writer Mona Bond, deals with racism and gender bias  in the 1940's.  Look forward to seeing you all in May.

Jenny McKenna

Well, it was a first!   There was almost a full complement of attendees, including newcomers, all keen to enjoy our latest selection, when the news was announced.     The plays from the Victorian Drama League, always so reliable, had not arrived.

We compromised!   We made the most of the opportunity to enjoy each other’s company and discuss plays and shows that we had seen, and in new member Brian’s case, had performed in.  Information was provided of upcoming performances in the area and the possibility of members attending live shows in the future.

We are now looking forward to reading the errant play from last month, “Death by Chocolate”, at our next session on Wednesday 6th April, 9.30 am – 12 noon.  What a way to go!

​Jenny McKenna

Our first play reading for the year bought together some members from previous years and a number of new participants were also welcomed.

The play chosen was “The Putting Down of Ned Kelly” by Len Kenna. The first public performance of this play was in Benalla during the Felix Festival in April 1995. John Ellis was able to present signed memorabilia of the occasion and refer to the part Benalla Theatre Company played in the production.

The play tells the story of part of Ned’s life, his trial and his execution. It is also the story of pure political power and about men who were prepared to go to any lengths to protect their positions and to deflect attention from their own activities. It is also a story about today and tomorrow, for as long as men strive to rule and put their own interests ahead of the community: dishonesty, injustice and exploitation will become the order of the day.

It is also the story of a mother who is serving a three-year prison sentence with hard labour in the same prison as her son, Ned, who is awaiting execution. However, she cannot go to him, help him or comfort him in any way.

Although a short play, all attendees had an opportunity to read and show their skill.  Lively discussion ensued at the completion of the reading and some interesting stories, passed down through generations, were relayed of incidents and meetings with Ned that occurred at the time.

Next month our play is “Death By Chocolate” by Paul Freed.  A classic murder mystery with a scathing satire of today's health crazes. Should be fun!

​Jenny McKenna

Six members were present this month to read our chosen play with the very long title The Haunted through Lounge and Recessed Dining Nook at Farndale Castle.   Part of the inimitable Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswoman’s Guild Dramatic Society, this was the second time we have enjoyed the Guild’s Dramatic society.   Both times the attempt to put on a play by the Guild provides complete chaos by the cast, still rehearsing when the curtain goes up.

Described as a sinister, spine chilling mystery of murder and mayhem guaranteed to bring the house down, we all agreed, performed on stage, it certainly would and probably half of a flimsy set!    The readers excelled in their roles and laughter was the order of the day.    Great fun.

Our last play reading for the year will be a one act play before we retire to Rambling Rose to celebrate before the Christmas break, hope to see you all there.
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Jenny McKenna

Our Play Reading group numbered seven this month, nonetheless some very competent performances were presented.   We read Falling from Grace, a play written by noted Australian playwright Hannie Rayson.   The play portrayed female power in medicine, media and the office, positions held by best friends in the professional world.   While juggling careers, families and lovers the friendships are tested.   An enjoyable play which produced much discussion about offensive language in modern theatre and what is appropriate.   

November promises to be a month with fewer COVID restrictions, we may even be able to have a coffee!

Our condolences to fellow member Pat on the passing of her dear husband.  Our thoughts are with you, Pat.

Jenny McKenna

Lovely to catch up with our members in August, although a somewhat disrupted year, thoughts go to those who work in live theatre.   How difficult it has been for so many, yet plans have continued when able and hopes remain high for future productions.  Perhaps next year we may be able to attend some local performances.

Our enthusiastic group embraced the reading of the play, A Lady Mislaid.   First performed in the 1950’s and written by Kenneth Horne, the story involved two unmarried sisters renting a country cottage, seeking peace and quiet whilst one was recovering from a nervous breakdown.  Within a short time police arrive and start looking for the dismembered wife of the previous tenant. Their quiet life becomes chaotic when the meek and timid husband of the supposed victim, arrives.   Classed as a comedy thriller the play provided many amusing incidents, which all agreed would be delightful when performed on stage.

Unfortunately, due to lockdown we will be unable to meet for Playreading on September 1st. 

Keep well, enjoy the sunshine and the colours and beauty of Spring.

See you all in October!
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Jenny McKenna

Due to various circumstances, we only had six members present for our playreading in July.

Speech and acting abilities were challenged, and the group responded admirably. Several members adapted to playing the roles of two characters and genders.   The play chosen was Money and Friends by the inimitable playwright David Williamson.   The play revealed the clash between materialism and ideals and the reaction of friends when confronted with the choice.

Well, aren’t we fortunate to not be involved with live theatre, so much work behind the scenes, and so disappointing for so many who have had to cancel performances. After cancelling our last Play Reading session, do hope we can meet up again on the 7th.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to our very versatile reader Patsy Bollard, who has been confined following a fall.

​Jenny McKenna

Numbers were down for the May class of Play Reading, but undeterred the show went on! Thanks to Joy for managing the morning.   

The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society again bought many laughs and lots of talent with the society’s version of Macbeth attempting to get them to the Welwyn Garden City Finals.   All events conspired hilariously against them.  

For our next session we may attempt one of David Williamson’s thought provoking plays on Australian life.    Newcomers welcome.

Jenny McKenna

Eight keen readers participated at our April meeting.  We read from the play Crown Matrimonial.  A thought provoking and interesting play set in Marlborough House between 1936 and 1945 focusing on the private family drama of Edward VIII and the Royal Family leading to the abdication.  The play portrayed the major constitutional crisis and the private and public conflict that ensued.

There was much discussion on the completion of our read, comparing present day conflict involving Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.   Jill also provided us with historic information on a number of members of the Royal Family in relation to the family tree.

Next month, on John's suggestion, we plan to read the hilarious The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomens's Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of Macbeth.  Some members will recall we read this play some time ago and we all went home smiling!

Jenny McKenna

The curtain rose in March for our first gathering for the year.   Seven participants keenly took part as we read from the chosen play, "But Why Bump Off Barnaby?" by Rick Abbot, a comedy thriller with a variety of characters.   Readers quickly adapted to the part they were reading, showing their talents with aplomb as they portrayed their particular role.   There were challenges galore, the play required heroes, baronets, detectives, movie stars, maids, butlers and more from whence people were poisoned, vanished and murdered before the murderer was eventually unmasked!  Talent and laughs abounded!   

Next month the chosen play is Crown Matrimonial, an engrossing play detailing the story of Edward the Eighth and his abdication. 

​We look forward to another morning of good company and good cheer.

Jenny McKenna

After a long period of recess which involved most of 2020, members are looking forward to a year of creating our own "live theatre"!    With some new members coming on board, our numbers have increased and our first get together will be on Wednesday 3rd March 9.30 at the U3A meeting room.
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Jenny McKenna

Welcome old and new members to U3A Playreading group. Unfortunately we will be unable to have access to the meeting room in February due to renovations, therefore our first get together will be on Wednesday 3rd March.

Scene 1    U3A  Meeting room, clock showing 9.30.  Participants wander in, new members welcomed by old members.  All look very enthusiastic, in various states of dress.

Scene 2    Members seated and chat congenially as convenor explains general procedure with Play Reading

Scene 3    Play books distributed to members, play perused and readers chosen

Scene 4    Characters read from play books with much pizzazz!

Short Interval (Due to COVID our usual break for tea and coffee is not available)

Scene 5    Reading resumes before completion and final curtain about 12 midday.  

I’m really looking forward to our first meeting.  

If you have any queries, please ring or email me.

Jenny McKenna 0490144603

Our first gathering for the year was an opportunity to welcome new members and catch up with former participants.  We commenced the session with a one act play “Bright Side”, a light-hearted play which highlighted the many hiccups that occur when putting on a show and the complications and challenges that can be overcome by often desperate means!   

As a result of the shorter play we did have some time to discuss ideas for further plays and activities.  It was decided in future, members contribute $5 to assist with postage and hiring of plays, also discussed was the possibility of attending some plays in the region.  Most were quite enthusiastic and as a result we decided to attend Wangaratta Players latest production “Songs for Nobodies”, at the Sunday matinee.  Six of our members journeyed to Wangaratta and were enthralled with such a brilliant and professional production.

Our next play reading will be a two act play "Separate Tables" by Terrence Rattigan.

Our thanks must also be extended to Keith Rogers who has decided to step down as convenor. Keith has directed the Play Reading group for some years and has enthusiastically encouraged us with his expertise and knowledge of theatre. Thank you, Keith, your involvement has been much appreciated and we hope to still see you at Play Reading.
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Jenny McKenna

Australian playwright Hannie Rayson’s , “Competitive Tenderness”, read over two sessions was an inspired farce.    The protagonist Dawn Snow , who reformed the prison system in Uganda, is hired to reform the local Government in the City of Greater Burke.

The play was topical and satirical.  A comedy of 2 acts, taking a swipe at corruption, bureaucracy, romance and many other areas that involved local government, systems and policies. Our play readers continue to develop their skills adapting well to the portrayal of various characters, most times with little preparation!

We welcome any new comers to ‘come and try’ particularly our November - December sessions before the beginning of our 2020 program.
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Jenny McKenna

Play Reading doesn't involve learning lines - but  as these photos taken in early October show, it does involve concentration!  Play Reading class members are kept on their toes as they try not to miss cues; to add interest and passion to their delivery, and to track the story itself. 

​All welcome - no auditions, no learning of lines!  

​Undeterred by the cold mornings, ten of our members participated in a reading of David Williamson’s thought provoking play, After the Ball.    Williamson, in his writings, frequently highlights the complexities of relationships and the emotions that are evoked whether in business, sport or family and he never fails to touch a chord of recognition with his audience.

Recalling memories of the past, siblings Stephen and Judy, who live on opposite sides of the world, are reunited at the bedside of their dying mother in Australian suburbia in the 1990’s. During this time they relive their family times from the 1960’s with all its highs and lows, disappointments and achievements and bewildering changes both socially and in their own relationships.

At times hilarious, at times emotional, a deeply moving play which was voted one of our best yet, with the reading by some of the participants achieving a great portrayal of the characters.    New members always welcome.
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Jenny McKenna

We were a small group for our play reading in June.  We read a short one act play called “A Pound of Flesh”.  Given the name, we assumed that it would be a tale of revenge based on Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, perhaps with an element of humour.  We were so wrong! 

This was the story of a family with the mature aged mother concerned that she had put on weight and her husband no longer found her attractive.  While she was busy with help from her daughter finding someone to help her lose weight via pills and exercise, her mother was sure that she was being duped by spies, and her husband was busy finding some supplements to help her increase her weight as he thought her too thin – a “pound of extra flesh” was required.

A fun and short play for our June class.

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Jenny McKenna

Numbers have dropped a little with members heading off for warmer  days!  

​The play reading for the month of May was “It was odd!“  The play was written over  50 years ago and although it was enjoyed by all, the difference in social expectations and the roles of the cast were of a time past where respect for elders and the authority of a parent were of utmost importance.  

We will be having a one act play with a cast of 5 or  6 for the month of June and will revert back to two act play in July when numbers increase.   Any new would be thespians welcome!

Jenny McKenna

The heroine, Flora Poste, having been orphaned is looking for relatives with whom to live. After rejecting a number of others, she chooses the Starkadders, relatives on her mother's side, who live in the isolated Cold Comfort Farm, near the fictional Sussex village of Howling in England. Greeting her as "Robert Poste's child", they take her in to repay some unexplained wrong done to her father.

Each of the extended family has some long-festering emotional problem caused by ignorance, hatred or fear; and the farm is badly run, supposedly cursed, and presided over by the unseen presence of Aunt Ada Doom, who is said to be mad through having seen "something nasty in the woodshed".

Flora, a level-headed urban woman, applies modern common sense to their problems and helps them all adapt to the twentieth century.

It parodies the romanticized, sometimes doom-laden accounts of rural life popular at the time with many writers.  Published in 1932, the setting contains developments such as videophones, aircraft postal services, and major demographic changes in London such as residential districts south of the Thames becoming fashionable.

Notably adapted for the stage by Paul Doust, he plot was simplified a little in order to make it suitable for the stage. Many characters are omitted. Meriam's character was merged with Rennet, who ends up with Urk at the end. As a consequence, both Rennet's and Urk's roles are much bigger than in the book. Mrs. Smiling is absent because the action begins with Flora's arrival in Sussex; Charles appears only to drop her off and pick her up again at the end of the play. Mark Dolour, though mentioned several times in the play as a running joke, never appears on stage. Finally, instead of visiting a psychoanalyst to cure her obsession, Judith leaves with Neck at the end.

Our members are really enjoying this play with it’s characters and twists and the regular talking to the audience by many characters throughout the play – Neck being another one. We will finish this play at our next meeting.
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Keith Rogers

We had an hilarious time with our November class.  The play we read was… wait for it… “The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of Macbeth”.  This is quite a mouthful! 

The scene was the dramatic society’s production of Macbeth and all the pitfalls along the way.  In reading the play we needed to be aware of when we were playing a member of the society and when that member was playing a character in Macbeth.  With the first act the set had been set up in reverse, so the actors were playing with their backs to the audience.  And when the actor to play Lady Macbeth got lost on the way to the theatre, the male stage hand (the only male in the cast) was forced into playing the part.   Lots of mistake along the way with people forgetting lines, repeating lines, and our mis-reading of some of the lines only added to the hilarity.  We all enjoyed a light very funny play to end the year.
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Our Christmas breakup is morning tea on 5 December, meeting at the Art Gallery at 10:30.

Joy Shirley

This month we completed reading “Witness for the Prosecution”.  With several people away, it was a small group reading the remainder of the Act 2 and Act 3.  Still we managed to cover all the parts, with the major characters allocated between us, and someone always ready to jump in to cover some minor parts. 
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Everyone found it a fun play, with an interesting twist at the end.

Joy Shirley

This is both a short story and a play. The story was first given the title ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ in 1933 and then adapted as a play by Agatha Christie in 1953. There has since been one film and many television adaptions (Check Wikipedia for details).

So far the Benalla U3A play readers have read two Acts, the first being set in chambers of the defence counsel and the second in the courtroom.

Leonard Vole has been accused of the murder of Miss French with whom he did conduct a relationship which he claims was platonic.

Mrs Vole is his alibi for the time of the murder. Her answers under interrogation are not really convincing.  She seems to be covering for her husband.........

Oh yes! And Miss French (who was rich) has left her entire estate to Leonard Vole.

We will continue reading ‘Witness for the Prosecution’ in the October Play Reading session. Wednesday 3rd October.


Jenny Sawyer

John (Jack) and Algernon (Algy) both invent alter egos with the name Earnest.

Gwendolen and Cecily are smitten by Earnest and Earnest who are really Jack and Algy.  They both claim the name Earnest to be a prerequisite for betrothal.

Do Jack and Algy change their names?

Do Gwendolen and Cecily end up with Jack and Algy?

The storyline seems to be a mere vehicle for Oscar Wilde to make comment on social behaviours in a most witty and ironic manner.

‘Cecily: Mamma, whose views on education are remarkably strict, has brought me up to be extremely short-sighted. ‘

[And Cecily does wear glasses as she is extremely short-sighted.]

The U3A Benalla play readers read this play in one session and it was very much enjoyed by all.

Today the popularity of the name Earnest (more commonly spelt Ernest) has very much waned since Victorian times. Internet research places it currently at around number 300.
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Jenny Sawyer