Generous grants have been given to The Castle Players ensuring that their next production will be spectacular.
The Richard III Society has donated £1,000 towards the cost of costumes and local Durham county councillors have given the Players £400 to hire a stage.
The play, Dickon, by Josephine Tey, is all about King Richard III, the last Plantagenant king. Unlike Shakespeare’s play about the very same man, it portrays him as a responsible statesman and not as a child-killing, throne-stealing evil uncle.
In fact, the play attempts to restore Richard’s reputation and which is why The Players have been given such a generous grant from The Richard III Society.
Director Mary Stastny said: “We have already been down to the costume store belonging to York Theatre Royal and luckily, they have a great collection of clothes suitable for the Plantagenant period. Our costume makers, Lesley Cutting and Carolyn Knott, will make some of the outfits but we will also, thanks to the grant, be able to hire some ready-made from York. The actors are going to look fabulous. We are hugely grateful to The Richard III Society for making this donation to the project.”
Many people will have already glimpsed Richard riding down Horsemarket in a gleaming suit of armour during the Meet Parade as part of the year-long celebration of Richard being made Lord of Barnard Castle 550 years ago. In October, a new stained-glass window will be installed in honour of Richard, in St Mary’s Parish Church, where Dickon will be staged a month later.
“Thanks to the generosity of local Durham county councillors Bell, Henderson, Richardson and Rowlandson donating £400 from their Neighbourhood budgets, the Players will be able to hire and erect professional staging so many more people will be able to see the action.”
Mary added that she hoped the whole Teesdale community gets behind the Dickon project and that lots of people will want to be part of the production.
“We need people to come and join The Castle Players, to lend us their voices and skills and bring this story to life,” she said.
“There is something for everyone, both speaking and non-speaking parts on the stage, and then both front of house and backstage people will be needed.”
