75th Anniversary Year 2019
In 1944, Guy Vaesen found himself posted to Inverness, inspecting NAAFI canteens, and it was here that he formed an amateur drama club called The Florians. 75 years later, the club is still going strong, and we wanted to celebrate this milestone with a year long programme of events and productions.
Below is an overview of our programme of events to celebrate this milestone. Click here to view our 75th Anniversary gallery page.
Below is an overview of our programme of events to celebrate this milestone. Click here to view our 75th Anniversary gallery page.
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The Florians' 75th Anniversary Interview
Earlier this year some of our longstanding members got together to film a short video about the Florians. During the afternoon they discussed the history of the club, previous performance venues, the history of our current premises, their memories from past productions, and much more. This video can be found here. |
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5th-6th April 2019
The year was kick started by our Junior Florians with their production of "The Grunch" by Denver Casado and Betine Hershey. This musical was inspired by the tale of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". Originally this production was only scheduled for one performance, however due to popular demand, we were able to put on a 2nd date, giving our Junior Florians another chance to show off their hard work and talent.
27th April 2019
When planning our 75th year we decided it was a brilliant opportunity to put on a few workshops throughout the summer. "Stand Up and Improvisation" was our first of these, where Inverness' fastest rising comedy stars, Kieran Lochore and Zander McNally, came along for an afternoon of rip-roaring laughs and outrageous fun. Participants were given the opportunity to test their improvisation skills and see if they had what it takes to crack the secret of comedy.
11th May 2019
Amanda Luscombe-Smith, creative drama worker from Eden Court, lead us in our second workshop of year, "Shakespeare".
18th May 2019
Seeing as it is our 75th anniversary year we thought a brilliant way to celebrate this would be to have a "1940s Party Night". This took place in the Waterside Hotel in Inverness with our members turning up in their 1940s attire. The music for the evening was provided by the fabulous Dancing With Sharks, who are regularly seen performing throughout the Highlands. We had a fantastic night of food, music, and dancing and enjoyed lots of reminiscing from our last 75 years.
12th-15th June 2019
Our first major production of the year was "Harvey" written by Mary Chase. This Pulitzer Prize winning play was first performed on Broadway in our birth year 1944 - it seemed appropriate that we should stage it on our 75th anniversary.
22nd June 2019
The third workshop over our summer season was "Acting". Participants worked with "The Drama Man" Alan Gray, who is a freelance drama teacher in the Highlands. Alan took them on a step by step guide to acting and commanding presence on the stage. They learned various performing skills and techniques throughout the afternoon under Alan's fun and expert guidance.
13th July 2019
This was a very special day in our 75th anniversary year as we welcomed the public into our wee theatre for our Open day. For more information on this day, please click on our Open Day link.
24th August 2019
The fourth workshop of our 75th year was "Costume and Make-Up". This was led by Ewan Campbell of Utopia Costumes, which is one of the UK's leading suppliers of theatrical costume for both professional and amateur theatre. It was a great day where we learned how a costume can transform your character, and how important stage make-up is to create the perfect look for any character you are playing. Lots of fun was had by all and we would like to thank Ewan and Utopia Costumes for the excellent experience!
11th-14th September 2019
Our second major production "Blithe Spirit" written by Noel Coward. The play was first seen in the West End in 1941, creating a new long-run record for non-musical British plays of 1,997 performances. It also did well on Broadway later that year, running for 657 performances.
26th October 2019
This was a special evening for our club members as we attended a Civic Dinner hosted by Provost Helen Carmichael in the Inverness Town House. The evening began with speeches from both the provost and our current chairman, David Russell. We were then entertained throughout the meal by Alyn Ross who played show tunes on the grand piano. The evening then closed with final words of thanks from our speakers and a performance of "Hello Dolly" by Claire Fisher, during which most of our members joined in (follow this link to see the video).
6th-14th December 2019
Our final major production of the year was our annual Christmas pantomime, this year being "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". Although there is no direct link to the 40s as with our other major productions of the year, it does have "forty" in the title, so that counts!
25th January 2020
We rounded off our year of celebrations with a Burns' Supper for our members. This was a very enjoyable evening with a good mix of traditional and contemporary entertainment, as listed below:
75th Anniversary Clothing
To celebrate our 75th Anniversary year we have designed a special logo which is available on various items of clothing and bags via the schoolwear shop. Items available include sweatshirts, hoodies, polo shirts, rugby shirts, ladies’ t-shirts, children’s t-shirts and sweatshirts. Our original logo is also still available – specify “75th Anniversary” or “Original”. Many colours are available. If interested you can contact the shop on www.facebook.com/schoolwearmadeeasyinverness or search “schoolwear made easy inverness”.
The year was kick started by our Junior Florians with their production of "The Grunch" by Denver Casado and Betine Hershey. This musical was inspired by the tale of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas". Originally this production was only scheduled for one performance, however due to popular demand, we were able to put on a 2nd date, giving our Junior Florians another chance to show off their hard work and talent.
27th April 2019
When planning our 75th year we decided it was a brilliant opportunity to put on a few workshops throughout the summer. "Stand Up and Improvisation" was our first of these, where Inverness' fastest rising comedy stars, Kieran Lochore and Zander McNally, came along for an afternoon of rip-roaring laughs and outrageous fun. Participants were given the opportunity to test their improvisation skills and see if they had what it takes to crack the secret of comedy.
11th May 2019
Amanda Luscombe-Smith, creative drama worker from Eden Court, lead us in our second workshop of year, "Shakespeare".
18th May 2019
Seeing as it is our 75th anniversary year we thought a brilliant way to celebrate this would be to have a "1940s Party Night". This took place in the Waterside Hotel in Inverness with our members turning up in their 1940s attire. The music for the evening was provided by the fabulous Dancing With Sharks, who are regularly seen performing throughout the Highlands. We had a fantastic night of food, music, and dancing and enjoyed lots of reminiscing from our last 75 years.
12th-15th June 2019
Our first major production of the year was "Harvey" written by Mary Chase. This Pulitzer Prize winning play was first performed on Broadway in our birth year 1944 - it seemed appropriate that we should stage it on our 75th anniversary.
22nd June 2019
The third workshop over our summer season was "Acting". Participants worked with "The Drama Man" Alan Gray, who is a freelance drama teacher in the Highlands. Alan took them on a step by step guide to acting and commanding presence on the stage. They learned various performing skills and techniques throughout the afternoon under Alan's fun and expert guidance.
13th July 2019
This was a very special day in our 75th anniversary year as we welcomed the public into our wee theatre for our Open day. For more information on this day, please click on our Open Day link.
24th August 2019
The fourth workshop of our 75th year was "Costume and Make-Up". This was led by Ewan Campbell of Utopia Costumes, which is one of the UK's leading suppliers of theatrical costume for both professional and amateur theatre. It was a great day where we learned how a costume can transform your character, and how important stage make-up is to create the perfect look for any character you are playing. Lots of fun was had by all and we would like to thank Ewan and Utopia Costumes for the excellent experience!
11th-14th September 2019
Our second major production "Blithe Spirit" written by Noel Coward. The play was first seen in the West End in 1941, creating a new long-run record for non-musical British plays of 1,997 performances. It also did well on Broadway later that year, running for 657 performances.
26th October 2019
This was a special evening for our club members as we attended a Civic Dinner hosted by Provost Helen Carmichael in the Inverness Town House. The evening began with speeches from both the provost and our current chairman, David Russell. We were then entertained throughout the meal by Alyn Ross who played show tunes on the grand piano. The evening then closed with final words of thanks from our speakers and a performance of "Hello Dolly" by Claire Fisher, during which most of our members joined in (follow this link to see the video).
6th-14th December 2019
Our final major production of the year was our annual Christmas pantomime, this year being "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves". Although there is no direct link to the 40s as with our other major productions of the year, it does have "forty" in the title, so that counts!
25th January 2020
We rounded off our year of celebrations with a Burns' Supper for our members. This was a very enjoyable evening with a good mix of traditional and contemporary entertainment, as listed below:
- Piping in the Haggis - Alan Hasson
- Address to the Haggis - Trevor Nicol
- Selkirk Grace - Louise Munro
- Toast to the Laddies - Lesley Mitchell
- Reply to the Toast - Alasdair David Davidson
- It's Magic! - Ken Bamborough
- Comparing My Husband to Robbie Burns - Christine Fletcher
- The Piper's Lament - Ken Bamborough
- Ae Fond Kiss - Alison Ożóg and Matthias Kremer
- Ceilidh Music - Ronnie Shaw
75th Anniversary Clothing
To celebrate our 75th Anniversary year we have designed a special logo which is available on various items of clothing and bags via the schoolwear shop. Items available include sweatshirts, hoodies, polo shirts, rugby shirts, ladies’ t-shirts, children’s t-shirts and sweatshirts. Our original logo is also still available – specify “75th Anniversary” or “Original”. Many colours are available. If interested you can contact the shop on www.facebook.com/schoolwearmadeeasyinverness or search “schoolwear made easy inverness”.