NEW PLAYS HEADING FOR BRISTOL
Theatre group set up by four amateur enthusiasts
By Catherine Hole and Oliver Vergnault

A brand new theatre company has been launched in Bristol to bring new and unseen musicals and plays to the city.
Theatreworx has been set up by two couples, Steve and Sarah Blackmore, from Mangotsfield, and Simon and Gerri Gregory from Filton, all of whom have been involved in amateur theatre for many years. Their first production will be the premiere of 'The Christmas Schooner', at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Theatre, in December.

Simon and Gerri Gregory first saw the show more than two years ago when they were staying with friends in Minneapolis USA. Katie Langley, aged 13, took them to see the production and is currently staying with them in Bristol.

Since then Theatreworx have gained the rights to the show and will be the first group, amateur or professional, to perform it in the UK. This month they will be inviting some of the best amateur actors and technical personnel from all over Bristol to join them in producing the show. Simon Gregory said: "We want to perform new musicals and plays, from places like Broadway, that people will not have heard of. We also hope to develop some of the talent that is out there that has not yet been tapped into."

'The Christmas Schooner' tells the true story of a Michigan shipping captain who braves the deadly winter weather to bring Christmas trees to the homesick German-American families in turn-of-the-century Chicago. The show will be performed at the QEH Theatre, Jacobs Wells Road, from December 9th to 13th.