MENORCA CHARITY PLAYERS

MENORCA CHARITY PLAYERS HAVE CLOSED THEIR STAGE DOOR FOR GOOD. WELL, IT WAS A BLAST! SADLY, ALL THE BEST THINGS MUST COME TO AN END...

From humble beginnings, in the early 1990s, the “Picadero Players” performed at the Picadero restaurant using beer crates as a stage. The founding members went on to join forces with another drama group, to become the Menorca Charity Players.

Since the year 2000, the Menorca Charity Players have been performing live theatre productions to raise money to donate and benefit local Menorcan charities. The shows have ranged from play readings, revues, short plays through to full three act productions in some of the most prestigious theatres in Menorca. Two of the most lavish shows from our earlier days were performed in the Orfeon Theatre in Mahon to over 500 audience members. Other shows have been much smaller in scope, with the most recent productions being performed to about 100 audience members. Over the last few years, we have performed short plays, a Christmas pantomime, a number of revues and held three quiz nights. Our recent productions have been held in the Casino Sant Clement or at the Real Aero Club in Sant Lluis.

Our ethos has always been to have fun, be creative and not forgetting to acknowledge our fortune in being able to live in such a beautiful environment, creating a desire to “put something back” into our chosen home. We are proud to have been able to achieve that goal.

Our horizons were broadened even further since we started performing theatre in local schools and to adults learning English, enabling us to entertain and enhance the children’s and adults’ command of English in an enjoyable way and expanding the range of people who take part in and attend our shows. We also learned a lot ourselves and made some good friends!

70,000 Euros raised for local Causes

We are very proud to say that over the years we have donated about 70 000 Euros to various causes on the island. There are far too many to mention them all but the list below gives you some idea of the variety of the organisations we have supported:

AECC (Cancer charity) • Diabetes Association • Cruz Roj • Club Vidalba (provides activities for young people with disabilities) • Cardiac Unit of Mateu Ofilia hospital • Aspinob (Children’s cancer charity Cats in Need • Trepuco residential home • Menorca Donkey Rescue

Sadly, in 2020, Covid interfered with our ability to perform in schools and elsewhere and this, made it so much harder to recruit new members. We diversified for Christmas in 2020, by producing a Virtual Advent Calendar which we videoed and posted on our website – one video per day from December 1st to 24th. This raised around 300€ through donations from those who viewed it.

We have become, sadly, an ageing group (with ageing memories and associated ailments!) and, despite our best efforts it has been very hard to recruit new, younger members. Those who are keen have other responsibilities which has made it hard for them to participate in rehearsals and productions. Our electrical equipment is also quite ancient and costly to replace. Sadly, the ultimate conclusion was that we needed to disband, close our stage door!

Our final event, an Entertainment Quiz night was held on Friday 21st April at the Aero Club. It was a very successful evening, enjoyed by all (even if some of the questions were a bit ‘interesting’ and involved us using our acting skills!), raising over 600€ which, along with our existing funds, will be distributed to causes here on Menorca.

Of course, the people who worked behind the scenes must know how much their contributions have been valued. During my time (the last 12 years or so) Mike Dixon (now deceased) and Mike Earnshaw have made huge contributions and during the last couple of years Ken Parr’s help has been invaluable too. Also, further back, we can’t forget: Jeanne Hunt (now deceased), a tremendous “wardrobe mistress” who created stunning costumes for “Widow Twanky” and Abanazar in Aladdin and the two “Ugly Sister” in Cinderella; Mike Dixon’s creation of many great sets (“Allo, Allo” was incredible); Gerry Wright who oversaw the summer musical extravaganzas in the plaza of Es Castell Town Hall; Mike Collins and Dave Rayfield who gave the performances life with the sound and lighting.

A huge, huge thanks to everyone who has ever been part of the “Players” journey and to all of you who have supported us over the years enabling us to achieve our main objective of helping others. Together we have been a powerful team here in Menorca. Thank you all!