Artist’s stage design is a hit
AN amateur artist who was drafted in to paint a stage scenery at the last minute has won an award for his efforts.
Gareth Roberts, 57, stepped into the breach when Bollington Light Opera Group (BLOG) was appealing for a set designer for it’s production of Oliver!
And he was thrilled when his hard work was recognised, not only by the cast and audience, but when he was presented with an award for ‘Excellence in Stage Craft and Set Patining’ at the Association of Community Theatre (ACT) awards.
Gareth, whose wife Norma is BLOG secretary and performs in the chorus, said: “I couldn’t believe it, I didn’t expect to win because it was my first time doing anything like this and I didn’t have much time to do it.
“It feels really good because it’s nice to be appreciated, art is very personal and the majority of people are not going to like what you do, so to have everyone telling you how impressed they are is really good.”
Dad-of-four Gareth, who designs computer systems, had just four weekends to design and paint nine canvasses to form the back- drop of the stage performances.
He said: “They were stuck for someone to paint the set so I offered to help. But it turned out the person I would be helping was myself as they didn’t have anyone else. I hadn’t done anything on that scale for 20 years but I thought I would have a go.”
He added: “It was a big job - they were so big I couldn’t fit them in the house so I had to put them in my leaky car port - but I managed it.”
Gareth, who lives at Pool End Close in Tytherington, has since painted another set for the group, this time for its performance of Showtime, and has been signed up to decorate next year’s set, Pirates of Penzance.
To see more of Gareth’s art go to http:// garethart.co.uk. WHAT better way to spend a snowy evening in Bollington than in the presence of the warmly welcoming members of Bollington Light Opera Group and to enjoy their 2015 production of Showtime.
This was a variety show featuring songs and dances from musicals old and new, starting with a feisty selection from Chicago, during which the men took on the classic ‘Cell Block Tango’ and made it unforgettably their own!
This was followed by a selection from Les Miserables, where Sarah