NWTC’s 2018 AGM

 The NWTC AGM/Pot-luck supper took place on Wednesday 20 June , 19h30 at BUROS,  3 rue Thomas Edison, L-1445 STRASSEN. The minutes from the 2018 AGM were accepted at the start of the 2019 AGM. See below.

Minutes of AGM, Wednesday 20^thJune 2018 at BUROS (discussed at AGM 2019)

Present: Christine Probst, Pauline Lloyd, Rose Flammant, Valerie Scott, Derek Meijers, Hilary Brown, Katie Bull, Angela Milne, Susanne Storgårds, Michael Watson, Daniela Badea, Niamh Power, Chris Albrecht.

Apologies for absence: Erik Abbott

Proxies received: John Brigg, Julie Fraser, Chris Wilson, Les Wilson

• Approval of draft agenda – Proposed by Hilary Brown, seconded by Angela Milne

• Approval of draft minutes of the AGM on 7^thJune 2018 – Proposed by Philip Dutton, seconded by Chris Albrecht

• Matters arising from the minutes.

1. Philip Dutton suggested that any action points in these minutes should be highlighted to make it easier to see what needs to be done.
2. At the AGM in 2017, John Brigg raised the issue of the barn owner, M. Brandenburger, is getting older and that maybe we should review the barn situation. It was pointed out that M. Branderburger is still going strong! On that note, it was reported that there was a successful barn clearance and now people are able to access all items of furniture and props without having to move a lot of things.

• Chair’s report – Christine reported the following items:

1. Productions:
2. And go to Innisfreewhich was directed by Christine and performed at Bourglinster and, as our FEATS entry, it was also performed in Frankfurt. (May 2017)
3. CSI, a co-production with The Chandeliers, an improvisation show which was held at Altrimenti. There were also workshops for the Youth Theatre and for adults. (October 2017)

• Commemorating the Great War with Bertie, which was performed by our Youth Theatre group at Altrimenti. Julie Fraser lead the group with the help of many other adults and she wanted to thank everyone for their time and energy in making it a success.

1. Refugee projects
2. One part of the refugee project entitled ‘Come Dance with Me’ which included refugees and members of the Youth Theatre Group. There were only a few refugees that joined in the project but everyone who participated enjoyed it.
3. The second part was a project for adults entitled ‘Dead Soul and Refugee Body’. It was based on a play that a Farsi speaking refugee, Alireza Gholamishilsar, had written. There were many problems involved, not the least of which was the lack of clear communication – between Alireza and the other team members where Alireza spoke almost no English and frequently there was no interpreter available and also there were communicationproblems between the co-producers OLAI and NWTC as they did not share the same goals. There was also a problem where some of the actors did not commit to the rehearsal process thus making it difficult to bring the piece to fruition.  However, Derek and Christine felt it had been a good experience where everyone had benefitted.  The club would like to thank all those who had helped, in particular Chris (Albrecht), Chris (Wilson), Rose and Pauline.  Philip added that he felt that NWTC should be proud of what they have done at it was a worthy cause.

1. Workshops
2. The Chandeliers ran one workshop for the Youth Theatre to support their production of Commemorating the Great War with Bertie. They also ran a one-day adult workshop about improvising. (October 2017)
3. Mitch Mitchelson also came over to run 2 Laban workshops. The first was for the Youth Theatre and the second a 1-day workshop for adults. (February 2018)

All the workshops were successful where the adult workshops again brought in more new members.  The club would like to thank Julie for organizing the workshops and liaising with the tutors/Chandeliers and Rose for organizing venues and accommodation.  

1. Social Events
2. Café Villon evenings. These were all were hosted at the Foyer, courtesy of LEAPA for which the club is very grateful.

• November 2017Two winning entries from the LEAPA play-writing competition were workshopped and presented to a live audience and the third ‘offering’ was without a storyline where there were comings and goings of countless, anonymous personnages using as many different languages as possible portraying them with a sense of being human.
• January 2018The first play represented was an excerpt from Michael Watson’s play, An Untraditional American Vacation, a comedy based in Germany directed by John Brigg. The second was Rashomon, directed by Giampaolo Spedo and was based on a 19^thcentury Japanese story where each of the characters gives their account of the death of a woman’s husband. The final piece was Pontifically Yours, one of the winners of the LEAPA play-writing competition, a comedy, written by Corinne Sinclair and directed by John Brigg.
• April 2018The first play was an excerpt from Marbled Dolls, a fantasy, written by Sultana Raza and directed by Valerie Scott. The second was a Talking Head monologue, Waiting for the Telegramdirected by Valerie Scott and Philip Dutton.  The last piece was an excerpt from The Womanwho cooked Her Husband, a comedy which was directed by Chris Wilson.

1. Play Reading evenings.

February 2018Come dance with meis a play written by Alireza Gholamishilsar who is, himself a refugee.  The piece, based on personal experience, is about a man who escapes the horrors of oppression and fear of his distant homeland finds refuge in a peaceful little country but no peace of mind.

May 2018Marbled Dolls, a fantasy written by Sultana Raza, was full of magical and crazed characters on flights of fancy, fantasy and adventure.

1. Richard Chappell Award

There were two recipients of the award: Julie Fraser and Artiemios Vogiatzis.

1. Upcoming events
2. Café Villon evening – 4 July 2018
3. Youth Theatre – September 2018 to March 2019. Currently, Christine is in communication with Matilde Hansson about leading the Youth Theatre group.

• NWTC 50^thAnniversary Dinner – 19 October 2018

1. Workshop with Mitch Mitchelson – 17/18 November 2018
2. The Seagullby Anton Chekhov – end February/beginning March 2019. To be directed by John Brigg with Gavan as SM and Valerie to be Producer and performed at the Mierscher Kulturhaus.

1. Other points
2. Membership stands at almost 80 which includes family members.
3. Special thanks were given to Hilary Brown, Katie Bull and Valerie Scott for the sterling work that they have done/are doing in the costume store and the barn.

1. Acceptance of Chair’s report
   1. Philip Dutton proposed acceptance of the Chair’s report, Valerie Scott seconded.

• Treasurer’s Report

1. Please see the separate Treasurer’s report
2. Pauline pointed out that in the 2018/2019 budget there would be an item for the 50^thAnniversary dinner where the club will be sponsoring each member for €8.60

• Susanne pointed out that the Auditor’s Report, submitted by Ailbhe Jennings, needs to be amended to refer to ‘Article 62 of the law of 10 August 1915 (as modified)’.

1. With the proviso that the article is updated on the Auditor’s Report, Niamh Power proposed accepting the Treasurer’s report, Katie Bull seconded.

• Discharge of 2017/2018 committee

1. Christine thanked the outgoing committee for all their hard work over the year.
2. The discharge was proposed by Chris Albrecht and seconded by Daniela Badea

• Election of 2018/2019 committee

1. Christine (Probst), Pauline, Rose, Valerie and Derek are all willing to stay on the committee.Susanne Storgårds volunteered to join the committee and Niamh Power stated that she might join the committee but would prefer to attend a couple of committee meetings before making a decision. Niamh’s proposal was accepted.
2. Philip Dutton proposed accepting the incoming committee, Hilary Brown seconded.

• Any Other Business

1. New Altrimenti Cultural Centre

The subject of the possible new Altrimenti Cultural Centre was discussed.  The committee wrote a letter of support for the centre which was submitted as part of Diego’s application for the cultural centre he hoped to open in Steinsel.  Chris Albrecht proposed that, should the bid be successful, then any contract between NWTC and Altrimenti must be shared and approved by the club members before signing. 

Meeting closed at 21:47