Our President
My name is Irene Beaver and I am a Life Member and President of the club for the year 2011-2012.
I first came in contact with EPT when my friend asked me to sit with her as she did box office for a Fringe production in the 60s. It was a Scots comedy in the YMCA in South St Andrew's Street. We were both still at School. I must say I found the men very glamorous (aye the men!). I remember them wearing dinner suits, although on reflection they were probably dressed up for the opening night 'swally'. Willie Ross, a Secretary of State for Scotland, was invited to one of these "dos" and, unless my memory is playing tricks on me, Compton Mackenzie, our Patron, also came along.
Everyone was very kind to us - Maureen Cullen (now Cochrane), Jenny Calcott and Effie Robertson, both now with Leitheatre, and all the others. I had never come across adults who treated me like one of the team. One night I asked David Clayton how I could join this group, and that was that - a lifetime of enjoyment, friendships, teamwork, a great social life, an education in all aspects of theatre and an involvement with people of all ages and of all social classes.
Through my involvement with drama, I have worked with other groups like Tempo and was a director of the Scottish Mime Theatre. I have taken part in many workshops over the years, the most memorable being with English National Opera, The Art of Coarse Acting author Michael Green and renowned mime, Pat Keysell.
Over the years I have acted, directed, written, built sets, crewed, been prompt, done props and lights and been dresser to the dame. One of my most important jobs has been Front of House, which I love because you get to meet the customers. In fact I encourage all our members to tear tickets at some point.
One of the things I like about EPT is that we don't have 'stars'. You might be the lead in one play but in the next you might be helping with props. After all, where would the actors be without all the Technical Crew, Wardrobe or FoH? I'll tell you. They would be on a bare stage in the dark, with no costumes and no audience. In fact there would be no EPT.
We used to go on tour - oh all right, we took 'Barefoot in the Park' to the Brunton Theatre and performed regularly in Newbattle College. One unforgettable year we took Alan Cochrane's production of 'When we are Married' to the Scottish Three Act Festival Final in Greenock. Just about the whole club went and when the announcement was made that we had won, we almost brought the place down. Perhaps we might go on tour again.
There are plenty of us although we are always looking for more members, especially on the technical side. I have been a member for forty four years now and there are several who have been members of EPT for longer than me. I have seen dozens come and go but we have many long serving members so I guess we must be doing something right.
If you are interested in acting; working backstage; helping with the technical side; greeting our audiences front of house or all of the above then get in touch with us – visit the Join Us section of the site. Alternatively, you could come along and meet us at one of our regular open nights. So why not come and join us? We would be pleased to see you. Feel free to contact me if you would like to know anything more about the club.
EPT is lucky to have a loyal audience, with many regulars coming along to all our shows. If you don’t want to become a member but do want to be kept updated about our upcoming productions you can become a patron by filling out a simple form, just the Patrons section.
If you want any further information please feel free to contact me or any member of the committee – full details can be found in the Contact section.