Discworld Monthly Issue 229 May 2016
Table of Contents:
1. Editorial
2. News
3. Upcoming Book Releases
4. May Events
5. Future Events
6. Recurring Monthly Fan Meetings
7. Readers' Letters
8. DiscTrivia
9. The Shakespeare Codex - Live in Abingdon (2 Reviews)
10. Emporium Plushie Competition Result
11. Truckers, Diggers and Wings Competition
12. Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett Review
13. The End
1. Editorial
Welcome to issue 229. On Thursday 14th April we travelled to London for Terry Pratchett's Memorial. It was a very moving evening covering a whole range of emotions from sadness to joy. Rob Wilkins, Rhianna Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Tony Robinson, Pat Harkin, Bernard Pearson, Philippa Dickinson, Jennifer Brehl, Anne Hoppe and Larry Finlay all spoke about their experiences with Terry. Steeleye Span performed two songs from their Wintersmith album (The Making of a Man and The Dark Morris Song) and the classic Thomas the Rhymer. The Epiphoni Consort choir bookended the evening by performing one of Terry's favourite pieces of music, Thomas Tallis' Spem in alium, to start and later closed the memorial singing Eric Idle's Always Look On the Bright Side of Life (after a video link from Eric Idle off on holiday somewhere) in which most of the audience joined in. It wasn't perfect but it was a wonderful send off to an amazing person.
#GNU Terry Pratchett.
The Guardian has a report of the event at: discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/793
It's our birthday - our first ever issue of Discworld Monthly was published in May 1997 and here we are 19 years later still producing monthly news. We hope you get chance to raise a glass of mostly apples this month to help us celebrate our birthday.
Speaking of which, April 29th is Deputy Editor Bill Barnett's birthday and this year he will be celebrating the ripe old age of 44. Don't worry Bill - Richard and I are both older than you.
While on the subject of birthdays don't forget to wear a black hat on Thursday 28th April for Black Hat Day. Thursday would have been Terry's 68th birthday had PCA not taken him from us far too soon.
#GNU Terry Pratchett.
Want to ensure you get all the latest news direct from Discworld Monthly between issues? Then visit the Discworld Monthly Facebook page and hit the "Like" button. The page is an announcement only page and is always the first place we post new information.
www.facebook.com/DiscworldMonthly
We also include all our back issues on our website at discworldmonthly.co.uk where you can also find our complete range of Discworld Monthly licensed products as well as Terry Pratchett quotes, a full bibliography and links to articles we have written over the years.
Discworld Auction Items.
The Discworld Convention 2016 auction team are looking for auction items. The team are vetting items to try to ensure they are as varied as possible. Please email auction@dwcon.org with details of what you want to offer and they will let you know if your items fit the current criteria.
The Wadfest auction is also looking for items. Their remit is slightly more relaxed. Please email auction@discworldmonthly.co.uk with the subject Wadfest Auction.
If you visit a play or a talk and would like to let the world know about it, please feel free to email your review to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk and we will consider it for publication.
Also if you have written an article that you think we might want to include in the newsletter please feel free to email me at the address below. We will of course give credit for anything we use.
Please let us have any submissions for issue 230 before 23rd May 2016.
- Jason Anthony (Editor and Wizzard) info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
- William Barnett (Deputy Editor / Proofreader)
- Amy Simmonds (Artist in Residence)
- Richard Massey (iPhone auto-rotator)
2. News
News from the Terry Pratchett Memorial. Several future projects were mentioned. This is a summary of what to expect.
Moving Pictures News (there is no news as to when these projects will be released).
- The Wee Free Men (screenplay by Rhianna Pratchett). There will be an announcement at the San Diego Comic Con this summer.
- Mort (screenplay by Tony Rossio - Shrek, Pirates of the Caribbean and Disney's Aladdin)
- Good Omens (screenplay by Neil Gaiman - confirmed as a six-part series). See Neil's blog at discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/792 for how this came about and discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/794 for the Guardian's report.
- The Watch Series - we were teased by an image of a copper's helmet. No more details were confirmed.
- Charlie Russell is making a fourth documentary this time about the life and death of Sir Terry Pratchett. It will contain some footage from the memorial and also footage filmed in October 2014 where Rob Wilkins sat and interviewed / chatted with Terry for about 4.5 hours.
Future Publications:
- Small Gods: The Graphic Novel (2016)
- The Long Cosmos with Stephen Baxter (2016)
- The Discworld Colouring Book by Paul Kidby (2016)
- The Terry Pratchett Biography by Rob Wilkins. This will happen at some point in the future but no dates are confirmed.
- The Discworld Encyclopedia (now that the series is complete) again no release date as they haven't started writing it yet.
ABC in Australia have an article on their website entitled: Two days with Terry Pratchett.
"While Dean of Research at Trinity College Dublin, David Lloyd was thrilled to offer Terry Pratchett, his hero, an honorary degree. Pratchett refused. Thus began a two-day odyssey involving robes, hats, Guinness and unbridled scatological glee."
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/787
An Important Announcement Regarding Discworld Ales from Paul Kruzycki
We wanted to let our customers and fellow Discworld fans know about some changes happening with regard to the Discworld Ales. Availability of the beers is going to be interrupted for a few months - in a mirror of Roundworld, it appears that a lot has been happening in Discworld brewing circles. The multitude of breweries we've been working with are experiencing some disturbing and yet exciting upheavals which we're monitoring closely and will report back on when we have more news.
The current availability of the original Discworld Ales 4 pack will continue until the end of June at the latest, or until our remaining stock of gift packs is sold. They are currently available from discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/791 - if you haven't done so already, we'd suggest you get them now as this is the last time they will be available in this format and design.
For a short time from around June onwards, but possibly before then depending on delivery schedules from Ankh-Morpork, we'll offer you a chance to get the 2 best-selling ales along with Scumble and our amazing Taking the Dark. These will be presented in a gift pack format and again, numbers will be strictly limited. So when they are gone, that's it!
In the meantime, Paul is working on the definitive history of Discworld Ales - going back to the very beginning of time to explore how they came to Roundworld, and telling the story of their creation and the people involved. Warts an' all!
The Guardian newspaper featured an article entitled: How Terry Pratchett's Truckers changed my whole life. The article written by author Tom Nicholl talks about how he read Truckers after watching the Cosgrove Hall production on ITV in 1992 aged 9 and how it has stuck with him ever since.
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/790
Ankh-Morpork came first in The Guardian's Top 10 fictional towns in children's books. While we would argue that Discworld are not exactly children's books... it's good to see that Ankh-Morpork is still considered the best.
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/795
3. Upcoming Book Releases
* UK Releases *
We now have confirmation of the OFFICIAL DISCWORLD COLOURING BOOK by Paul Kidby. At the memorial Rob said that each and every drawing in the book had been painstakingly recreated by Paul Kidby. In a short video Paul explained the process and how difficult it was to rationalise each picture and choose which lines to include and which to discard. Paul estimates that each illustration takes around 60 hours to convert.
The book is due for release on the 11th August 2016. It will have 96 pages of glorious Paul Kidby illustrations for you to colour in and enjoy.
It will be published by Gollancz / Orion and it's ISBN details are:
ISBN-10: 1473217474
ISBN-13: 978-1473217478
The book will measure 15 x 21 cm and will be 2.2cm thick.
It has an RRP of 9.99GBP.
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1473217474/87
The Shepherd's Crown will be released in paperback on 2nd June 2016 by Corgi Children's.
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0552574473/87
The Long Cosmos (book five in The Long Earth Series) will be published in hardback by Penguin Random House on 30th June 2016.
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0857521780/87
The Long Cosmos Slipcase Edition is now available to pre-order from Waterstones. Priced at 35GBP it will be released on the 30th June 2016.
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd, ISBN: 9780857524294
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/773
The Long Utopia (book four in The Long Earth Series) will be published in paperback by Corgi.
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0552169366/87
Small Gods the Graphic Novel is currently scheduled for release on the 28th July this year in the UK. It will have 144 pages and be published by Doubleday.
www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0857522965/87
The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner (a collection of 14 short stories written by Terry as a young man) will be released on 25th August 2016 (the day before the Discworld Convention). The slipcase edition will feature an additional story.
/books_thewitchsvacuumcleaner.php
Author Joanne Harris (via Twitter) has confirmed she has written a new introduction for Wyrd Sisters. We don't have a release date for this yet - but we suspect it will be sometime in 2017.
It also looks like the new paperback editions of Mort and Guards! Guards! we mentioned last month will now be released in 2017 as Amazon have put back the release dates listed on their website by a year.
* Other releases *
The 18th May 2016 sees the launch of the French translation of The Shepherd's Crown. There will be a launch event in Paris at Librairie La dimension fantastique at 18.30.
There is an awesome launch pack for those who have pre-ordered a copy of the book via the store. It contains a bee bag, a bookmark, a sticker sheet, a bookplate and a bee badge.
Patrick Couton (the translator) will be in store doing a book signing.
For more information go to the Facebook event page at:
www.facebook.com/events/568424949986384
Small Gods The Graphic Novel (International Release) is scheduled to be published on the 23rd August 2016.
discworldmonthly.co.uk/USISBN/0857522965
4. May Events
[USA, New] NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Music and Drama club (MAD) will soon present its 2016 spring show, Wyrd Sisters!
Performances run May 6 - 21, on the NASA campus in Greenbelt, Maryland.
Tickets are general admission: 16USD online and 20USD at the door, so be sure to get your tickets at www.madtheater.org
Discounts are available for opening weekend! MAD is a club focused on NASA Goddard employees, contractors, and their immediate families - giving all an opportunity to cultivate various skills in the theatrical arts.
Please visit us on our Facebook page to see more! www.facebook.com/GSFCMAD/
[UK] Caversham Park Theatre will be performing Wyrd Sisters at The Milestone Centre, Northbrook Rd, Caversham, Reading, RG4 6PF from May 12th - 13th at 8pm and May 14th at 7pm.
Book online at: www.cavparktheatre.org.uk or phone 0118-948-1377
[UK] Minehead Dramatic Society are presenting Wyrd Sisters (adapted by Stephen Briggs) at the Regal Theatre in Minehead, Somerset on Thursday 12th May 2016 - Saturday 14th May 2016
Performances start at 7:30pm.
Tickets: Adults 8.00GBP, Friends 7.50GBP, ES40's/Students 4.00GBP
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/786
[UK, New] The Oxford Story Museum is having a Discworld day on Saturday 21st May 2016. The event, which is now in its third year, celebrates the amazing worlds, characters and stories that sprung from Terry's imagination. This year's event is themed around the Carnegie Medal winning novel The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.
Visitors to the museum will be able to make their own cat or rat mask, follow the rat trail, learn to tap dance like a rat, and even handle some real life tame rats with animal expert Sasha Norris who will be sharing some interesting facts about these fascinating and highly intelligent creatures.
Special events planned include a draw along read along event with Phoenix Comic artist Neill Cameron and voice of the Discworld audiobooks, Stephen Briggs - a must for aspiring illustrators and young fans of Terry's work and Discworld Monthly's Jason Anthony with an introduction to Discworld. Meanwhile, older fans will want to sign up for 'Dangerous Beans' Dinner', a Discworld dinner party complete with themed food, a literary quiz written by Jason Anthony, magic tricks and candlelit readings.
www.storymuseum.org.uk/whats-on/discworld-day/
[Germany] MORT will be performed on Saturday 21st at 19:30 and Sunday 22nd May 2016 at 15:30 pm at Theater Altes Hallebad, Friedberg
Tickets are 10.00 EUR / concessions 8.00 EUR
For more information visit heldentheater.de/
[UK, New] Bolton Little Theatre will having a read-through of Wyrd Sisters on Sunday 22nd May 2016 at 6.30pm which is open to anyone who is interested in learning more. They will be meeting in the theatre bar, so feel welcome to join them.
Visit: discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/789
Their production will be performed in 2017 see the next section.
The address is Bolton Little Theatre, Hanover Street, Bolton BL1 4TG
5. Future Events
[UK, New] Masquerade Theatre Group will be performing Wyrd Sisters as adapted by Stephen Briggs on 3rd and 4th June, at Parkside Hall, Ampthill, Bedford.
Tickets cost 10 GBP and the curtain goes up at 19:45.
Tickets are available by phone 07817 528077 or by email: masqueradetheatregroup@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/Ampthill.Info/timeline
[UK] We are Theatre will be performing Mort from 21st - 22nd June 2016 at 7:30pm at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.
Tickets cost 10GBP (8GBP concessions) and are available from York Theatre Royal Box Office (01904) 623568. Group bookings contact wearetheatre@googlemail.com or call us on 07511 364107
[UK, RESCHEDULED] Lords and Ladies (adapted by Irana Brown) will be performed by the People's Theatre (Newcastle upon Tyne). Originally scheduled for 12th July to 16th July 2016 from 7:30pm but NOW rescheduled to 19th-23rd July 2016.
"Unfortunately we have had to reschedule this production to a week later than originally advertised. All customers who had already booked have been notified of this change. Please contact the Box Office at your earliest convenience to arrange to swap your tickets to a new date, or get a refund if required. We apologise for any inconvenience caused."
Tickets cost 13.50 GBP (11 GBP concessions).
Box office: 0191 265 5020 (Option 2)
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/762
[UK] July 23rd - Sept 18th 2016. Discworld and Beyond, Paul Kidby's touring exhibition, is going to spend next summer in Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery (Riversley Park, Coton Rd, Nuneaton CV11 5TU).
[UK] Richmond Amateur Dramatic Society will be performing Wyrd Sisters from Thu 28th to Sat 30th July and Thu 4th Aug to Sat 6th Aug 2016 at The Georgian Theatre Royal. Performances start at 7.30pm and tickets cost from 6.50 GBP to 12.50 GBP. The Theatre is located in the heart of Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Box office 01748 825252
tickets.georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk/public/show.asp
[UK] Wadfest 2016, the Science Fiction Camping Event, dates have been announced. The event entitled: "Putting on the Flicks: It came from Planet W" will take place from 12th - 14th August at Wood Green, The Animal Shelter, King's Bush Farm, London Road, Godmachester, Cambs. PE29 2NH
Adult camping tickets cost 25 GBP with junior tickets costing 1p when booked with an adult. Adult visitor tickets cost 15 GBP. Concessions are available for students / people on low income and cost 20 GBP each.
Waddy has informed us that sculptor Mark Ayling (ex Clarecraft) will be selling some of his wonderful designs at the event. Mark created the Dis-organiser, Death's Clock, the Iconograph and The "clicks" Iconograph from Moving Pictures.
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/796
[UK, Updated] Monstrous Productions will be performing Going Postal from August 17th - 20th at the Gate Theatre in Cardiff, South Wales.
Tickets are 8 GBP (6 GBP Concessions) and can be ordered from http://7889269b08cd.fikket.com/
Monstrous Productions Theatre Company are a Cardiff-based theatre company that solely performs plays by Terry Pratchett to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK
www.facebook.com/MonstrousProductionsTheatreCompany
[UK] The Discworld Convention 2016: The Band With Rocks In will take place in Chesford Grange Hotel, Warwick from 26th-29th August 2016.
The event sold out in a matter of days when tickets first became available. Though the con have been running a waiting list for people still hoping to attend.
[Australia] Guards! Guards! Will be performed in Brisbane, Australia from 8th October - 12 November 2016 by Brisbane Art Theatre.
Tickets are available from: www.artstheatre.com.au/show/guardsguards
[UK, New] Bolton Little Theatre will be presenting "Wyrd Sisters" on 6th - 11th March 2017.
The address is Bolton Little Theatre, Hanover Street, Bolton BL1 4TG
discworldmonthly.co.uk/uid/788
[Germany] All the Witches and denizens of the Chalk are invited to the 5th German Discworld Convention which will take place at Castle Ludwigstein from May 18th to 21st in 2017.
More information will be released on their Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/ScheibenweltConvention
[Netherlands] Cabbagecon 4 - July 2017
The Cabbagecon team is proud to announce a new edition of the one and only Dutch Discworld convention.
After visiting the Ankh-Morpork Assassins' Guild in 2015, we will team up with the Guild of Merchants to explore the great city of Ankh-Morpork some more in 2017.
Come and see the sights, meet the colourful city-dwellers, try the local food and, in general, experience the unique atmosphere of the Disc's most famous city. The Ankh-Morpork Guild of Merchants has gracefully agreed to provide a balanced and representative programme of activities to keep all visitors entertained.
Cabbagecon 4 will be held at the Hotel Carlton President in Utrecht on 1-2 July 2017.
Check out our new website at www.dutchdwcon.nl
[Australia] Announcing The Discworld Grand Tour 2017.
The Ankh-Morpork Tourism Board invites you to a journey of wonder, whimsy, and, er, wossname at *Nullus Anxietas VI - The Discworld Grand Tour - The Australian Discworld Convention.*
The Discworld Grand Tour will be held on 4th-6th August 2017 at the Lakes Resort Hotel, Adelaide, South Australia. This convention will be a way to escape on a luxurious trip to the Discworld to enjoy three (or four) fabulous days of fun and frivolity with your fellow fans of the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett.
You can find out more about Nullus Anxietas VI - The Discworld Grand Tour - The Australian Discworld Convention and chat with other potential tourists at:
Website: ausdwcon.org
Facebook page: facebook.com/Ausdwcon
Facebook group: facebook.com/groups/ausdwcon2017
Twitter: twitter.com/ausdwcon
6. Recurring Monthly Fan Meetings
[UK] The Broken Drummers meet at The Monkey Puzzle, Paddington, London, W2 1JQ, England at 7pm. For more information contact Helen Nicholls on helelnicholls@gmail.com
Also please note that due to email problems some addresses have been lost from the mailing list. If you are not getting Drummers emails and want to, please email Helen Nicholls on helelnicholls@gmail.com
Unless otherwise stated the Drummers meet on the first Monday of each month.
The Drummers are always happy to welcome new visitors. You can find out more about the Drummers at www.brokendrummers.org/ or
www.facebook.com/groups/55107511411/
[Perth, Australia] The Treacle Mining Corporation meet up to celebrate the works of Sir Terry Pratchett, and welcome any fans of science fiction and fantasy.
Join them for their monthly discussion of Discworld, Terry Pratchett and all things sci-fi and fantasy. They meet the first Monday of each month, subject to holidays, and all are welcome.
The group meets up at Carpe Cafe, 526 Murray Street, Perth, WA. Meeting at a cafe means they are under-18 friendly!
For details follow them on Twitter @Perth_Drummers, Instagram perth_drummers, and Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/Perth.Drummers/
Otherwise message Alexandra Ware directly at alexandra.ware@gmail.com
Unless otherwise stated the group meets up on the first Monday of each month.
[Sydney, Australia] Sydney Drummers normally meet on the first Monday of every month.
They meet at the NEW venue, 3 Wise Monkeys, 555 George Street, Sydney, 2000 from 6:30pm
For more information contact Sue (AKA Granny Weatherwax) on kenworthys@yahoo.co.uk
[Adelaide, Australia] The City of Small Gods is a group for fans in Adelaide and South Australia. They have regular monthly dinner and games nights, longer games days, plus play outings, craft-y workshops, and fun social activities throughout the year. For more info and to join their mailing list, visit: cityofsmallgods.org.au
[Brisbane, Australia] The Pratchett Partisans meet monthly at either Brisbane or Indooroopilly to eat, drink and chat about all things Pratchett. For more info about their next meetup, check out: www.facebook.com/groups/pratchettpartisans/
7. Readers' Letters
If you have any letters or comments, please email them to info@discworldmonthly.co.uk
We assume any correspondence is eligible for use in the newsletter unless otherwise stated, including the sender's email address. We may edit your letters for our own protection.
It is vitally important that you don't pass off other people's work as your own. If you use information from other resources please let us know so we can give proper credit.
* From: "Glenn Garside" glenn.garside@bigpond.com
Looking at Jake Thackray on YouTube and found this oldie...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiXINuf5nbI
It's based on one regional version of the old shepherds' counting system from which Tiffany was nicknamed by her Grandmother.
* From: "Rachel Bligh" rachelbligh@gmail.com
Firstly can I thank you for your efforts on Discworld Monthly, I have been a fan for many years of STP and of your newsletter which first opened up the world of other DW fans to me, including Wadfest that I've now attended four times. A small request, could you add the postcode for all productions as it makes it much quicker for me to assess if they are feasible to attend as I'm in Chesterfield?
I have not been to a Discworld play for a few years and I thought that it was time I showed my support more in 2016, so in April I attended with my daughter the production of Lords and Ladies as you advertised in DWM [Ruyton Amateur Theatrical Society, Shropshire - Ed]. I will be sending them a copy of this email but I can only say bravo! It was excellent and well worth the 2 and a half hours there and the same back. For a production with limited budget, small cast and challenging location - it was absolutely brilliant and a credit to all concerned; their passion and enthusiasm were clearly evident. I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in Lancre for the evening and wouldn't hesitate to go and see their next Discworld production.
I had also planned to see Stephen Briggs' Codex - the two productions so close together was a little difficult to organise but we (my long suffering and non-Pratchett fan, husband and I) managed to get to the Village hall in Abingdon after a 5 and a half hour trip to arrive with 4 minutes to spare. The production was equally enjoyable, although clearly a more professional amateur dramatics society with more budget for costumes and a much larger cast. The whole experience left me grinning from ear to ear. Actually seeing Stephen Briggs (Discworld celebrity) added to the experience along with justifying a visit to the Discworld Emporium en route really topped off my weekend.
I feel that I have been total spoiled by my family supporting me in these events that were so far away, but they do know that I'm a huge fan of all that is Discworld.
I'd love to thank everyone individually but wouldn't know where to start so I thought DWM was a good place.
Thanks again to you Jason for making me aware of the plays in the first place, I'll be scanning DWM for my next adventure - I aim to convert one person to Discworld every year and haven't failed for the last 7, I just need to pick a victim/lucky person for 2016, who can then join me at these productions where the need for giving entertainment and enjoyment to others just overwhelms me.
* From: "Christian Collinson" christiancollinson@gmail.com
While not explicitly Pratchett, I noticed that the National Poo museum opened recently in Sandown at the Isle of Wight zoo, which may be of interest to any of the young Sams out there.
DWM replies: Perhaps young Sam and Geoffrey could visit together.
8. DiscTrivia
We're back with five challenging trivia questions for you. In the answers I've included which book the answer comes from. Good luck, Jason.
The (hopefully correct) answers can be found at the end of this issue.
9. The Shakespeare Codex - Live in Abingdon (2 Reviews)
Review by Jason Anthony
We went to the Thursday (second night) performance of The Shakespeare Codex as adapted by Stephen Briggs. The play is loosely based around events in The Science of Discworld 2 and is all about parasitic worlds.
The Shakespeare Codex is the story of trying to get William Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night's Dream to make elves into laughing stock rather than the nasty creatures they are in reality.
Ridcully, Angua, Ponder, The Librarian and Rincewind are sent on the mission to help save Roundworld. Meanwhile on Discworld, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg prepare to defend the Dancers from incursions. In a twist to the original text Vetinari replaces King Verence. The switch makes sense because it allows Stephen Briggs to revisit his role as the Patrician but some of the lines spoken to him and his reaction didn't ring true to me.
The Unicorn Theatre is part of the ruins of the Abingdon Abbey complex. The theatre itself is a high ceilinged stone building with quite a large multi-level stage area which means the action can take place in multiple locations. The production uses the space well but when the actors leave the side door they actually have to leave the building and re-enter elsewhere. My advice is not to sit next to the door as it gets chilly when people are rushing out the door every few minutes!
The timing of the play felt a little rushed, there were very quick if minimal scene changes and some of the actors seemed keen to get everything said very quickly. Before we knew it we were rather abruptly at the interval. The second half continued at the breakneck pace and had some very funny moments. Seeking Matthew Kirk play an increasingly drunken Ridcully was very good and the whole time travel sequence was reminiscent of Scooby-Doo or Benny Hill. A very short cameo by a very famous doctor and his companion was a nod to the Doctor Who episode that used almost exactly the same plot. Then suddenly bang it was all over bar the dancing... Yes, dancing. I'm not 100% sure what Terry would have made of Granny Weatherwax and Lord Vetinari doing the Time Warp (and the remixed version at that!). I checked my watch as I left the theatre and discovered that the whole play including intermission was less than two hours long which ties up to my theory that the performance was a little rushed.
I enjoyed the production but it didn't feel like Terry's work. Yes, it had some of Terry's best-loved characters in it and for the most part they behaved as you would expect, but there were one or two bits that didn't quite work for me. Still it was an enjoyable couple of hours.
According to the programme, Stephen has been given permission to adapt at least one more Discworld novel so keep an eye on the newsletter for details of his next production. We will make every effort to go to that one too.
Review by Colin Hicks chicks3980@btinternet.com
On Saturday 9th April, we went to see Stephen Briggs' newly penned play, The Shakespeare Codex performed by The Studio Theatre group in Abingdon. This was my first visit to the town and not knowing what to expect we decided to arrive early. It turns out Abingdon is a nice small market town situated on the river Thames. I recommend, if you approach from the west or south, you park in the Rye Farm car park which is just outside the town to the south. This makes it an approximate 300 metre easy walk to the Theatre. Also, if you do arrive earlier, and it's a nice day, you can enjoy a walk along the Thames.
This is a new play, based on the - in my opinion - often overlooked Science of Discworld series. This was the 4 book series that Terry did in collaboration with Ian Stewart & Jack Cohen over a period of 13 years. The play is based on the second book, The Science of Discworld 2: The Globe; however Briggs has added pieces from other Discworld novels and plays plus some familiar Roundworld ones as well.
For staging purposes some aspects of the book have been simplified. Apart from Ridcully and Ponder, the UU faculty had been shrunk - literally (they were dolls about 10cm tall) - and were replaced by Captain Angua. She, at the Patrician's insistence, accompanied the wizards to Roundworld as he wanted someone sensible to be there. Angua basically gets all the lines that the faculty had in the book.
The play follows the plot of the book quite closely and so ends by the wizards effectively helping the elves to help Shakespeare write his plays - much to the elves' suspicion. The wizards' efforts in getting Shakespeare to be born and for the human race to believe in stories, myths and folklore lead them all over Roundworld's timeline. This was done very effectively to the tune of Benny Hill.
The play was superbly performed by all. This is an "amateur" group but they gave a professional performance. It looked like all involved had been working together for a long time. As it often the case with the Briggs adaptations, very few props were used will make it easy for other groups to stage when this script goes on general release. If I do have a criticism I would have liked it to be slightly longer. The running time of the performance including interval was just under 2 hours; other Discworld plays I have seen are often nearer to a 3 hour experience. But given it's based on a short story, maybe that's an unfair criticism. Anything added just for the sake of extra time may have seemed like padding. It's just I would have liked to spend more time in this world, with this group.
I have been going to see these adaptations for nearly 10 years now and have seen them performed by various groups. All have been good. Of course. some have been "gooder" than others. But this one has been one of the best, in terms of acting, staging and professionalism. My play-going companion said it's the best adaptation she has seen so far. Praise indeed. In fact we are both interested in seeing this group's next production in July, a non-Pratchett one.
10. Emporium Plushie Competition Result
Last month we had a Death of Rats Plushie to give away courtesy of The Discworld Emporium - we added a personalised Discworld Monthly mug and a Discworld Monthly competition winner's pin badge to the prize haul.
In order to win this prize haul you needed to answer the following questions.
The answers we were looking for were A1. The Librarian and A2. Six (6)
We also accepted Seven (7) as a valid answer for the mug question as one of our mug designs has sold out and is no longer available to purchase.
The randomly selected winner is Sally Ransom from Chelmsford in Essex. We'll print your mug with your requested name "Sally" on it and get it posted along with your Death of Rats Plushie and Discworld Monthly competition badge to you as soon as possible.
For more information on the Discworld Emporium's expansive range of products visit: www.discworldemporium.com
For more details of Discworld Monthly's range of mugs, badges, magnets, key rings and stickers visit discworldmonthly.co.uk/shop
11. Truckers, Diggers and Wings Competition
Discworld Monthly have purchased a set of paperback editions of Truckers, Diggers and Wings with the new Mark Beech covers to give away this month.
In order to win this trilogy of Nomes books and a competition winner's pin badge, you need to answer the following question:
Send your answers, along with your postal address to competitions@discworldmonthly.co.uk before May 21st. Your address will only be used for sending out your prize should you be the lucky winner. Once prizes are sent out all address details will be destroyed. Entries received after the closing date or sent to any other address will be ignored. No more than one entry per person will be accepted. Failure to answer the questions or provide your postal address will prevent you from being entered into the competition. Multiple entries will be banned. Answers to the questions must not be posted to any websites before the competition ends. The judges' decision is final. The competition is open to all readers.
12. Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett
Reviewed by Jason Anthony
I purchased a copy of Seriously Funny without really knowing what I was getting. When it arrived I was immediately underwhelmed. The book is quite small - small enough to fit into the back pocket of my jeans. It's 128 pages long and took me about 10 minutes to read from cover to cover.
After a very brief introduction about Terry the book moves onto the quotes. These are divided up into sections such as Human Nature, Romance, Learning and Wisdom, Words and Writing, Religion, Politics, Life and Death, Animals and Success. Each quote takes a whole page and references where it came from. Many of the quotes are from the old Internet newsgroup alt.fan.pratchett (most of the afp quotes are still available in the Pratchett Quote File on www.lspace.org/books/pqf/alt-fan-pratchett.html) and one or two are from the Guardian newspaper.
I've only got the one copy of the book so have no way of seeing if this is universal but it appears that the book was bound before the ink had dried properly. On most pages you can see an impression of the previous pages quote mirrored on the page. This really isn't very acceptable.
I haven't counted them myself but I've read there are 105 quotes in total. All the quotes are very good quotes as you'd expect from Terry but and here is my problem ... 105 quotes for a RRP of 9.99GBP that feels wrong to me. When you can still pick up copies of The Wit and Wisdom of Terry Pratchett from Amazon for less than that with thousands of quotes in it - you have to wonder about the value for money.
I feel bad in saying this but Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett really feels like a way of wringing money of fans. 105 quotes hardly seems Endlessly Quotable.
If my review hasn't put you off you can order Seriously Funny via:
Or if you prefer get a copy of The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld instead via:
/books_thewitwisdomofdiscworld.php
13. The End
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GNU Terry Pratchett...