The night of 15th August 2000 was the night of the great fire that partially destroyed the Arts Centre.
The 1812's planned Christmas pantomime, Aladdin, had to be postponed. Instead we organised "Love Bytes", a programme of short plays and sketches, to take on the road.We performed initially in Helmsley Town Hall and Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall in December 2000, then again in Helmsley, the Galtres Centre in Easingwold, and the Village Hall in Terrington in March 2001.
As most of our equipment was burnt we had no sets or special lighting. The cast rehearsed mainly in each other's homes. At each performance we held a raffle in aid of the Arts Centre rebuilding programme.
The programme performed in December 2000 included the following:
Young Love 1 by Victoria Wood; The Proposal by Anton Chekhov; The Balcony by Mike Bennett; A Man's Best Friend by James Saunders;Groupies by Victoria Wood;Night by Harold Pinter;Young Love 2 by Victoria Wood; The Sign of the Rupture Belt by Michael Frayn; Table Talk by David Campton; Brief Encounter by Mike Bennett; Spaghetti by Victoria Wood; Permanence by Fay Weldon; No Gossip by Victoria Wood; Resting Place by David Campton; Young Love 3 by Victoria Wood
Directed by Pauline Armour & David Powley
Acted by Pam Broadbent, Gareth Jenkins, Cal Stockbridge, Julian Allistone,, David Powley, Lyn Holmes, Richard Kemp, Geri Coop, Robin Andrews, Pauline Armour, Steve Hick, Moira Wood
With backsatge and front-of-house help from John Morgan, Chris Small, David Goodwin, Kathy Robson, June Greener, Paul Elm