Who?

GHosTs is a Guildford-based company that puts on a full-scale musical show every autumn, a pantomime or children's show in January and serious choral concerts in May/June.

We defy all attempts to categorise us as one type of company or another: we perform shows and music that we know we'll enjoy doing, that we know we can do well, and which we think our audiences will like. Consequently, we have acquired a reputation for putting on quirky, unusual productions full of energy and performed with a high degree of musicality and skill. We have a strong following in the area and at the end of every performance members of the audience are heard asking what we're going to give them next!

GHosTs celebrates its 21st birthday in 2004 - not bad going for a group that was originally set up just to perform one show!

So how did we get here?

GHosTs was founded in 1983 by Patsy Prescott, an immunologist at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, to perform Gilbert and Sullivan's HMS Pinafore. Our name was devised to reflect our roots in the Guildford Hospitals, so we are very protective of our capitals!

Between 1983 and 1995 we performed most of the G & S repertoire, adding our own little touches but remaining true to the spirit of the shows (at least we like to think that Arthur and William would have thought so).

In 1988 we took over responsibility for performing the hospital pantomimes, and soon developed a strong reputation there, performing many shows that were written specially for us and our slightly offbeat tendencies (memorable titles include Snow White and the Magnificent Seven; Sinbad the Sailor and The Temple of Doom; The Golden Goose or The Man with the Golden Chum).

In 1995 we lost our performance and rehearsal spaces in the hospital's Coyle and Mitchell halls, and had to face the hard, cold reality of performing in the outside world. Undaunted - we really didn't realise that we should be considering such things a problem - we found ourselves a new "home" in the Guildford County School, and performed The Beggar's Opera and two pantos to increasing numbers of highly entertained (and sometimes a little bemused) members of the wider general public.

Humble beginnings at the Coyle Hall

Then came a couple of really exciting developments: Guildford's derelict electricity works was refurbished into the most wonderful small theatre, with amateur companies in mind, and a very talented young director called Anne-Marie Davies offered to direct The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas for us. That show was a turning point in GHosTs' history. At almost the last minute we had to find a new venue because the Electric Theatre wasn't going to be ready. How she managed it we'll never quite know, but Anne-Marie got us into the Ben Travers Theatre in Godalming. People were very pessimistic about our chances with this show - a virtually unknown, untried group, performing a not that well known show in a theatre and town they're not based in. Doleful prophesies were rife. We sold out, every performance, with people standing at the back! Since then, the Electric Theatre in Guildford has been our home, for two shows a year, usually to capacity audiences.

We have been exceptionally fortunate to have had Anne-Marie direct three more shows for us:

• Return to the Forbidden Planet, which had a waiting list for tickets before the run started;
• Blondel, which won us two NODA awards, including the Haslemere Trophy for Visual and Technical Excellence 2000-2001; and
• Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens, the amateur premiere of a stunning musical that has gained a cult following.

1998 - Return to the Forbidden Planet

2001 - Blondel - Our first production with moving lights

GHosTs have also been in the enviable position of having had two musical shows written especially for us to perform, by Terry Read and David Perkins:

• Blood! A musical version of the true story of the attempted theft of the crown jewels in 1671;
• Lola, episodes from the life of Lola Montez, an exotic dancer and highly colourful character of the late 19th century. Lola won us our first NODA Award for Excellence in 2000.

1997 - Blood! - Full cast and crew

2000 - Lola - Lola finishes a provocative dance before a delighted King of Bavaria!

In January this year we made a break from the traditional (if you can call them that; see above) pantomimes and performed Pandemonium! (A Greek Myth-Adventure), a musical by David Perkins and Jenifer Toksvig that was first performed by the Yvonne Arnaud's youth group in June 2001. It was a great success, and everyone involved had a wonderful time working on it. David and Jenifer have collaborated on three other musicals, all full of quirky humour and great music, and perhaps one day we'll have the privilege of tackling another (they're available through French's by the way: well worth looking at). Oh, and we got another NODA Award for this show, only for the programme this time, but what the hey?

Back in 1991 some of us began to feel that the 2-3 month gap between finishing the panto and starting rehearsals for the next autumn show was a bit dull, so one bright spark suggested we tried singing some serious music for a change and produced John Stainer's Crucifixion. Now that was daunting at first: at the time we weren't musically that confident and many of our members didn't read music (some still don't in fact, but that doesn't stop us doing musically challenging material; we just work at it). Of course, being GHosTs, it never crossed our minds that we couldn't do it, and audiences for that first choral concert were very pleasantly surprised. Over the years Peter Andrews, our MD, brought us on slowly, by dint of gentle bullying and sheer hard work, each year giving us something more difficult than the last, until he retired in 2001 following extremely successful performances of works such as Rossini's Petite Messe Sollonnelle and Pärt's Beatitudes. Musically we owe a great deal to Peter - he drove us a long way along the road to where we are now. We've also been humbled to have had choral music written especially for us to perform, again by David Perkins, and this year we gave the first ever performance of David's Song of Psalms, for which the words were compiled by Terry Read, a very talented, much loved and sorely missed member of the group.

It's not just about fun

Our roots in the hospital are never far from our minds, and GHosTs still raise money for various good caused related to Guildford's hospitals every year. To date, we've donated over £16,000, which has been collected through bucket collections, raffles, thinly disguised threats to the audience by pantomime dames?

We've always been grateful for the start we had, and for the help that members of hospital staff have given us - and we intend to keep repaying as much as we can afford. Not just financially either: for a number of years we've been privileged to form the choir for Radio Lion's annual Carol Service at the Royal Surrey County Hospital, something we all love doing, and which starts our Christmas celebrations off every year.

Where next?

Well, Saucy Jack and The Space Vixens is but a couple of weeks away (don't live with your regrets; buy a ticket now), then we have a week off before starting rehearsals for The Three Musketeers - Le Panteau. Plans are already in hand for two or perhaps three performances of our next choral concert in May 2004, and then there's the next autumn show. We just don't stop - I don't think we would even if we wanted to! There's so much life and energy in the group we're always keen to see what's in store for us next.

And, of course, 2004 is our 21st birthday, so there's some serious partying to organise!

If anyone is interested in learning more about GHosTs, check out our website on www.ghosts.net