Latest news from CADS
September 2020 newsletter
(September 18, 2020)CADaret! is here!
It is with pride and no little excitement that we can now announce our very first online production. CADaret! is a video programme of songs, sketches, monologues, poetry and so on, performed by some of the regular members of CADS as well as some newcomers. (A couple of the pieces have even been written by members!)
It is being launched on YouTube at the start of the Royston Arts Festival on Saturday 19 September at 7.30 p.m. and it will remain accessible there until the end of the Festival on Sunday 27 September. A link to the programme will be advertised during the Festival, but once it's been made public, you'll be able to access it by clicking the link below:
The programme itself lasts almost exactly an hour, but you don't have to watch it all at once - you'll find a list of contents on the YouTube page with the start times of each piece, so if you pause the video at any time, you can easily pick up again where you left off.
Please be aware that one or two of the pieces feature adult themes and/or language, so this may not be suitable for family viewing. Nonetheless, we hope that you enjoy the show!
A very special guest speaker
Also as part of the Arts Festival, we are delighted to be presenting a talk by playwright and screenwriter Nick Warburton, whom many of you will know. Nick is a prolific local writer, actor and director whose original plays are frequently heard on Radio 4 as well as being enormously popular with amateur groups throughout the region (and, indeed, the country). He has written scripts for the stage, for radio and for TV, including for Holby City, The Archers and Eastenders. In his talk, he’ll be looking at the challenges - and some of the solutions - in turning novels into dramas. There’ll be examples from the works of Anthony Trollope, Graham Greene, Geoffrey Chaucer and others, and time for questions afterwards.
The session is being conducted live via Zoom at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 23 September. As with all our Zoom meetings, if you'd like to attend, we need your e-mail address, please, so that we can send out a link to the talk and the necessary access codes. Please e-mail [email protected] as soon as possible if you'd like to take part.
Incidentally, as a follow-up, our next online play reading will feature one of Nick's radio plays, Not Bobby, a charming and satirical piece about a very unusual rabbit! (See below for details)
Time to cough up
No, not a rather tasteless Covid reference, but a reminder that, if you've not paid your subscription for 2020, it's not too late to do so, and by doing so you'll be helping us out in what is admittedly a somewhat fallow year for box office takings! To remind you, full membership is £15 for the year (£10 concessions) and in a normal year this would entitle you to a free ticket for any one performance of any show we put on during that year (transferable to a family member or friend if desired); it would also entitle you to vote at the AGM should you wish to (and should we manage to organise one next year!) and it ensures that you're covered under the terms of our insurance policy when we are - Boris willing - finally able to return to doing what we love: performing in front of a live audience...
You can pay your subs by card online by using the "Donate" button on the home page of our website, quoting the reference "Membership", or by bank transfer - the account name is CADS, the sort code is 40-39-22, and the account number is 91389149. Any problems or queries, please get in touch with [email protected]. Thank you.
Evening meetings
Our programme of online meetings continues during lockdown - so far we've had several hugely enjoyable (if technically challenging at times) play readings, a couple of quizzes and a brilliantly entertaining guest speaker..
Our next scheduled meetings are:
- Wednesday 23 September, 7.30 p.m. - talk: "Adaptation" by Nick Warburton (part of our contribution to this year's Arts Festival - see above for details)
- Monday 5 October, 7.30 p.m. - follow-up play reading of "Not Bobby" by Nick Warburton, hosted by Michael Young
- Monday 19 October - general knowledge quiz, hosted by Jeffrey Cottis
If you'd like to take part in any or all of these, please let us have your e-mail address so that we can send out details nearer the time - all meetings are completely FREE! Please e-mail [email protected] as soon as possible to let us know of your interest.
And if you have any suggestions for future meetings, we'd love to hear from you, too - among the proposals we've had so far are an evening of pantomime jokes (!), a comedy event, or a further cabaret-style session where people perform "party pieces" which could be anything from a song to a poem, a monologue or a brief sketch... let us know if you have any ideas along those lines.
Committee
Our next (online) meeting is on Tuesday 27 October; if there's anything you'd like us to consider or discuss, please feel free to contact any of us at any time via the Contact page of this website!