Latest news from CADS
March 2022 newsletter
(March 31, 2022)AGM time
A reminder that next week sees our annual get-together, at which we look back at the previous twelve months, look forward to the next, and vote in the 2022/23 committee. As previously announced, our current Chair, Emma Daintrey, has decided to step down so we'll be hoping to appoint a new one from among the membership. The AGM is open to anyone, but only paid-up members get a vote (though you're welcome to express your views and ideas whether or not you're a full member).
To remind you, full membership is £15 for the year (£10 for full-time students) and this entitles you to a free ticket for any one performance of any show we put on during the year (transferable to a family member or friend if desired); it also entitles you to vote at the AGM should you wish to and it ensures that you're covered under the terms of our insurance policy if you're cast in a production.
You can pay your subs by bank transfer - the account name is CADS, the sort code is 40-39-22, and the account number is 91389149. It would help if you could use "Membership" as your reference. Alternatively, you can simply pay cash to a member of the committee. Any problems or queries, please get in touch with [email protected].
The AGM takes place at 7.30 p.m. on Wednesday 6 April at the Coombes Community Centre in Burns Road and is likely to last about an hour. Do please come along and let us know what you think, or just drop in for a chat. Thank you.
Meeting the Gameses
We were honoured, at a recent rehearsal of our one-act play The Blonde Bombshell, (which we're submitting to this year's Welwyn Drama Festival), to welcome as guests the son and daughter of designer Abram Games, on whose life the play is partly based. We took the opportunity of running the whole play on stage for their benefit and they seemed to like the piece! Naomi Games, herself a former designer, both writes and lectures on her father's work so it was a particularly educational and informative evening and both she and her brother Daniel made a number of really helpful suggestions (and one or two factual corrections!) that are now being incorporated into the script.
We were also joined for the evening by local artist Rachel Haynes, whom some of you will know. The play, by Roy Maddox, was based largely on a dissertation that Rachel wrote at APU some years ago. Rachel has offered her help with the show and has not only lent us some of the props we need, but has also produced a stunning reproduction of the wartime poster which is the central focus of the plot.
We're still waiting to hear from the Welwyn Drama Festival about which night we're likely to be performing the play, but the festival itself runs from 16 to 21 May at the Barn Theatre in Welwyn. We'll be announcing more details as soon as we have them, but if you can come along to support us on whichever night it turns out to be, that would be brilliant.
We could also do with some help on the technical side of the production. If you're free and can assist backstage, or help us with props and costumes, we'd love to hear from you. Please contact [email protected] in the first instance.
Staycationing
Our evening meeting programme continues next month with another in our series of round-the-room play readings. This one, hosted by Emma Daintrey, will look at the one-act comedy The Staycation by prolific local author and CADS regular Claire Hogan. (Some of you may have seen the rehearsed reading of the play that the Settlement Players put on via Zoom - and Emma directed - during lockdown early last year.)
The play is set in the home of Wendy and Rob, whose plans for a Caribbean cruise to celebrate their silver wedding anniversary have been thwarted by the restrictions of lockdown. Attempts to re-create the atmosphere of the Caribbean at home are falling somewhat flat, despite Wendy's best efforts, but then things take a turn for the worse when Marcus and Portia arrive, suitcases in hand, expecting to stay for the weekend. It seems that Rob has forgotten to cancel his own plans to rent out their house through Airbnb. As Marcus and Portia seem reluctant to leave, it's up to the four of them to make the best of a bad job..
The reading takes place at 7.30 p.m. on Tuesday 26 April at the Coombes Community Centre in Burns Road and everyone is welcome to attend, whether or not you've been to a CADS event before - there's no need to book - just turn up on the night - and it's completely FREE! If there's time, we may also look at some of Claire's shorter sketches as well...
Brush up your talent
We're especially pleased to announce a series of free acting workshops focusing on duologues hosted by former professional actor and CADS award winner Martin Maynard. These start on Wednesday 15 June at King James Academy Royston and will run for four subsequent Wednesdays. Depending on numbers, we hope to be able, later in the Summer, to showcase the work done by the participants, possibly as part of an evening's entertainment - watch this space!
If you'd like to take part, it would be enormously helpful to know in advance so, if you haven't already, please contact [email protected] to register your interest.
Committee
As mentioned above, our next meeting is the AGM on 6 April, and the date for next regular committee meeting will be decided at the end of that session by the new committee, but 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!