| Last chance!
Just over a week to go now until the opening show of our much anticipated 2024 pantomime The Little Mermaid and there are, at the time of writing, literally only a couple of dozen seats left!
If you need reminding, the pantomime is being performed as usual at King James Academy Royston (Senior Site) on Saturday 20 January (2.00 and 7.30), Sunday 21 January (11.30), Friday 26 January (7.30) and Saturday 27 January (2.00 and 7.30). The recent closure of part of the school hasn't affected the hall and surrounding block, so we're pleased to say (rather unoriginally) "the show will go on"! The few tickets that are still available can be booked online - just follow the link from the group’s home page for our booking partners Positickets - or by ringing the Box Office on 07856 599039.
CADS on the air Last year, you may recall, we recorded a version of our award-winning play Strangers on a Film, which was broadcast on Royston Radio in August and has been repeated a couple of times since. We're now planning to record a second radio drama for the station - a new Nick Warburton one-act comedy called Losing the Plot.
Amanda is very keen on her allotment and thinks everyone should feel the same. So when Edward appears on the scene she encourages him to apply for the plot next to her own. But Edward has his own rather idiosyncratic ideas about what to do on an allotment which don't go down well with the other plot holders...
We've organised a combined read-through and audition for this piece at 7.00 p.m. on Monday 5 February at The Old Schoolhouse on Market Hill, Royston. It's completely open to anyone over the age of 18, whether or not you've performed with CADS in the past, and you don't need to prepare anything beforehand - just turn up on the night. (We can probably even supply tea and coffee!) To give you some idea of the roles, here's a list with some indication of their characters: - Amanda - keen allotment gardener, could be any age but probably in her fifties
- Edward - diffident and somewhat solitary, roughly the same age as Amanda
- Bernie - chair of the Allotment Association, a stickler for rules and regulations
- Mr Coggan - member of the Association, a bit of a yes-man (only a few lines)
There are also a number of members of the Allotment Association who have no lines as such but are expected to murmur and mutter at various points during the script! If you think you might be interested, we'd love to see you there. And the great thing about radio drama is that you don't have to learn your lines!
We hope to record the play some time during February and it will then need to be edited before submission to the radio station. If you haven't discovered it yet, Royston Radio is a new community radio station broadcasting from the town. They have loads of new shows exclusive to the station and a great music mix. You can tune in via www.roystonradio.com, download the Royston Radio app on your phone/tablet, or ask your smart speaker to play Royston Radio. They're always looking to add to the team of presenters, so get in touch with them if you have a show idea at [email protected]
We've also got plans for a third radio play, The Hitchhiker by Lucille Fletcher. This is a sort of ghost story and was originally produced for the radio by no less a figure than Orson Welles. CADS staged a version of this way back in 2000 for the Cambridge Drama Festival and revived it four years later at Haverhill Drama Festival. More news about that later in the year...
All change at the AGM Our annual general meeting takes place at 7.00 p.m. on Monday 25 March in the main hall at KJAR (Senior Site), and there will be some changes to the committee this year. Michael Young, who has been Secretary for a few years and has doubled as Chair during 2023, is resigning from the committee, so we'll need to find replacements for those two roles. We'd also, of course, welcome anyone else who'd like to join the committee. We meet roughly once a month in someone's home and meetings generally last about an hour and a half. Most of the actual work of the committee gets done by the officers (Chair, Secretary, Treasurer) but we do rely on our "ordinary" members for their insight and their opinions on what we're doing, what we plan to do, and even what we should be doing instead! If you can spare an hour or so every month or so, do please let us know that you're interested.
Just to remind you - anyone is welcome to attend the AGM but if anything gets put to a vote (including the appointment of committee members), then only fully paid-up members of CADS are eligible to vote. Nonetheless, we'd be delighted to see you there whether or not you're a member and everyone's voice will get a chance to be heard, so if you have any thoughts on the present or future of the group (see also below), do please join us...
Things to come Our future plans are very much up in the air at present. We'd like to submit something to this year's Welwyn Drama Festival (20-25 May) as we've always been very fond of that particular festival and have scored a number of successes there in the past, but at the moment we haven't got a director to come up with any ideas. If you'd like to step forward (you don't need to have a specific play in mind or to have directed before - there are always lots of people who can advise), we'd be delighted to hear from you, but we'd really need to know by the end of this month so that we can let the festival organisers know! Please contact us in the usual way by e-mailing [email protected]
Beyond that, there are some ideas rattling around for a full-scale musical, perhaps as a contribution to the Royston Arts Festival, but that may not happen until next year. As always, watch this space...
Committee Our next meeting is on 13 February 2024; if there's anything you'd like us to consider or discuss then, please feel free to contact any of us at any time via the Contact page of this website! |