-Churt Amateur Dramatic Society (CADS)-
"Now Is The Hour"
In Churt for two performances only prior to the Leatherhead Drama Festival
May 8th - 9th at 8pm
Fresh from a well-reviewed debut at the Edinburgh festival in 2008, Peter Christopherson’s Now is the Hour moves up a gear, in terms of venue prestige anyway, to Churt Village Hall in May. To be performed on the floor of the hall, the two shows on 8-9 May are warm-ups for its entry in the Leatherhead Drama Festival on the 14th – plus the inevitable call-back on the 16th.
CADS cast members include Viv Raeside, Nigel Dams, Clare Pierson and James Woodley, plus others in non-speaking roles and a solid back-stage crew. If you didn’t see NITH last summer at Frensham Heights or in Edinburgh, it tells the story of a band of survivors from the SS Laconia sunk by a U-boat while on passage from Egypt to England. It is set in moveable sections of a real lifeboat, on a shimmering sliver surface.
The British Theatre Guide said, “The cast are magnificent in the way they tell the harrowing perils of the survivors, while they begin to starve and succumb to the elements. “Using simple tricks and stagecraft to show the effects of sunburn and dehydration, the real emotional impact is in the
subtleties between the actors in the small movements and looks.”
Tickets for the village performances are £5 and available from www.ticketsource.co.uk/cads and Miscellanea (01428 714014).
Alice in Wonderland – CADS
What a wonderful way to spend a cold winter’s evening. The Churt Annual Panto, almost as much of a tradition as Panto itself.
Fun, laughter, a few deliberately bad jokes, mixed together with singing & dancing, a fabulous set, clever use of space and amazing costumes, all orchestrated by a 7ft tall white rabbit. I wasn’t sure if I had taken the blue pill or the red pill.
A cast of thousands, far too many to mention them all in this review, pulled together an ensemble piece of theatre beautifully. The White Rabbit (Chris Deacon) guides us down the rabbit hole, glues the scenes together and keeps us entertained throughout the show. Dame Gladys (Peter Christopherson) is a real classy broad, in both senses of the word, making the children laugh and scaring the men in the audience with come hither looks. Ernest (Howard Fullbrook) the gardener didn’t seem to mind though, rather enjoying his proximity to Gladys.
Alice (Lisa Bailey) takes a trip through wonderland playing the part of sweetness and innocence whilst all around her is a deranged hippy community from the 60’s. Check out those costumes and some real Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Hearts, Spades and Club characters. Prince Valentino (Dawn Barrow) and Billy (Angela Traill) play nicely rounded characters in good thigh slapping tradition and carry off excellently a number of songs. Queen of Hearts (Tracey St John Taylor) or should I say Heartless was the archetypal evil queen. Don’t mess with her or her daughter Princess Incontinenta (Victoria Newbould) the spoilt brat, who if you closed your eyes, sounded just like Queenie from Black Adder. The queen’s evil henchmen the Spooks (Jim Lawson, Jack Irwin) were hilarious and the other tremendous double act were Tweedle Dum and Dee (Ant Lloyd-Perks, James Woodley) joined at the hip and ready to quip.
In the tea party the Hatter (Jane Quicke) was Mad, the Hare (Clare Pierson) was brainless and the dormouse (David Irwin) was delightful. There was a special appearance from a Bruce Forsyth lookalike superbly played by Dominic Raeside.
The star of the show for me though was the Cheshire Cat (Sady Castro). She put in a purrfect performance. I would also like to mention one of the chorus for standing out and keeping me in stitches. Chris Angwin travelled through time from an Egyptian mummy to a sixties hippy, ending up as a Right Said Fred lookalike gay icon.
Hats off to the director (Cerys Traynor) and all her backstage team for pulling all this together.
Review by Francis Farrell
