Rehearsed Reading and Open Day- Saturday 24th May
Rehearsal room three at the Drama Studio was full to bursting with over 20 people in the audience or taking part in the evening performance.
The intrepid actors were: Adam Fergus, Alison Munro, Anne Padget, Anthea Sutton, Corrie Houton, Grace Mitchell, Mark Powell, Susan Allaker and Tim Jones. The day was spent rehearsing and performing two new one-act plays by Ian Gledhill.
The enthusiastic response from the audience was a tribute to the commitment and talent of the actors, producing moving performances of scripts they had not seen until earlier that morning. Well done everyone involved!
On the Razzle by Tom Stoppard – Wednesday 14th May
A fantastic time was had reading this classic farce – the perfect sequel to our last production.
“Apart from The Importance of Being Earnest, there may be no script in English funnier than On The Razzle” (The Observer).
Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter – Monday 17th February
We had a wonderful time exploring Kneehigh Theatre’s acclaimed version of “Brief Encounter,” featuring those lovely Noël Coward songs.
It was a pleasure to hear everyone read, listen, and even join in with the singing. We were thrilled to see so many familiar faces, and especially delighted to welcome new members to our group.
Rehearsed Reading – 29th June 2024
‘Calling Home’ by Mick Connell
Mick’s play is adapted from ‘The Visitor’ by Maeve Brennan. We had a successful and very enjoyable all-day event at the Drama Studio rehearsal rooms, with the first ever ‘performance’ of the play in the evening, which was enthusiastically received by the audience. Here are some photos of the day!
Rehearsed Reading – 18th March 2023
On Saturday 18th March, ten members of SUDS took part in an all-day rehearsed reading at the Drama Studio, directed by Ian Gledhill.
Two one act plays were rehearsed during the day and performed in the evening: an adaptation of ‘The Convent of Pleasure’ by Margaret Cavendish and ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ by Tom Stoppard.
Some members will recall the performance SUDS gave of another Cavendish play, ‘Bell in Campo’ at Bolsover Castle. Cavendish published ‘The Convent of Pleasure’ in 1668 and like ‘Bell in Campo’ it had never been publicly performed until now.
The play has an outspoken feminist message, features one character who changes sex during the course of the play, and has been described as the first portrayal of lesbian love in English literature. All that, and it’s a comedy too!
Stoppard’s play was first performed in 1968, exactly 300 years after Cavendish’s play was published. Both plays feature a ‘play within the play.’ In ‘The Real Inspector Hound’ two theatre critics are watching a performance of an Agatha Christie style murder mystery and the play within the play is a hilarious parody of the genre. Who is the dead body? And who is the real Inspector Hound?
The following actors took part in the event, everyone taking a role in each play:
Rachel Bray, Richard Carwardine, Andy Challis, Lesley Cottingham, Eleanor Harby, Lucy Jepson, Tim Jones, Linda Kirk, David Reid and Anthea Sutton.
And here are some photos from the lovely day!
SUDS 