Curtain Up celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee

By IW Observer.co.uk May 10, 2022

Curtain Up Amateur Dramatic Society is to put on its 100th production to celebrate the past 70 years of the Queen’s reign.

The Freshwater-based society was formed in 1977, rising from the ashes of the West Wight Little Theatre and The Thespians, both formed in the 1940s, and who were struggling to find new members.

In its heyday, Curtain Up staged large-scale musicals and plays; however, in recent years, the shows have been scaled down, with one act plays and murder mystery evenings.

The 99th production, ‘Blue Murder At The Blue Parrot’, a comedy murder mystery, proved so popular it sold out as soon as tickets went on sale.

‘A Jubilee Extravaganza’ has been written and produced by member, Cheryl May, who said: “A few years ago we were close to disbanding, but thanks to a couple of new members and past members re-joining the society, we are able to produce this, our 100th show.

“There is a wealth of experience at Curtain Up. For most of us am-dram is more than just a hobby, it has been a way of life for many, many years and one that we would hate to lose.”

Cheryl has more than 100 published play and pantomime scripts under her pen name, Cheryl Barrett, and facilitates a fortnightly writing group, ‘Write Place’, at Freshwater Library.

She added: “I’m fortunate I was able to devise and write comedy sketches for the revue, with some of them accepted for publication by Lazy Bee Scripts.”

Cheryl is currently working on Curtain Up’s autumn production, another comedy murder mystery.

A Jubilee Extravaganza is on Friday and Saturday, May 20/21, 7.30pm, at Freshwater Memorial Hall.

Tickets, £9, can be purchased from The Cabin, Freshwater and the FYT shop, Totland. Money raised will be donated to local charities.

Anyone interested in joining Curtain Up should contact membership secretary, Ruth Thomas, 752666, for further details or attend the production and speak to members.