By Isle of Wight Observer
Save Our Society has been the cry for many amateur dramatic groups across the country as they strive to find new members. Some societies have folded, whilst others merged to form a new group, as with the case of Curtain Up Amateur Dramatic Society which was formed in 1977 and rose from the ashes of West Wight Little Theatre and The Thespians, both formed in the 1940s and struggling to find new members.
In their heyday Curtain Up staged large-scale musicals and plays. In more recent years, although the productions have been scaled down, the society still manage to stage two productions a year.
Their forthcoming production is an evening of one act comedy plays written and directed by new member Cheryl May. “It is always difficult to find good roles for older actors, so years ago I started writing one act plays with interesting character parts for older people. With a total cast of sixteen needed for the three plays, four of our members had to take roles in more than one play and have risen to the challenge brilliantly.”
Cheryl has over ninety published play and pantomime scripts under her pen name Cheryl Barrett. www.cherylbarrettwriter.co.uk
She has always enjoyed acting, writing and directing. “As we get older it is harder to remember large amounts of dialogue. The beauty of one act plays is that there are fewer lines to learn. For most of us Am dram is more than just a hobby, it has been a way of life for many many years, one that we would hate to lose.”
An Evening Of One Act Comedy Plays runs from July 18 th – 20 th at 7.30pm at Totland Church Hall. The three comedy plays, ‘Wild At Art’, ‘Word Up’ and ‘Just Breathe In, Dear’ are all published with Lazy Bee Scripts. Tickets can be purchased from Orchards Stores in Freshwater Bay, The Cabin in Freshwater and the FYT shop in Totland. Tickets are £7 and people can also pay at the door.
If anyone is interested in joining Curtain Up contact membership secretary Ruth Thomas 01983 752666 for further details or go along to their next production and speak to members
