Dramatic Society awarded 'Accolade of Excellence'

Following the two NODA awards Cuckfield Dramatic Society (CDS) received in the last couple of years The National Operatic and Dramatic Association has awarded CDS another Accolade of Excellence for its spring 2019 production of Stepping Out.

Inspired by its Creative Director, Sophie Bradshaw, and co-directed by Harriet Sheldon, Stepping Out was CDS’s first bold step into musical theatre. Although the stage play is more of a play with music and dance as opposed to a full-blown musical, it was nonetheless a huge challenge for the theatre group.

CDS has plenty of acting talent to choose from, but to provide some dancing experience CDS collaborated with local dance school Dance With Emily. And so began a blend of actors learning to dance and dancers learning to act that culminated in such a wonderful show.

Once the details of the show were announced, interest in the village spread quickly and with its Saturday matinee and extended seating layout ticket sales picked up rapidly. The show ultimately broke CDS’s attendance record. Many audience members had travelled far and wide and from other drama clubs and societies, such was the interest in the show.

Creative director Sophie said: “This award is just the cherry on the cake for such a fabulous production. The show was a dream come true for me, having been desperate to do it for about 10 years! I’m so very proud of all the cast, crew and Dance With Emily members who helped to make it such a roaring success. They all fully deserve this award.”

Quote from producer and CDS Chairman Ross Bradshaw: “This was an incredibly challenging show for CDS but we carried it off with great aplomb and this award is richly deserved by everyone who was involved. It just shows the incredible range of talent that we have both onstage and behind the scenes.”

The NODA review read: ‘With a small cast of ten principal roles and no ensemble, there is no place to hide for the performers and each needs to bring their best to keep the audience engaged for the duration. Not only did this talented cast achieve exactly that, their claim of not being able to differentiate the ‘real’ tap dancers from the ‘never tapped befores’ was also correct.

‘It is a true testament to the cast and the creative team to achieve such chemistry and for each individual performance to be of such a high standard.’ This was CDS’s first venture into musical drama and it sounds like it won’t be the last.

The groups next production will be Proscenophobia by Bettine Manktelow and will be at The Queen’s Hall between 27th and 30th May.

Find out more at: www.cdsweb.co.uk

First published in Cuckfield Life, March 2020 issue.

Comedies come to Cuckfield

By John Fisher

Cuckfield Dramatic Society’s autumn show at the end of the month is a comedy double bill to keep us feeling good even as the days lengthen. Whether you have heard of the playwrights or not, the shared comedic theme of battles between the sexes is something everyone will enjoy.

The Bear by Anton Chekhov is about a very angry man trying to collect a debt from a weeping young widow while her loyal retainer tries to both cheer her up and throw him out. It’s all mirth and no melodrama as two very stubborn people get hot under the collar about money and marriage.

Also known for realistic long dramas Chekhov was also a prize winning writer of short stories and plays, including collections of humorous ones, and he is still considered to be a master of that form. The Bear is subtitled A Joke in One Act.

Director Hazelle Woodhurst says it’s a hilarious play – a classic about an archetypal man and woman with some wonderful comic timing. Chekhov it may be but this Russian farce is more Carry on Comrade than heavy drama!

Fumed Oak by Noel Coward is set in 1930s Clapham where Henry Gow is fed up with his whiny daughter, moaning mother-in-law and demanding wife. But he has a secret and soon it will be out…

Despite being known for plays about high society and having one of the poshest voices ever ‘born and bred in the suburbs of London’ Coward also wrote about ordinary people, and in Fumed Oak horribly funny ones too!

Performances run from Tuesday 29th October to Friday 1st November 2019. Tickets are on sale now at: www.cdsweb.co.uk/book

February's double bill of drama in Cuckfield

Cuckfield Dramatic Society is staging two plays in a thrilling double bill performance later this month – The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan and Dirty Business by Derek Webb.

Directed by Emma Gosling, The Browning Version, often considered to be Rattigan’s finest masterpiece, tells the story of a British schoolmaster, a faithless wife and a faculty that has long disdained him.

Due to poor health Andrew is forced to retire from teaching. His wife despises him for his failures and finds consolation in Frank, a younger teacher.

She openly taunts Andrew while Frank watches with shame and disgust. The wife knows she has lost Frank but even more bitter is the realisation that he is now Andrew’s best friend.

Directed by Lesley Jenks, Dirty Business is a topical comedy about council cuts and the cleaning business.

Cuts are on their way big time at the local County Council as it struggles to find ways to meet Government spending targets. Josie and Angela are cleaning the office of one of the Council’s Department Heads one evening when they come across a file which seems to show that their jobs are on the line too. Josie, who has a penchant for malapropisms, and Angela, who is Queen of the pub quiz team, are determined to fight the cuts every inch of the way. And if that means playing dirty, so be it!

Performances will be held at the Queen’s Hall from Thursday 21st to Saturday 23rd February.

For more information and tickets visit: www.cdsweb.co.uk or buy tickets locally from Marcus Grimes on the High Street.