Following the success of Theatre of Blood, WADS’ interactive murder mystery in 2008, the company is planning a follow up in February in a joint venture with the Gill Nethercott Centre.
Called M’nango Valley, the setting of the murder mystery is a dinner to launch plans to build a controversial theme park celebrating African culture and history in the grounds of Laverchurch Park country estate.
Intrepid explorer and Indiana Jones figure, Oregon Smith, is the brains behind the scheme and it soon turns out that he’s less interested in archaeology and more in fame and fortune. His plans for the park are very different from what everyone is expecting and soon it all leads to murder.
M’nango Valley runs for one night only at 7:30 pm on Saturday 6th February, at the Gill Nethercott Centre. WADS performers will act out the plot - and host some murderous goings-on. The cast then mingles with the audience to answer questions. All the audience has to do is try to work out who dunnit before the actors play out the final scene - when the identity of the murderer will be revealed.
Tickets cost £15 and include a three-course meal and a glass of wine. Vegetarian options are available (please notify us when booking). There will also be a cash bar.
Book early because numbers are strictly limited and tickets can only be bought in advance - none will be available on the door. Tickets can be reserved from the Gill Nethercott Centre by calling 01256 896270 or via the website at gillnethercottcentre.org.uk
For more information, please contact us at info@wadsweb.org.uk.
As Twelfth Night fades, it's time to think about Midsummer Nights
Every Tuesday in January WADS will be hosting a reading for parts for its summer production, Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Everyone who would like to be considered for a part in the play is welcome, as well as non-performers. We are always on the lookout for new talent - not just actors, but directors, producers, musicians, lighting technicians, wardrobe people, front-of-house, you name it.
Readings will take place on Tuesday evenings in January at 8pm in the Testbourne Community Suite, which is next to the main entrance to the school.
For further information, contact Claire Isbester:
01256 892514
info@wads.org.uk
The Passing Out Parade
WADS’ last production, The Passing Out Parade, was performed on Thursday 26th, Friday 27th, and Saturday 28th November in Testbourne Theatre.
At its peak during WW2, the women’s branch of the British Army, known as the Auxiliary Territorial Service or ATS, boasted more than 200,000 recruits. In The Passing Out Parade, written by Anne Valery and set in 1944, we met seven raw girls who had just signed up and followed their trials and tribulations at the hands of Joyce “blood-and-guts” Pickering. But could she turn the girls from “anguished amateurs” into “perfectly drilled faceless soldiers”?
The Passing Out Parade featured an all-female cast, including four actresses new to WADS. With a barrack room setting, a soundtrack of music and songs from the period, authentic1940s accessories, uniforms and even wartime undergarments, the show re-created the dark days of 1944 with comedy, drama and even tragedy, as the girls of B Company ATS came to grips with the Great British military machine.
Joining in
We perform regularly in Whitchurch, and are always on the lookout for new talent - not just actors, but directors, producers, musicians, lighting technicians, wardrobe people, front-of-house, you name it.
Why not come along to the WADS club night? We meet every Tuesday evening at 8pm in the Testbourne Community Suite, which is adjacent to the main entrance to the school. There is no pressure to join and you get the chance to meet members you may have seen on the stage and the behind-the-scenes workers without whom the group could not survive.
For further information about WADS, please contact us at info@wadsweb.org.uk or click here. You can also read about our latest productions on the Whitchurch Town website - www.theWhitchurchWeb.org
The photograph above of the cast of Julius Caesar appears by kind permission of Andy Stott, a local photographer and member of WADS whose work can be viewed on his website, imageri.com