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WOLLATON DRAMA GROUP in 1986
Chairman: Mike Ridley - Sherwood
Secretary: Mrs Betty Parkin - Wollaton
Wollaton Drama Group was originally formed in 1959 and, at that stage, met at Wollaton Grange. They performed in various school halls. Their meetings then transferred to Fernwood Secondary School with performances there, or at Peveril (as it then was). In the seventies they transferred to a 'barn' behind a local pub. They converted the 'barn' into a cosy theatre with a seating capacity of seventy, an eighteen inch high stage and a bar! At the end of the decade, however, came eviction and a move to the present location.
The group has always followed a policy of variety in types of production and a stretching of members' ability. We have two or three amateur prereieres to our credit and have performed in several unusual places including pubs, hotels and on the back of a lorry.
We meet at the Sheila Russell Centre, St Martin's Road, Bilborough at 7.30 pm, every Tuesday and Friday, except in July and August. The membership (including occasional members) is twenty seven at the moment with approximately eighteen regular stalwarts.
The club's affairs are run by a committee of five: Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, House Manager and Social Secretary. The House Manager looks after props, scenery, electrial equipment and storage and liaises with the centre's warden. The Social Secretary is responsible for organising social events and fund raising.
We perform three productions a year, in March, June and November. Performance nights are Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Other activities are group visits to the professional theatre, visits to amateur productions and an annual Christmas evening of songs, poetry and sketches.
The hall we perform in has an audience capacity of one hundred and a semi-permanent stage which has been described as the smallest in the county! To give an idea of audience size the last play - "Abigail's Party" brought in a total audience of two hundred and seventy over the three nights. Tickets cost £1.30 for adults and 75p for OAPs and children.
Our last five productions were
"Outside Edge",
"Our Town",
"Time and Time Again",
"Birds on the Wing" and
"Abigail's Party".
At present we are rehearsing "Who's Afraid or Virginia Woolf?"
and in November we are doing "There Goes the Bride".