Last Saturday I drove down to Newtown in Powys where I lived for about ten years, during which time I spent many happy hours as a member of the Newtown Amateur Dramatic Society which is based at the Powys Theatre, a small theatre owned by the Society. Saturday was an opportunity both to get reacquainted with friends from the Society and also to be reminded of various plays that I took part in, and as such, was a success on both scores. In some cases I had not met up with some of the folk for about twelve years, although others I had met with when I last visited the Theatre about three years ago.
Anyway, dear reader, I thought that you might like to share my trip down a Thespian Memory Lane, and so here are a few pictures from those days.
The following is the Cast List for the first play that I was in at the theatre, Lloyd George Knew My Father, written by William Douglas-Home. I played the part of Hubert Boothroyd MP. It was the first play of the 22nd year at Theatre Powys. I also show the face of the programme and the first two photographs below are from the play.
I took the part of 'George Westwood' in 'The Small Hours', a Francis Durbridge play.
Ray Clooney's play, Run for Your Wife, was a great comedy to be in. I took the part of Detective Sgt. Porterhouse.
Above and below are scenes from that wonderful Emlyn Williams' play, Night Must Fall, which was the second play in the 25th season.
In Murder Deferred i played Mick Clancy, the Irish barman.
Charity Cases was a comedy written by one of the members, Graham Harris, and it was the third play of the 25th season, following on after Night Must Fall. I played a drunk named Ferdinand Grapehillock, and was on stage for the entire performance. I had no lines to learn but plenty of grunts and noises to make during the performance. It was an extremely testing performance as I had to ensure that it was not over-acted!
During my years with the Theatre I took part in many classic Northern Comedies, and Cat Among the Pigeons by Duncan Greenwood was one of them.
The years that I spent with the Powys Theatre are very full of fond memories, not only for the plays that I was privileged to act in but also for the opportunity to act alongside some very talented players. During my time there I greatly appreciated the friendship and camaraderie that existed and continues to this day.
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