25 years of
T
here have been Drama groups in Arlesey before; after
the Second World War the London Chest Players were
formed, when the London Chest Hospital took over some of
the emergency hutted wards at the Three Counties Hospital,
and in 1968 Arlesey & District Dramatic Society were formed
in the village.
More recently, in 1981,
‘Arlesey Young Wives’
decided it would be good
to put on a village panto.
A script for Cinderella
was obtained, a cast
assembled and some backstage
personnel recruited from family and
friends of the group. The panto was
staged in the Village Hall in 1982 and
was a great success. Everyone involved
enjoyed the experience so much a
new group was formed – A.P.P.L.E..
No not the computer giant, but
‘Arlesey Production of Plays and Light
Entertainment’.
The new group A.P.P.L.E.’s first panto was Dick Whittington in
January 1983 and gained ‘critical acclaim’ and set them on a course for local
notoriety.
Another show was on the cards and they decided to produce a ‘Summer
Show’ the content being Variety, a show of songs and sketches. The group
thrived on having fun while doing it, an attitude which audiences said was
always apparent from the performances. Variety shows such as ‘Around the
World’ , ‘APPLE Crumble’ and ‘APPLE on TV’ were scripted by members
and produced on the stage in the Village Hall. The emphasis was always
on the comedy and many sketches were never the same from one night to
another as audiences reacted to ‘ad-libs’ from some of the cast.
Pantos were produced at the Village and Dress Rehearsal’s open to
local groups to come along and watch for a reduced entrance fee. A regular
audience at Dress Rehearsals were patients from Fairfield Hospital (formerly
Three Counties Hospital).
Although most Pantos were traditional versions of the scripts, they were
always ‘Appletised’, but in some cases there were departures from the
standards – Frankenstein the Panto in 1992, Peter Pan in 1994 and The
Wizard of Oz in 1997, these were heavily adapted scripts, but the group
always returned to the traditional panto, producing Cinderella and Aladdin
three times each.
The endeavours of the group gave them an opportunity to raise money
via tickets, programme advertisements, and various other ways. Over the
course of the 25 years donated over £11,000 to good causes both locally
and nationally. Local causes that benefited included equipment for the
Doctors surgery, The Mulberry Bush appeal at Lister Hospital, The Amber
Buck Appeal, The Millennium Meadows fund for the purchase of Glebe
Meadows, with national causes such as Great Ormond Street Hospital and
Harefield Hospital receiving donations too.
Various venues were used for rehearsals and meetings including St
A ballet act was a sketch
from one variety show
4 |
March 2013
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