All posts by admin

Ladies Day – Dress Rehearsal

April 7, 2016News, Uncategorizedadmin

This week sees Dorchester Drama’s production of Ladies Day open at Sunninghill hall in Dorchester.

Tickets are still available, both to pre order and will be available on the door. The Cast and Crew have worked very hard towards this, and had a lot of fun as well. Lots of credit must go to Pete the director, who was there for the dress rehearsal, but is away for the next few nights as he’s appearing in another play as a favour to the Wool Players.

Below are a few quick rough and ready shots taken during the dress rehearsal.

Ladies Day

March 18, 2016Uncategorizedadmin

Ladies day Poster 01 03 2016

Ladies Day Update

February 15, 2016Newsadmin

The Ladies of Dorchester Drama have been out buying hats, not for a wedding, but for the latest production “Ladies Day” by Amanda Whittington.

Leading Characters of Dorchester Drama's "Ladies Day" by Amanda Whittington. — Leading Characters of Dorchester Drama’s “Ladies Day” by Amanda Whittington.

“Work, love and life are just one long hard slog for the fish filleting foursome Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda. But their fortunes are set to change when Linda finds tickets to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot the year it relocated to York. Out go the hairnets, overalls and wellies, as the four ditch work, do themselves up to the nines and head off for a drink, a flirt and a flutter. If their luck holds, they could hit the jackpot – and more besides!”

Meanwhile, downstairs, other Dorchester Drama members are getting together for a drink or two and to read through some other scripts, from Ayckbourn to Coward and beyond.

If you fancy joining in, helping out with the play or just the social side, come along to the Victoria pub in Dorchester on Monday evenings, 7:30ish for the next few months.

Christmas Social

January 17, 2016Newsadmin

Another cracking social evening, with members past, present and friends.

See a selection of photos below from the various skits and entertainment prepared for the evening. Having had to miss the evening myself, I can only hazard a guess as to what some members are up to…

Toad Comes Home

November 23, 2015Uncategorizedadmin

After an exhausting few days for the Cast and Crew, Toad of Toad hall comes to a close. The scenery and props are back in the store and costumes are being cleaned before joining them. A huge thanks to everyone who helped put this together, whether it was helping out with Front of House, painting a couple of flats on a Saturday morning, or getting up early and staying out late to help lifting, shifting etc.

Thank you.

There are some wonderful shots out there on the interweb of the set and players and some links are below.

First of all there’s some photos taken by a Friend of Badger’s, Mr John Boyle, capturing some quite unique moments of the play. – click Link –

Secondly, there’s Marion Cox’s review published on their website. On the whole a good review, but she felt that the play was let down by the length and didn’t like Toad. It is worth noting that the version that was printed in the paper had some of the better points edited out and they applied an unsuitably negative headline. An edit that Mrs Cox herself was not happy with. This may well have put the opportunist Punter from coming out on the Saturday night.

And last, and showing that different reviewers can see different perspectives, there’s Anita Harris’s review featured in her Durnovaria diaries. See below.

Toad of Toad Hall

Wow!! Once again Dorchester Drama Club surpass themselves with their latest production, Toad of Toad Hall, the stage adaptation of one of my childhood favourites, Wind in the Willows. This had everything – music, song, dance, comedy and great acting. The props were simple but incredibly effective, clever use of smoke and lighting created wonderfully atmospheric settings, and the enthusiasm of the children taking part blended beautifully with the more experienced adults. And we were so smoothly transported from riverbank to court house, dungeon and finally the banqueting room at Toad Hall, the homes of Badger and Ratty adding to the mix to bring the story to life in a way even the youngest audience member could understand and appreciate. The Corn Exchange, for just a few hours, became the countryside as the tale of Toad, Badger, Mole and Ratty unfolded and drew you in.

Oh yes, I loved Toad of Toad Hall. As ever, the stage presence of Lee Stroud (Toad) was as amazing as ever, a Toad as good a one as you will find anywhere. Michael Staddon was an imposing Badger, Ann Ottaway delightful as the somewhat timid Mole, and Ian Farley made the role of Ratty his own. They bounced off one another perfectly, the humour at times subtle but never lost on those watching. I loved Fran Sansom as the Chief Weasel, so sinister, so menacing, as was the brilliantly lit scene in the Wild Wood. Loved the Down with Toad song, performed so well by young and not so young amidst a plethora of red light and swirling smoke. What an incredible touch. So many great performances. So good to see the hilarious Sue Worth and Lee Stroud pairing up to bring one of the most comical interludes of the whole show. Timing was great ……. And they are so funny when in full flow.

There wasn’t one moment in Toad of Toad Hall that I didn’t enjoy. The whole performance had me transfixed, from the delightful ducklings, ably led by Mother Duck (Dee Thorne), to the chaos of the courtroom and the banishing of the weasels from Toad Hall. Everyone who had a hand in this production, from the actors and producers to the stage crew, choreographers and costumiers deserves a round of applause and heartfelt thanks for creating such an enjoyable evening. I love being transported back to my childhood, a double delight when taken there by the talented Dorchester Drama Club. Thank you …….. and I am waiting with bated breath for your next offering. Make it soon, but please recover from this one first. Poop, poop, as Mr Toad would say!!

Opening Tonight – Toad of Toad Hall

November 19, 2015Uncategorizedadmin

We open tonight, Show starting at 7pm.

We still have some tickets available on the door, so if you’re free, we’d love to see you.

Here are some pics from the dress rehearsal.

Toad News

November 5, 2015Newsadmin

Rehearsals are needing bigger spaces as we’re running the full play, so we’ve got the chance to mock up the set dimensions. This gives the Actors a feel for the space they will be performing in. It also gives the Techies a chance to try to spot problems before the Tech rehearsal.

Last night we spent some time putting together the fight scene. Here’s a little taster.

The Children (& Dee) have been practising some dance routines as well. The children have a variety of different roles, here, they’re ducks dabbling.

Publicity is out there, please spread the word around as much as possible and come to see the play. Watch out for some of the cast members handing out leaflets in town on Saturdays in costume as well. All help welcome.

Toad Poster

October 30, 2015Uncategorizedadmin

Here’s the Flyer that we’re currently circulating around some of the local schools.

PDF version to download below

Toad schools flyer

Toad News

October 21, 2015Newsadmin

19th November, our opening night, is now less than a month away. Rehearsals are at full momentum and often interspersed with costume fittings.

There’s too many cast to list here fully, but the main characters are going to be played by:

Toad – Lee Stroud
Mole – Ann Ottaway
Ratty – Ian Farley
Badger – Mike Staddon
Chief Weasel – Fran Sansom

There is also a whole host of weasels, field mice and other creatures that I’ll give credit too when I can.

The Directors are Dee Thorne & Lee Stroud.

We are still desperate for help behind the scenes and Front of House. We’re also hoping to get donations for raffle prizes as well. Anything you can help with please give us a call.

Tickets – Hold Fire, tickets are being printed and should be available next week, after half term. There will be a booking number to call for tickets, 01305 268692. You will also be able to buy tickets from Trinity Stores in Trinity St.

We’re doing 4 performances, 19th November 7:00pm, 20th November 7:00pm, 21st November 2:00pm & 7:00pm.

All performances will be at the Corn Exchange, Dorchester.

Prices will be £9 in advance or £10 on the door. All children’s tickets will be £6.

Toad News

September 22, 2015Uncategorizedadmin

Rehearsals are underway for Toad of Toad Hall, scheduled for November. Costume design is also well underway and we’ve got to set up a meeting for set design and lighting.

If you’re interested in helping out backstage, drop us line. We can always use a few more weasels and stoats to plot against Toad.

Below are a selection of photos from the initial rehearsals, including Weasels and Stoats.