Welcome to CADS - Royston's amateur drama group!
NEWS - CADS & King James Academy Royston
In March 2024 the Trust that manages KJAR asked CADS to remove the shipping containers that store their scenery, costumes and equipment from the school site as soon as possible. The Committee are working hard to resolve the situation and have spent time talking with KJAR Headteacher, the local MP and interested town, district and county councillors.They have also written to the CEO of Diamond Learning Partnership Trust. These talks are ongoing. If the situation cannot be amicably resolved CADS will have to dispose of the containers and their contents. It may mean that they don't have the resources to stage the annual pantomime in 2025. Smaller stage productions may be possible using alternative venues, and the Committee is progressing this idea. If you have questions about this situation please check the FAQs here.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR OUR LATEST SHOW!
Having been relatively quiet this year apart from our radio plays (see below), we're now engaged in not one but two new stage shows!
The first is a one-act play we originally planned to put on a few years ago before lockdown shut things down and is a riotous and bawdy fantasy comedy called Six Dead Queens... and an Inflatable Henry. It's due to be performed on 15 and 16 November at Icknield Walk School, Royston and tickets are now on sale online via Your Box Office or by phone on 07856 599039. The second is the hotly anticipated 2025 Royston Town Pantomime, which is another smash hit by Warren McWilliams - his brand new version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Auditions for the adult roles for the panto took place at King James Academy Royston recently and those for the junior ensemble are happening on Thursday 17 October; we hope to have more news shortly. Click here for details of both shows.
Our two latest radio plays have just been broadcast on Royston Radio as part of this year's Royston Arts Festival - a one-act comedy Losing the Plot by our old friend Nick Warburton, and the thriller Sorry, Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher.
Our last full-length production was the 2024 Royston Town Pantomime, The Little Mermaid by Warren McWilliams, which was more or less a complete sell-out. (IncIdentally, if you missed the interviews on Royston Radio with members of the cast and crew, you can find them as a podcast on the station's website at http://www.roystonradio.com )
Our last production prior to that was the "Two Short Comedies" show, which consisted of a live performance of Nick Warburton's one-act comedy Don't Blame it on the Boots - our award-winning entry to the 2023 Welwyn Drama Festival - followed by a screening of the film Seven Movies by Roy Maddox, which won three awards at the 2021 Welwyn Drama Festival, and received glowing praise from adjudicator Walker Ewart! If you missed the film at the festival, you can catch it on YouTube at https://youtu.be/MyL2L04uefA
In 2022, the one-act drama The Blonde Bombshell by local author Roy Maddox, was awarded Best Unpublished Play after it was performed for the very first time at that year's Welwyn Drama Festival. The group came fifth overall in a very strong field of fourteen plays.
Our production in 2021, Strangers on a Film - which won two awards (including Best Individual Performance) and received three other nominations at that year's Cambridge Festival of Drama - was subsequently recorded for radio and was first broadcast on Royston Radio at 2.00 p.m. on Wednesday 23 August. (It gets repeated from time to time, so do listen out for it!) We also performed it as part of a unique evening's entertainment at the 2021 Royston Arts Festival, and you can listen to it, too, on our YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/fMVDxa9912Y
We also produced, during lockdown, two versions of our virtual cabaret CADaret!, which we posted on YouTube, one during the 2020 Royston Arts Festival, and one in time for the Christmas period. These were both a mixture of songs, poems, sketches, monologues and general silliness, recorded on film and edited together for posting. Both are still available; to view them, search for "CADaret" on YouTube, or just click here
We have a varied programme and always welcome new members. Our pantomimes are always child-friendly, focussing on family entertainment (for which we've gained an excellent reputation locally in recent years). Our performers (children and adults) are all local amateurs, yet we all aim for high quality in as many aspects as possible - acting, script, lighting, sound, special effects, and of course our live band...
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS
Click on the links below for access to some important documents relating to CADS:
CADS is a not-for-profit organisation which relies solely on donations and ticket sales to finance our activities.
If you would like to offer a donation, please use the button here:
