Current CADS production

Strangers on a Film

by Stephen Wyatt

Our next venture is something of a world exclusive! Local author Roy Maddox has recently adapted a short radio play called Strangers on a Film by novelist and script writer Stephen Wyatt, which we're entering into several local drama festivals, starting with the Sawston Festival in March where it will get its first ever live public performance!

The play, based on real events, imagines a series of encounters in 1950 between film director Alfred Hitchcock and thriller writer Raymond Chandler. Hitchcock was, at the time, looking for someone to write a screenplay for his next film, which was to be an adaptation of the novel Strangers on a Train, the debut novel by Patricia Highsmith. An admirer of Chandler's work, Hitch approached him to work on the screenplay, though relations between the two men turned out to be far from harmonious - Chandler, being an author, wanted the script to be true to the book, whereas Hitchcock simply wanted to make a visually exciting movie and didn't much care for the niceties of the plot; indeed, he changed much of what was in the original story to suit his vision of what would make a good thriller.

Strangers on a Film somewhat ambitiously charts the increasingly acrimonious relationship between the two men, told through a mixture of individual meetings and direct addresses to the audience, and illustrated with projected film, animation and still images. It's basically a two-hander though it also uses a chorus of non-speaking "extras" to play some minor roles and to act out a couple of scenes from the proposed movie.,

Martin Maynard will be playing Hitchcock, and Michael Young is Chandler, with the ensemble of extras including Jo Buggey, Matthew Harrison, Pauline Rowe, Lisa Sargeant, Becky Seakins and Joe Symonds. The play's world premiere (!) will, as we say, take place at the Sawston Drama Festival, which runs from 19 to 21 March at the Marven Centre in Sawston Village College (New Road, Sawston CB22 3BP). The CADS entry has been scheduled for the second slot on Thursday 19 March (the first slot is a one-act adaptation of Twelfth Night, which should be interesting!). Further details about the Festival itself, tickets to which are available to anyone, can be found on their Facebook page.

Six plays, including ours, will be presented over the three nights by different local groups with a professional adjudication at the end of each evening and an awards ceremony on the Saturday. The adjudicator this year is Jennifer Scott-Reid, who is no stranger to CADS, having run a highly successful voice workshop for us last June. Jennifer is a GODA Adjudicator, has acted in and directed plays herself for the festival circuit, and is co-founder of two theatre companies as well as running her own training company.

It would be great to see you there supporting us!

Subsequent to this, we'll be performing again at the Welwyn Drama Festival in May at the Barn Theatre, and at the Cambridge Drama Festival in September at the ADC; we hope also to be able to perform it in Royston at some point - more information on these dates as and when we have them...

IMPORTANT

If you are involved in a CADS production that also involves children (defined as anyone under the age of 18), it is important that you read - and confirm to us that you have read - our Child Protection Policy document and the set of procedures that accompany it. The policy is summarised here and that page also includes a link to the full procedural document - please take time to read both and then click on the link on that page to show that you have done so. Thank you.

You can find additional information and updates on our Facebook Event page...