Latest news from CADS
April 2026 newsletter
(April 26, 2026)Book now for Summer silliness!
Tickets are now on sale for our early Summer production, Mark Evans’s hilarious Dickensian parody Bleak Expectations. Performances are at King James Academy Royston (Senior Site) on Thursday 4, Friday 5 and Saturday 6 June, starting at 7.30 p.m. Tickets are £15 each and can be booked via our ticketing partners Your Box Office or by phone from our Box Office hotline 07856 599039. Seat numbers are slightly restricted for this production, so be sure to book early!
We’re looking for additional team members to help out front of house, so if you fancy assisting with bar sales in return for a free show, please e-mail [email protected]
Worthy winners
The winners of our two annual awards have been announced. The Fred Sillence Award “for outstanding contribution to the performing arts” has gone this year to Kathy Young. The citation mentions her many years of commitment to CADS as actor, director, writer and committee member. This year she excelled herself by not only appearing in the pantomime (where she took a relatively small role and gave it memorable comic presence) but also co-producing, organising the make-up, assisting the safeguarding team and generally acting as a go-between and a channel of communication for the various groups involved in the show. In addition, in 2025/26 she helped revive our semi-regular play reading sessions, is co-directing our Summer production, and was instrumental in discussions with the Town Council over the potential use of the Town Hall as a future venue.
The Lizzie Houghton Award "for outstanding contribution to youth drama" was presented to Holly McQueen. As well as her involvement with CADS, she is a member of Royston’s TheatreTrain group and passed her RSL Grade 3 back in July. She has been a drama ambassador at her school, helping the Drama Captains run activities in the school drama club and she participated in the Summer James Bond themed school showcase. She is now Head Drama Captain at her school and studying for her drama GCSE. She leads a team in school running activities in the school drama club. At Christmas she co-directed and narrated a school production of Scrooge.
Our congratulations to both winners.
All (or nearly) change
Following our AGM earlier this month, we now have a new committee. We said goodbye and thank you to Kathy Young and Paul Durrant and welcomed Peter Walter and welcomed back Michael Young. The full line-up for 2026/27 is therefore:
Chair: Darren Dunford
Vice-Chair: Peter Walter
Treasurer: Rupert Jordan
Secretary: Michael Young
Committee Members: Julia Cole, Tamsin Cowley, Joe Daintrey
The play's the thing
We held the most recent of our semi-regular play reading evenings on 14 April, when Michael Young presented two one-act comedies with vaguely Shakespearean connections which he is hoping will be the basis of the CADS entry in this year's Royston Arts Festival. Ruby of Elsinore by Bruce Kane sees the eponymous court hairdresser cutting the hair of (and exchanging banter with) Ophelia, Gertrude, Claudius, Hamlet and even the ghost, while To be or not to bother - a brand new play by David Tristram - has the members of the Little Grimley Drama Society attempting to put on an evening of iconic scenes from the Bard with minimal resources and even less talent. (It's hoped that one or both of these might also form the CADS entry in this year's Cambridge Festival of Drama.)
Our play readings are held roughly every two months and are open to absolutely anyone. They take the form of a round-the-room reading, so that everybody who turns up gets a chance to read at least one part during the evening. Sometimes these lead to productions but the idea is to introduce members and others to plays they might not otherwise have read or seen. We’re always keen to hear from you if there’s a play you’d like to introduce to the group – please contact [email protected] and let us know.
We’d also be interested in hearing from you if you have ideas for other evening events – we’ve had some suggestions for technical workshops and maybe a directors’ panel discussion, but do let us know if you’d like to see any other sort of event, whether related to on-stage or off-stage activity.
By the way, Michael is planning to hold auditions for the two one-act plays early in June after the run of Bleak Expectations, so watch this space and/or the newsletter and/or social media for further details.
Radio drama
Meridian 1 Radio - the planned new “pop-up” station for the area – have asked CADS if we could provide some radio drama, and we’re currently working on adapting some of the shows we’ve produced over the past few years. The station is due to start broadcasting in early Summer and may continue after that, in which case we might well be looking to record some new plays for them…
Third Thursday
The usual reminder for your diaries that our next social will be on Thursday 21 May (from about 7.30pm onwards). As with our last few get-togethers, we'll be meeting at the Casa Blanca bar in town for a few drinks, a few laughs and a general catch-up. We hope to see as many of you there as possible – all are welcome!
Committee
Our next committee meeting is on Wednesday 20 May; if there's anything you'd like us to consider or discuss then, please feel free to contact any of us at any time via the Contact page of this website.