Latest news from CADS
October 2026 newsletter
(October 07, 2026)Panto latest
Auditions for the principal roles in the 2027 Town Pantomime Cinderella were held on 1 October and the cast now looks like this:
Cinderella – Abi Daniels
Buttons – Duncan Moore
Prince Charming – Izzy Bass
Dandini - Boris Hiestand
Chantelle – David Atkins
Jordan – Simon Firth
Baroness Hardup – Alison Bass
Baron Hardup – Josh Rhodes
Fairy Godmother – Rachael King
King – Tim Johnson
Queen - Beth Moorley
Herald – Emma Smith
Grabbit – Zoe Nesteriuc
Scarper - Colette Soanes
Barkeep – Darren Dunford
Ghost – Emma-Louise Battom
Plus an ensemble that so far includes Jo Buggey, Luke Francis, Michelle Marks and Ben Paterson.
The directors will be holding a separate audition for other potential ensemble members (adult and juniors over the age of 12) between 7.00 and 7.30 p.m. on Monday 19 October in the main hall at King James Academy (Senior Site).
On the same evening there will be an open evening for anyone interested in joining the technical and backstage crew, including those who’d like to get involved with sound, lighting, costumes, make-up, front of house and so on. This will happen at 7.30 p.m. in the dining area immediately outside the main hall and will be led by our technical director, Peter Walter.
Times and dates for the performances will be 2.00 and 7.30 p.m. on Saturday 23 January, 11.30 a,m, on Sunday 24 January, 7.30 p.m. on Friday 29 January and 2.00 and 7.30 p.m. on Saturday 30 January. Tickets will, we hope, go on sale at the Christmas Market at King James Academy on Sunday 22 November.
Dates have also now been agreed for the two set-building weekends, which will take place on Friday 13, Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 November and on Friday 27, Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November. We’ll send round a reminder nearer the time.
“Fakespeare” revisited
We were pleased with the response to our two one-act comedies, both in Royston and at the ADC in Cambridge. The new Royston Venue seemed to suit the plays and the staff there could not have been more helpful throughout the whole process of setting up, rigging lights and generally getting to grips with what was, for us, a completely new performance space.
Although we didn’t win any awards at the Cambridge Festival of Drama, we were delighted that both Luke Francis as Hamlet and Tim Johnson as Claudius in Ruby of Elsinore were among the nominations for Best Individual Performance in a very competitive field! Our congratulations to both of them.
There’s now talk of us recording Ruby as a radio play and Emma Daintrey has kindly undertaken to arrange this for us. Watch (or listen to) this space…
Music, music, music!
Louise and David Atkins are planning to stage the musical Come From Away next Summer, possibly at the Royston Venue again. For those who don’t know, the show is based on the events in the Newfoundland town of Gander during the week following the 11 September attacks, when 38 planes, carrying approximately 7,000 passengers, were ordered to land unexpectedly at Gander International Airport. The characters in the musical are based on actual Gander residents and the stranded travellers they housed and fed.
Auditions for the cast of twelve (six men, six women who all play multiple roles) are scheduled for Thursday 4 February 2027 and it’s hoped to put on the show in the first week of July. There’ll be more information about this later in the year (basically, once panto is well under way) so keep an eye on this newsletter and/or the website and/or our social media.
Round table
Our series of round-the-room play readings gets going again with a reading of Henrik Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community, led by Heather Ormsby, It’s the story of a Norwegian shipbuilder whose life is thrown into upheaval when his past life comes back to haunt him. His plans to resolve the situation go disastrously wrong on the very night the town is due to honour him. The meeting will start at 7.00 p.m. on Tuesday 27 October in the Walmsley Room at The Old Schoolhouse, Market Hill, Royston. As always, everyone and anyone is welcome and the evening is completely free. We hope to see some of you there.
Extramural
A couple of shows coming up that feature CADS regulars. Zoe Nesteriuc is appearing as Gemma, one of the contestants in The Great British Bake Off Musical at the Lyton Theatre in Stevenage from 21 to 24 October. More details can be found here. And later in the year, Craig Maddox will be starring as George Bailey in the classic It’s a Wonderful Life at the Queen Mother Theatre in Hitchin, The show is on just in time for Christmas from 7 to 13 December and more information can be found here.
Fashion statement
A reminder that we’re still accepting orders for CADS-branded merchandise – hoodies and T-shirts. Please get in touch with [email protected] if you’d like to discuss your requirements. Last time we ordered any, the hoodies cost around £15-£20 and the T-shirts around £7-£10 but we’d need to check current prices and those might depend on size and so on…
Get creative!
Royston Museum is currently hosting a company called BEEE Creative who run sessions about dance and film making. It's open to all ages and what’s more it's free as its heritage lottery funded. More details can be found here.
Thirsty? Thursday!
Our regular “Third Thursday” social evening will be on Thursday 15 October and this time round we’re at The Old Bull from about 8.00 p.m. Do drop in if you’d like to share some general chat – all are welcome, whether members or not.
Committee
Our next committee meeting is on Tuesday 20 October; if there's anything you'd like us to consider or discuss then, please feel free to contact any of us at any time by e-mailing [email protected] or via the Contact page of this website.