A
brief history of the Chideock Players in the words of one of the
original members Mrs Pat Hussey (written in 2002):
"For
many years before 1947 there had always been an entertainment
group in the village run by the schools or churches and after
1919 by the Womens Institute. Mrs Hutton took
the lead as producer in 1947 before Mrs Josephine White took over
in 1948 producing Bona Venture - a play all about Nuns as in those
days the group consisted of all women! The group took on the name
Chideock Players in 1950 for their first production of Blithe
Spirit.
There are
still a few of the original players in the village. So many local
people were players - Mrs Weld, Mrs Kirby, dear Trixie Higham
& Maud White and Leslie Fussell our president for many years.
I remember
Mrs Veronica Bickford playing "Miranda" the mermaid
- she was carried by Gilbert Legg as she had a wonderful
mermaids tail. Derek Taylor was always available as our reliable
"curtain puller" and John Newman built the lighting
box, known as the "Doctor Who" box for many years.
We had many
happy hours rehearsing and put on some terrific shows."
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A
list of our previous productions now follows: |
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|
|
Year |
Month |
Title |
| 1947 |
|
|
| 1948 |
|
|
| 1949 |
|
Bonaventure
|
| 1950 |
March |
Blithe
Spirit |
| 1951 |
February |
Arsenic
and Old Lace |
| 1951 |
December |
The
Sport of Kings |
| 1953 |
April |
The
Late Edwina Black |
| 1953 |
November |
Pig
in a Poke |
| 1955 |
|
The
Happy Marriage |
| 1956 |
|
Ten
Little Niggers |
| 1956 |
|
Miranda |
| 1957 |
|
The
Happiest Days of Your Life |
| 1958 |
|
Will
any Gentleman? |
| 1959 |
|
Bonaventure |
| 1960 |
|
Spiders
Web |
| 1961 |
|
Haul
for the Shore |
| 1962 |
|
Mystery
at Greenfingers |
| 1963 |
|
Pool's
Paradise |
| 1964 |
|
The
Bride and the Bachelor |
| 1965 |
|
Six
of the Best |
| 1966 |
March |
Look
out for the Catch |
| 1967 |
December |
The
Noble Spaniard |
| 1969 |
March |
The
Blue Goose |
| 1970 |
|
All
for Mary |
| 1970 |
November |
Breath
of Spring |
| 1971 |
|
Gaslight |
| 1972 |
March |
The
More the Merrier |
| 1973 |
March |
An Italian
Straw Hat |
| 1974 |
April |
Night
Must Fall |
| 1975 |
March |
The
Brides of March |
| 1976 |
March |
I'll
Get my Man |
| 1977 |
|
A Lady
Misled |
| 1978 |
|
Blithe
Spirit |
| 1982 |
June |
Entertainment
Evening |
| 1984 |
March |
The
More the Merrier |
| 1985 |
April |
What's
Hatching? |
| 1986 |
March |
Murder
at Deem House |
| 1986 |
October |
Jane
Panters Concert |
| 1987 |
March |
Where
There's a Will |
| 1987 |
November |
Music
Hall (an entertainment evening) |
| 1988 |
March |
The
Paper Chain |
| 1988 |
November |
Music
Hall |
| 1989 |
November |
Snow
White |
| 1990 |
July |
Lord
Arthur Savile's Crime |
| 1990 |
|
Dick
Whittington |
| 1991 |
June |
Treasure
Hunt |
| 1992 |
February |
This
and That (and a bit of the other) - a Revue |
| 1992 |
July |
The
Magistrate |
| 1993 |
July |
Ah,
Cruel Fate! and Harlequinade |
| 1993 |
November |
Aladdin |
| 1994 |
June |
Lark
Rise |
| 1994 |
November |
One
Thing and Another (a Revue) |
| 1995 |
July |
Tell-Tale
Murder |
| 1995 |
November |
Cinderella |
| 1996 |
June |
See
How They Run |
| 1996 |
November |
The
Return of the Other (a Revue) |
| 1997 |
Feb/March |
Bedroom
Farce (This was performed at the Chideock Village Hall in February
followed by the Bridport Arts Centre in March) |
| 1997 |
July |
Murder
in Play |
| 1997 |
December |
Robinson
Crusoe |
| 1998 |
June |
The
Other End of the Pier Show (a Revue) |
| 1998 |
December |
Christmas
Carol |
| 1999 |
March/April |
Pygmalion (This
was performed at the Chideock Village Hall in March followed by the
Bridport Arts Centre in April) |
| 1999 |
July |
Mystery
at Greenfingers |
| 1999 |
December |
Snow
White |
| 2000 |
April |
Relative
Values |
| 2000 |
|
Victorian
Evening |
| 2001 |
March/April |
Curtain
up on Murder |
| 2001 |
December |
Jack
and the Beanstalk |
| 2002 |
April |
'Allo
'Allo (This was performed at the Chideock Village Hall followed
by the Bridport Arts Centre) |
| 2002 |
December |
Four
Plays for Coarse Actors |
| 2003 |
April/May |
Habeas
Corpus |
| 2003 |
December |
Goldilocks
and the Three Bears |
| 2004 |
April |
Daisy
Pulls It Off |
| 2004 |
November |
Goodnight
Mrs Puffin |
| 2005 |
April |
The
Other Revisited (a Revue) |
| 2005 |
November |
Jack
and Jill in a Hill too Far |
| 2006 |
July |
The
Golden Pathway Annual |
| 2006 |
November |
The
Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen's Guild production of MACBETH |
| 2007 |
July |
Sand
Castles |
| 2007 |
November |
Mary Mary How Does Your Garden Grow? |
| 2008 |
June |
Cash on Delivery |
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