Coquetdale Amateur Dramatic Society (CADS)
“What a pity there isn't a Drama Society in Rothbury.”
This is the story of the Coquetdale Amateur Dramatic Society, by guest writer, Joan Wilkinson.
In an article in Over The Bridges November 2000, I read that a one-off Christmas entertainment would take place on stage in the Jubilee Hall and anyone interested should turn up to the rehearsal. I can remember observing to the person I was following as we were about to go on stage “What a pity there isn't a Drama Society in Rothbury.” She agreed and said, “Start one!”. So I put an advert in Over The Bridge.
As early as the 1920s there had been budding thespians in the valley. In an old photo of The Jubilee Hall Concert Nativity Play, in 1926, the famous author of The History of Upper Coquetdale, David Dippie Dixon is portrayed. Born in 1842 he died two years later in 1928 at the age of 86.
In 1942 there was a performance, again in the Jubilee Hall, put on by The Cragside Concert Party, which included well-known local figures Bunty Williamson and Peggy Clarkson, as well as Lady Kathleen Armstrong and The Duchess of Northumberland.
A famous play of its time, A Quiet Weekend, was written by Angus Armstrong's aunt Esther McCracken. It was performed in the West End and at The Jubilee Hall in the 1950s. Dr Rex Armstrong, Angus's father played a leading part.
So there is a long tradition of drama and stage productions here in the Coquet Valley. Although there had been a drama group in the 1970s, it had lapsed by 1990.
Four of the nine people who turned up for the initial meeting, following that item in Over The Bridges were still very much involved until the time of the Covid lockdown. Only two people, elderly ladies, did not attend a second meeting.
What kind of production was discussed? Pantomime was mentioned.
The two elderly ladies, however, decided it wasn't for them- one stating that I was on the wrong lines, it would never take off and if we were going to do panto we would need to find attractive young ladies with long legs!!!
How do you start a society from scratch and perform in less than a year?
We approached a large number of local businesses who generously supported us -and still do with their contributions of money and raffle prizes - as do many individuals. We received funding from larger organisations too, such as the Community Foundation and The Three Rivers Trust. We discovered we were eligible for a grant as we lived in an area badly affected by Foot and Mouth Disease. We matched the criteria; we lived in an isolated area and children of all ages were involved.
Cinderella
An old script for Cinderella, our first show staged in 2002, was found, but it was only 15 minutes long. So it was rewritten by members of the cast.
It soon became apparent that even with amending and adding to the script, we still did not have enough material for a full-length show.
We hit upon the idea of extending the short show by staging a cabaret to entertain the Prince at the Ball.
Various local organisations, groups, and individuals put on mini acts, including Rothbury Scouts, The Cubs, Coquetdale Round Table, and Ladies' Circle.
From these sources, contact was made with local people who have remained involved and who have made a huge contribution over the years in acting and non-acting roles.
Rothbury Ranters, a local group of young musicians became involved. All of this brought huge community involvement and, of course, swelled the audiences as their families and friends wanted to see them perform.
Fire Service involvement!
The Fire Service became involved when they realised that our large audiences exceeded the limit for the hall. There should only be 190 in total in the hall, including the audience and cast. We were selling up to 250 tickets!
So we reduced the number of seats to 180 maximum for shows in subsequent years.
We decided to put on the show twice. Both nights were sold out in a matter of days. So it was decided to open to the public the final dress rehearsal as a “preview”. This, too, sold out almost immediately.
A team was organised to sell ice-creams and wine, work the house lights, sell programmes etc. It proved to be a real community venture with over 100 people involved in the production, as actors or backstage or front of house.
Later in the year a new version of the Cinderella story was written by CADS members and performed on the village green, to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee. A few weeks later, we were asked by the P.T.A. of the Middle School in Rothbury to perform a shorter version of this Cinderella on stage at the school.
Pantomimes, or, Dramas?
Our first year had been very successful. It had been a very steep learning curve producing Cinderella.
The next 5 shows we put on were all pantomimes: A-Ladd-in Coquetdale, The Wizard of rOzbury, Robin of Rothbury, and Sleeping Beauty, and so the steep learning curve continued!
The question of the next production arose. CADS of course is a “dramatic society” not a “pantomime society” and over those first years, people started to wonder whether we were always just going to put on pantomimes or whether we could consider some other type of dramatic production.
We felt we should try something different the following year.
Our next seven shows were directed by newcomer David Richardson. This very experienced director proposed Coquet Cabaret for 2008, and was something altogether different for us after six years of staging pantomimes.
Coquet Cabaret was our version of The Calendar Girls.
The next year, as ever, we had the difficulty of finding a production to cater to younger and older people, male and female, most of whom wanted to be on stage a lot of the time and to have parts.
Plus, we had to fill seats and make the production profitable.
David proposed The Adventures of Mr Toad - a musical dramatisation of Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows. And for the production after that another musical play - Peter Pan.
Ten Years of CADS!
When we celebrated our 10th year in 2011 we decided to go for Lionel Bart's Oliver.
Some of us were concerned about tackling a full musical and thought we might not be up to it, but were reassured by both our director and music director.
And both proved very successful.
They also persuaded us to put on Wizard of Oz for 2012. The Sound of Music followed. Many members were nervous at the prospect of auditions but there was no shortage of people wishing to attend.
After that - Oklahoma!
We were in a dilemma. Some of us wanted to go back to our roots - pantomime - and others wondered if we were really up to the demands of putting on another big musical.
In the end, it was agreed that whilst we had the opportunity to use David's expertise we should do so. We knew he was going to be leaving the area soon.
Changes Ahead - introducing John Mawer
There were great changes to CADS after David had gone.
Many of us involved had recently asked members of the public what kind of show they wanted - and people said pantomime - they are fun, involve children and attract families.
A whole new way opened up for us in the next few years with new scripts and new direction.
A newcomer to the Thropton area, John Mawer, said he would be interested in writing a new panto script for 2015. In outlining his ideas John said that rehearsals would be very different from what we had had in the past! And so they were!
John had experience working as a stand-up comic in London, at the Fringe in Edinburgh, and in the US. And we benefited by having lessons in improvisation. We learned how to sing silly songs, react immediately to different situations and generally lose our inhibitions - even the shyest amongst us.
John Mawer
CADS were invited to take part in that year's Rothbury Street Fair to be held on Bank Holiday Monday. John wrote a script within days of receiving the invitation, based on characters from Treasure Island which was to be our next show, but introducing at the end some characters from Robin Hood, an excellent plug for the following year.
It was a hugely successful mini-production with lots of fun games for the kids in the audience to take part in.
John had started writing a new script of Robin Hood in collaboration with Adrian Hulford for 2018.
The Northumberland Gazette reported: “The script, is brilliantly crafted with plenty of great gags and full of all the best elements of panto: songs, laughter, audience participation, bright costumes, and beautiful sets.”
The proposal for 2019 was a “back to basics panto Cinderella”. This would present opportunities for engaging our large number of Jesters (our children's section). And for what became our last show before lockdown, Adrian came up with an innovative idea for a panto with a difference: The Great Panto Rhyme Mystery. The characters were all based on nursery rhyme characters: Humpty Dumpty, Incy Wincy Spider, Little Miss Muffet, Simple Simon, and many more.
We even had our own Vera to solve the crime that took place. We just managed to squeeze the show in before lockdown. Ironic, that we got started with the help of funding due to the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease and had to go dark because of the Covid Pandemic in 2020 and 2021!
In 2022 our rehearsals had already started for The Comeback Cabaret then to our huge disappointment we had to cancel yet again because of Covid.
But we did come back.
In February 2023 we staged a new version of Snow White written for us by again by John Mawer. We felt it was a great achievement to put on this brand-new production.
In 2024 we staged a new version of Jack and The Beanstalk.
Snow White photos by Susan Barwood
Jack and the Beanstalk photos by Susan Barwood
The Future
And so we continue......Each year we get a new influx of enthusiastic children and adults all bringing fresh talents to the stage. We also welcome many newcomers to our society. They bring their talents not only to the stage but also to our valued front-of-house team and backstage team.
A show simply could not go on without them - stage team, music, lighting, sound, costumes, props, refreshments, chaperones for our Jesters. All of them are invaluable.
And above all, we are grateful to our faithful audiences - we couldn't keep going without their wonderful support.
This year we were all thrilled to read Katie Scott's review of our 2025 production Titanic which made the front page of the Gazette, and to see the fantastic range of photos accompanying it, by Susan Barwood.
'Titanic' photos, Susan Barwood.
There are a great many reviews of a great many of CADS pantos by NODA
Reviews by Katie Scott of Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Titanic, with photos by Susan Barwood).
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