Aldridge Youth Theatre
Aldridge Youth Theatre is a small Youth Theatre in Aldridge, Walsall, England. The theatre is located on Noddy Park road, by The Croft. It is run by a group of volunteers and stages a variety of plays throughout the year. It also usually puts on a Pantomime in January.
The Theatre's Committee
Decisions are made by the theatre's committee which consists of a mixture of adults who run the theatre and members. The committee meets to bring up issues with the theatre and other suggestions.
The Performers
At Aldridge Youth Theatre there are three groups;
- Juniors (8-13)
- Seniors (14-20)
- Adults (21+)
Past Productions
Productions
Aldridge Youth Theatre has staged many productions over the years. Recently, there has been productions such as;
- Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (Juniors - 1998)
- Kes (1999)
- Maskerade (Juniors - 1999)
- Wait Until Dark (1999)
- Our Town (2000)
- Adrian Mole (2000)
- The Wizard of Oz (2001)
- Sharkleshark (2001)
- A [...] is Announced (2001)
- The INCredible Vanishing (2001)
- A Servant to Two Masters (2003)
- Much Ado AbOUT Nothing (2004)
- The Trojan Women (2005)
- Oliver Twist (Juniors - June 2005)
- Little Women (2005)
- A Wedding has been Arranged (2006)
- The Curious Savage (Adults - 2006)
- [...] Wiitingham (Juniors - June 2006)
Pantomimes
There has also been such pantomimes as;
- Tom Sayer (1997)
- Aladdin (1998)
- Sleeping Beauty (1999)
- Snow White (2000)
- Humpty Dumpty (2001)
- [...] Wittington (2002)
- Sinbad the Sailor (2003)
- Cinderella (January 2004)
- Puss in Boots (January 2005)
- Red Riding Hood (January 2006)
- Babes in the Wood (January 2007)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
It was directed by Neville Ellis. It was a great success performed by the senior group. The cast included :
- Josh Ibrahim as Theseus
- Eleanor Grice as Hippolyta
- Dexter Whitehead as Egeus
- Hannah Jackson as Hermia
- Jonathan Backrath as Demetrius
- Mathew Powell as Lysander
- Amy Grisdale as Helena
- Phebe Jackson as Mistress Quince
- Alexander Fisher as Nick Bottom
- Edward Lyne as Francis Flute
- Gary Twine as Robin Starveling
- Joshua Iredale as Tom Snout
- Elliot Ash as Snug
- Weasley Hallam as Puck
- Nathalie Colen as Peasblossom
- Savannah Cook as Second Fairy
- Jaime Davies as Third Fairy
- Joseph Cryan as Oberon
- Zoė Hallam as Titania
- George Cook as an Attendant to Oberon and he also played Philostrate
- Toby Ireadale as an Attendant to Oberon
- Oba Akinwale as Moth
- Ross Bott as Cobweb
- Tom Jagger as Mustardseed
- On the Thursday performance Starveling was played by Dexter Whitehead
The production at Aldridge Youth Theatre was a success and as one of the people in charge of Aldridge Youth Theate said
I think this production will go down in Aldridge Youth Theatre history!
I am sure the cast would like to thank all of the adult helpers that have helped with the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream and naming them all would take a long time. The members of the cast and the the director aknowledge their enormous debt of gratitude to this generous team.
Junior Festival
2007 saw the return of the Junoir Festival. The guest judge this year was Robert Mountford. All of us at Aldridge Youth Theatre would like to say thank you to Rob for doing this and for running a workshop the following day. We would like to say congratulations to all of the performers who entered and Savanah Cook who won the event.
Rookery Nook
This comical Farce by Ben Travers, directed by Neville Ellis, was performed September 2007. The action of the play takes place in 1926 at the lounge hall of "Rookery Nook," Chumpton-on-Sea, Somerset. Newly married playboy Gerald Popkiss is traveling by car to stay there on holiday with his wife, Clara, and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Possett. But when the mother-in-law suddenly falls sick, Clara opts to stay behind with her, and Gerald must travel on alone. Shortly after he arrives at "Rookery Nook," a commotion is heard from the house next door, and in runs a beautiful young girl in pink silk pajamas escaping the cruel treatment of her stepfather, Putz. She begs Gerald to let her stay the night until Putz has a chance to cool down. Gerald agrees to let her stay. However, he must keep the situation a secret from his sister-in-law Gertrude, who lives nearby, and the meddling maid, Mrs. Leverett, who works at "Rookery Nook." The cast included:
- Amy Grisdale as Fertude Twine
- Josephine Rattigan as Mrs Leverett
- Wesley Hallam as Harold Twine
- Alexander Fisher as Gerald Popkiss
- Rebecca Ablaster as Rhoda Marley
- Joe Green as Putz
- Joe Cryan as Admiral Juddy
- Hannah Jackson as Poppey Dickey
- Phebe Jackson as Clara Popkiss
- Isobel Taylor as Mrs Possett
Thanks to all of the adulty helpers that help with this excellent play
The Most Recent Production
On November 29th, 30th and December 1st 2007, a small group of adults put on the production of two adult plays; "A visit from Miss Prothero" and "A cream cracker under the settee", both by Alan Bennett. The cast in "A visit from Miss Prothero" were:
- Mr Dodsworth - Brian Wootton - Brian brings to the theatre a wealth of knowledge and experience in all aspects of drama and literature. He has directed two plays at AYT; Our Town and A [...] has been Arranged and played Hannibal in the Curious Savage in 2006.
- Miss Prothero - Jan Manning - After studying Dramatic Arts at teacher training college Han hoined the Grange PLayers where she played varied roles. She became involved in AYT when her two children became members.
There was only one member of the cast in "A Cream cracker under the settee" and that was the fantastic Patricia Harrison. In 1958, Pat became a member of the Rushall Community Youth Theatre where she performed in many festivals and productions, one of which was Little Women, which she later directed at AYT. She spen 14 years being a Youth Leader and dircted various plays and pantomimes.
Future Performances
Jack and the Bean Stalk
It's that time of year again... Oh yes it is, Oh no it isn't! Yes, get your vocal chords warmed up with shouts and screams of "It's behind you!" because the comical pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk returns to Aldridge Youth Theatre this coming January! The Giant Blunderbore is terrorising the the kingdom of Pennyfarthing. If the citizens don't pay his sky high taxes, he threatens to carry off young men and women to stock his larder! The only way poor Dame Dotty Durden, her son and apptley named Simple Simon can survive is by selling their only cow Daisy to pay their dues to the Giant. So one day, Jack sets off to market, sells Daisy for what he thinks is a bag of gold... This pantomime is to be performed on the 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 24th, 25th, and 26th of January 2008 and a matinee performance evry Saturday (12th, 19th and 26th). Ticket prices coming soon!!! Tickets not yet on sale. It will be directed by Dexter Whitehead and was written by the master that is Neville Ellis! To order tickets write down on piece of paper-
- Your name
- Adress
- Telephone number
- Which performance
- Number of adult tickets (£8)
- Number of Concessions (£7)
- Total amount of money enclosed
Send the paper, with a stamped self addressed envolope to
The Box Office
Aldridge Youth Theatre
Noddy Park Road
Aldridge
Walsall
WS9 8NQ
In addition the box office will be open for personal and telephone bookings on 01922 458615 between the hours
- Monday 7pm-9pm
- Thursday 7pm-9pm
- Saturday 10:30am until noon
Telephone orders will only be held for seven days and will be re-sold if payment is not recieved within that period.
Great Expectations
In Aprill 2008 the senior group and adult group will be doing an adaptation of Charles Dikens's famous nowel Great Expectations, written and directed by Neville Ellis. Ticket prices not yet stated and tickets are not yet on sale.