|
|
|
In the Begining |
| Edward Evans |
| In the beginning...... |
|
A
quote from the late Alan Jeffery, a founder member of the
Society........... "At
the end of the last war, the general desire to relax and do things again,
was very evident in Longsdon. The excellent Village Hall was again
available for public use after having served as the headquarters of the
local company of The Home Guard. A
newly formed dramatic society, open to any person resident within the
village, was, along with other organisations, allowed use of the Hall on
regular nights per week. There were special arrangements made for extra
nights for public performances, all profits being paid into the Hall's
funds." On
Monday, 1st October, 1945 an inaugural meeting was held at the Church
Room, Longsdon for the purpose of forming a village Dramatic Society.
Members had to be residents of the Parish of Longsdon and over the age of
16. The annual subscription was originally 2/6d but after an increase in
membership during the following year it was doubled to 5/-. The
first President was Colonel G. Howson who remained President until 1967.
In fact in its history the society has only had six Presidents. Mr. Edward
Evans, the immediate past President, had been in office since 1982 and we
are proud to have been associated with such an illustrious figure from the
professional stage until his death in 2001. The current President is Mr.
David Briggs who continues to perform on stage after over 30 years with
the Society. The
first play the society performed was “The Man from By
November 1948 the society had 40 members of which 15 were men. This
imbalance was obviously felt to be a great disadvantage and in 1949 it was
decided that prospective lady members over 30 years of age should
not be encouraged to join the society as actors unless special
circumstances arose. By
1960 it was agreed to accept members from beyond the parish boundary and
that no age limit should be applied. Non-Longsdon members, however, could
only represent 25% of the total membership. In 1967 this was increased to
33%. The Society now has over 30 members of which only a few live in the
village. It
is interesting to note from the early minutes that the society had the
same problems then as now: i)
With forward planning. At the 1946 A.G.M. the Chairman, Rev. Willings made
the criticism that the Play Reading Committee “showed signs of slowness
and that they should constantly be reading and be prepared several months
ahead of any production”. ii)
With
the need to recruit new members, particularly men. In 1947 it was agreed
that the General Committee would “arrange a party to which each member
should bring a long at least one friend .....as a means of stimulating
interest in the society and thereby recruiting more playing members
particularly male members which the society is so badly in need of”. Today
the society is still in need of new members but over fifty years on it
continues to prosper and offer an exciting repertoire of both classic and
modern productions. John Edwards
|
