The history of WADS

The second Alan Ayckbourn in five years - Absent Friends - and the second outdoor production of the nineties - The Wizard of Oz by Alfred Bradley, as well as Frank Marcus’s The Killing of Sister George

And then WADS slowed down a bit. In 1996, there was just the one production - A Tomb With a View by Norman Robbins

1997 saw WADS putting on a couple of plays again. They were The Old Country by Alan Bennett and Blythe Spirit by Noel Coward - this time the complete play, and the third time in all that WADS had taken it on

1998. This was the year of Tom Jones, adapted from Henry Fielding’s novel by Joan MacAlpine, and Frank Vickery’s Family Planning

WADS partied like the year it was, putting on two shows. Seeds of Doubt, by Peter Gordon, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie - another novel adaptation, this time by Jay Presson Allen from Muriel Spark’s original

WADS performed a selection of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, adapted by WADS’ own Claire Isbester, in the grounds of Whitchurch Primary School. The other performance in 2000 was Sophie Tucker’s One Night Stand.

The two plays for 2001 were Steel Magnolias by Robert Harling and Jack and the Beanstalk by PH Adams and C Carter

The company staged Noel Coward again - this time, Private Lives - and an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, plus the first WADS garden party, at 27 London Street

In 2003, WADS staged Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh and Aladdin and the Magic Bucket by Paul Aust and WaterAid

WADS only staged one play in 2004 - Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance - but did host their second garden party

As well as Noises Off by Michael Frayn , the company put on Can’t Pay, Won’t Pay by Dario Fo and Franca Rame - the 100th play to be staged by WADS

WADS staged Dark of the Moon by Howard Richardson and William Berney and an all-female version of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, adapted by Claire Isbester. There was also a poetry and prose evening, on the theme of Magic, Mystery and Mischief