The history of WADS

2007 saw Philip Goulding’s The Titfield Thunderbolt and Wyrd Sisters, adapted from Terry Pratchett’s book by Stephen Briggs

2008 was the 50th anniversary of WADS. During the year, the company staged its first interactive murder mystery, Theatre of Horror. In December, WADS put on a Christmas pantomime - Snow White and the Ice Queen by Peter Nutall

WADS staged a dramatic read-through of one its previous hits, Daisy Pulls it Off by Denise Degan, three one-act plays to showcase the work of three new directors, and The Passing Out Parade by Anne Valery. WADS also put on Chanticleer, from The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, at the Church Fete

2010 was a very packed year for WADS. The company put on M'Nango Valley, an interactive murder mystery, two Poetry and Prose evenings, and an open-air production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. WADS also enjoyed a fully interactive workshop on the ancient art of storytelling

In another busy year for WADS, the company put on an afternoon of Magical Stories and family fun, staged a radio play of Cold Comfort Farm, a play by Paul Doust, adapted from the novel by Stella Gibbons, collaborated with The White Hart to put on another murder mystery, and performed its second consecutive open air Shakespeare - Twelfth Night

In January, there were three performances for the price of one: Bazaar and Rummage by Sue Townsend (of Adrian Mole fame) sandwiched between two short farces by Michael Frayn (Look Away Now and Toasters). In November, WADS staged Carpe Jugulum, a Terry Pratchett Discworld story adapted by Stephen Briggs

WADS put on a quartet of pocket-sized comedies in a show called Four Shortened, comprising works by Jan Allred, Perry Pontac and Michael Frayn. The company also staged a murder mystery at Whitchurch Silk Mill. A joint venture with the Mill, Careless Talk Costs Lives, written and directed by WADS' own Sue Washington, was a sell-out

WADS started the year with Stuart Paterson’s Cinderella - not a pantomime but more of a comedy play for all the family. This was followed by a murder mystery called Death at the Tenth and another of its Poetry and Prose evenings, which included guitar music from Vincent Lindsey-Clark. WADS' pre-Christmas production was Hansel and Gretel, again by Stuart Paterson

The company staged Molière’s The Hypochondriack and also put on supper and an evening of short plays and sketches called Beyond the Fridge – the WADS revue, the company's big fundraising event of the year

WADS staged Pack of Lies by Hugh Whitemore as well as Jane Austen and the Vampyre Earl, a murder mystery written by WADS member Sue Washington in aid of the Whitchurch Silk Mill. The company also hosted two ghost walks around Whitchurch, with WADS members stopping at spooky places to tell telling ghostly stories

WADS reprised its Millennium production of a selection of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a promenade performance performed outdoors at The Lawn by kind permission of the Denning Family. The Tales ranged from “the uplifting and moral to the bawdy and downright silly. From knights and courtly love to whoops-there-go-my-trousers”

2018 marked the 60th anniversary of WADS. The first commemorative event was one of WADS’ Poetry and Prose evenings at the Parish Hall. The summer show was John Vanbrugh’s 1697 Restoration comedy The Provok’d Wife