2014

WADS began and ended the year with Stuart Paterson plays, with a murder mystery in between. The first, Paterson play, which took place in the Parish Hall in January, was a rather different take on Cinderella. It certainly wasn't a pantomime – it was more of a comedy play for all the family. It had three balls, no pumpkin, and Cinders weighing up the options of who’s the better catch, the Prince or the kitchen boy. She chose the kitchen boy. 

In March, WADS staged a murder mystery called Death at the Tenth at Test Valley Golf Club as well as another of its Poetry and Prose evenings. This one was called The Swish of The Curtain, and as well as the spoken word included guitar music from Vincent Lindsey-Clark. 

WADS' pre-Christmas production was Hansel and Gretel, again by Stuart Paterson, based on the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale. In this version, our two heroes stumble upon a colourful circus family but are tricked into following their new friends to the wicked witch's sweet-covered caravan. Hansel is given over to the witch in return for the imprisoned father of the circus family. But Gretel won't give in and tries to free her brother. Helped by Orin the Faerie King and the mysterious Monkey Boy, can the children defeat the witch? The Guardian said, “In the fullness of time, I think Stuart Paterson's modern pantomimes may come to be seen as one of the outstanding legacies of Scottish Theatre."