2015

WADS put on supper and an evening of short plays and sketches in March called Beyond the Fridge – the WADS revue, the company's big fundraising event of the year. As the blurb said:

"We are not fundraising to buy a new refrigerator for WADS – we are looking beyond the fridge, to raising money to cover our rent for the Parish Hall. We aren’t looking to raise Smegabucks; this isn’t going to be a Miele ticket; we don’t want to be richer than the AGA khan; we aren’t aiming to be Frigidaires; we’re not aspiring to a life of Electroluxury. Nor are we making an Indesit proposal; we don’t want Candy and we don’t want our feet to leave the Grundig. There’d be no Logik in that. No, let’s not beat about the Bush. We just want to make sure we can continue to rehearse and perform under the lights at the Parish Hall. Bish, bash, Bosch. Neff said. Otherwise we might have to do it by the light of our old refrigerator instead. In which case, we’ll be changing our name to the Whitchurch Fridge Lights. Beyond the Fridge will be cool. But not that cool. (Not even Kitchen Aid, let alone Live Aid.)"

In November, the company staged Molière’s The Hypochondriack, a very funny play despite it being 350 years old, which WADS augmented with some interludes of its own. The Parish Hall was packed for all three performances, which were all very well received indeed. 

Here's a not very independent review: 

"When you go to see 350 year-old comedy, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the jokes might have dated. Well, that’s simply not the case with Molière’s The Hypochondriack, which remains hilarious, especially when it’s given the treatment WADS gave it last night. I think it was the best first night of a WADS production that I’ve seen, partly due to the quality of the writing, partly to the quality of the interpretation and partly to the quality of the acting, but also in no small part to a very responsive and quite large audience, who clearly thoroughly enjoyed themselves. 

"It’s a very funny script in its own right and WADS have added some great touches of their own, from Elliot Burns’ Tim-not-so-nice-but-even-dimmer character and some banter with the audience, to Paul Nethercott’s crazy steampunk medical equipment and some entertaining singing, masterminded by the show’s musical director, Peter Niblett. The costumes are great, too. 

"But what really impressed me was the quality of the acting right across the, er, boards. There isn’t one standout performance simply because they are all excellent, and not just when they are speaking but also when they’re listening. There’s a lot going on that’s unspoken – movements, facial expressions, and so on – which all adds to the drama. There’s very little scenery and it doesn’t change, but there’s so much going on and so much to look at you wouldn’t notice. I know I'm not an entirely unbiased and independent critic, but it was rather good."