Village news Village News Melbourn Amateur Dramatics (MADS) 10th Anniversary ‘Health at The Hub’ coming for you! Melbourn Fete Melbourn Community Library Melbourn Community Hall Melbourn & Meldreth Women’s Group Interested in Family History? Melbourn and District U3A Moorlands Court Melbourn Timebank Melbourn Parish Council From your District and County Councillors Who to report to …? Exhibition success for arts charity Rowan
5 7 8 8 9 9 9 9 10 11 12 13 17 19
Melbourn Amateur Dramatics (MADS) 10th Anniversary Yes! It’s hard to believe that it has been 10 years since the idea of a Melbourn based amateur dramatics group was brought to life. As a result of attending a local performance for the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012, husband and wife, Donna & Paul Sleight, loved the show so much that it inspired them to look to join an amateur dramatic group. They were surprised when they discovered that there was no group in either Melbourn or Meldreth. From there, the immortal words “how hard can it be?” were first muttered and following a successful application to South Cambs “Community Chest” funding, the concept of a Melbourn based Am Dram group was achieved. Along with 9 of their good friends, they got together and with the help of 2 local writers put together their first script ‘The Lost Slipper’, which was performed in December 2012 on stage at Meldreth Village Hall and Melbourn Village College. These were very humble beginnings for the team. Costumes were sourced from charity shops, chopped about, cut, reshaped and fabric added to transform them from an evening dress into an elaborate dame costume. Curtains were made into 19th century style britches and jackets and props were put together using items from either recycling centres or from odd bits and bobs found in the loft or at the back of the garage. The scenery was built using 2 hanging rails with fabric draped over which was then painted to depict a scene. This made it through the first show, with help from Gaffa Tape, BUT then, mid-way through the second show – yes you guessed – it duly collapsed beyond repair, much to the audience’s delight! Why do they love it so much, when it all goes wrong? We learned a lot from that first show and we all agreed that comedy is our “thing” and have never tackled serious plays or shows. Even today, we still go by the philosophy that as long as the show is funny and the audience are having fun, then all is well with the world! But from these humble beginnings, MADS has gone from strength to strength. The first show proved so popular, was such a lot of fun to put together and received amazing feedback from ticket buyers, so we decided to do it all over again the following year. So, in 2013 we brought to the stage ‘Murder Down the Aisle’ followed by the Panto ‘Aladdin’ in December. continued on page 7 melbournmagazine@gmail.com
5
