Ed's WAOS HISTORY

Ed's WAOS History

I joined the Society rather reluctantly in 1965 for the 1966 Diamond Jubilee production of Patience. There was a shortage of males, and I became a Heavy Dragoon. I enjoyed the show so much that the society became a very big part of my life. I appeared in every production until 1970, when I went to live in Whitehaven, and during that period I was a founder member of ‘The Whitehaven Theatre Group.
I came back to live in Workington in 1980, and appeared again in the WAOS production of The Merry Widow. I appeared in most of the 1980’s productions, and the highlights for me were playing The Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz, and Nathan Detroit in Guys & Dolls. During this period in the eighties, my sons John and Tony were born, and my wife Phyllis and I tended to take turns at appearing in productions. It was also during this period that the Juniors was started by Geoffrey Hubbard, Linda Adams and myself. We met every two weeks, on Saturday morning, taught theatre skills and played games all for the princely sum pf 50 pence.
My first directorial experience came in 1997, with’ Singin in the Rain’, it was due to be directed by David Marcus. My first dilemma with the show was organising a ‘wet set’, for the famous rain scene. We managed to pull it off, and the leading man got a good soaking every performance. I was fortunate enough to direct the next twenty-one shows for the society, including three Andrew Lloyd Webber blockbusters and other new shows released for Amateur Societies during this period.
I was elected as NODA Representative for Cumbria in 2006, a post which I still enjoy, especially being invited to member societies. The Society has played a major part in mine and my family’s life, and I wouldn’t change that time in my life for anything else.