History

The following history of WADS was written by chairman Andrew Rock as part of our 80th Anniversary celebrations in 2004

1924 was a very important year in England. The very first Labour government was formed by Ramsay Macdonald, and then was replaced by the Conservatives under Stanley Baldwin. Abroad, Lenin died and at home King George V opened the British Empire Exhibition... and WADS was born!

Or was it? It seems from a recently discovered newspaper report that there was a Wordsley Amateur Dramatic Society performing at a Kingswinford school in the late 1880s! About this group there is very little information, apart from details of one production. It is unknown whether the members continued their activities into the new century. Whatever they did, and whoever they were, they were the pioneers of amateur dramatics in our area, and as such deserve a mention in this history.

Wordsley Amateur Dramatic Society as we know it was formed at the suggestion of Mr. Horace Sutton, who shared his idea with a group of friends one summer evening. These same friends formed the first Committee: Mr. Sutton became actor/manager, with Mr. E. W. Hatton as President, and Mr. Sidney Evans who was appointed Secretary/Treasurer. Other founder members were Mr. C. W. Todd, Miss Nora Lees, and Mr. A. E. Ballinger who later became Headmaster of the Brook Primary School in Wordsley in 1937, a post from which he retired in 1953.

The play selected for the first production was 'East Lynne' -- that is to say Mr. T. A. Palmer's dramatic version of Mrs. Henry Wood's heart-rending novel. It is presumed that it was performed during the first few months of 1925, though it is definitely known that the venue used was the Richardson Hall in Wordsley. This had been built in 1884 in commemoration of a famous local glass manufacturer, and was to be the Society's base on several occasions throughout its history. 'East Lynne' must indeed have been a stirring production, involving as it did a choir singing 'Nearer my God to Thee' behind a backcloth, and Miss Daisy Bridgens as the heroine 'Lady Isabel Vane' proclaiming "Dead! And never called me mother!" to bring down the final curtain. Miss Nellie Bowater, a supporter and member of the Society until her death in 1977 remembered the scene well: "...the heroine (Miss Bridgens) died beautifully, reducing all the audience to tears. But the tears soon changed to laughter and loud applause when she sat up in bed, smiling and blowing kisses to the audience." The local press thought the Society to be rather like a charm before midnight and did not report on the production, but it has proved to be a stronger spell than originally thought!

In 1929 the Society made the first of many moves, to the Olympia Cinema in Brierley Hill Road. The three-act drama 'The Thirteenth Chair' opened the run of plays there. For each play, the cinema temporarily suspended the screenings of such classics as 'Captain Blood', 'Hearts of the World', and yes, dear old 'East Lynne' for Mr. Charles Fincher to re-organise the stage to accommodate the action. Presumably because of the move to a cinema where the presentations were frequently reported, the local newspaper the County Express visited and printed the first press review. The reporter particularly praised Miss Bowater for her performance, in what was considered a particularly difficult play to do. Miss Bowater's particular memory of it was of Mr. Sidney Evans "dying" on stage as Edward Wales, then re-appearing as Sergeant Dunn to recover his own body! This feat understandably was a cause of great delight for the audience!

The rehearsals for each play took place in a variety of venues -- firstly at Holy Trinity Church hall, and then at the Liberal club in Wordsley until 1933. The venue changed again, back to the Richardson Hall, for rehearsal and performance apart from a short break just after the war. Plays of many different types were performed throughout the 1930s. Many of these were the "new" drama of the time, and quite often performed only three or four years after their original London production: 'The Farmer's Wife' by Eden Philpotts, J. B. Priestley's 'Laburnum Grove' and 'The Late Christopher Bean' by Emlyn Williams were all the latest in modern drama! 'The Farmer's Wife' attracted attention because of the quality of the performances, from Miss Doris Walton as Araminta Dench and Horace Sutton as Churdles Ash in particular. Charles Hatton produced the play; not an easy task with a cast of twenty-one to control, and his work was rewarded with high acclaim. To consolidate his success, in the following year he wrote and produced a one-act comedy called 'Aunts Galore!', which seems to have shared the evening with that old standard, W. W. Jacobs' 'The Monkey's Paw'.

One amusing incident from the 1930s is recounted by Miss Bowater in her memoirs of Wordsley life. Miss Doris Walton, playing Gwenny in 'Christopher Bean', had to open a tin trunk containing her famous pictures during the last act of the play. Unfortunately the trunk had been used as a seat by the weary souls backstage, so when she came to open it the lid stubbornly refused to budge. This led to inspired ad-libbing by the cast to fill the uncomfortably long moments while it was prised open. Thankfully the lid was eventually raised, as were everyone's spirits, and the play continued. Ad-libbing is a gift fortunately bestowed bountifully on members of WADS!

The Second World War succeeded, unlike the tin trunk, in bringing down a lid on all performances. No plays were performed during the six years of the War, but the Society was not allowed to disappear entirely. To keep interest alive, play readings were organised and so the spirit of the Society was kept alive until peace broke out.

As a result, it was not until 1946 that the Society returned to the stage. This was in the form of a one-act comedy called 'The Strutham Amateurs'. Mr. Charles Hatton had left the Society before the War to pursue a journalistic career, so his place as producer was taken by Mr. D. R. Guttery, who later became a very well-known writer and researcher of books on local history. The audience for this play consisted of twenty German prisoners-of-war! What they thought of it has not, for better or worse, been recorded. There were fortunately more people in attendance for the first full play to be performed, which was Gerald Savory's famous comedy 'George and Margaret', staged in 1947. The cast combined the experience of long-standing members such as Nora Lees and Nellie Bowater, with new names appearing for the Society for the first time.

Plays such as these were performed at Wordsley Community Centre, which was the name given to the old Victorian Arts School. The stage was improvised, consisting of planks resting on crates held together mainly by prayer. Rehearsals had been held there since 1933, with performances taking place at the Richardson Hall. In fact Wordsley Amateur Dramatic Society had been instrumental in the provision of a community centre for the village in the 1930s, and played a part in plans for the construction of a new building on Wordsley Green in the 1970s.