Counting the names of casts, backstage crews and offstage helpers listed in the Index of Circle 67 Programmes more than 400 people have creatively contributed to our 92 stage productions during our first 40 years.
Helen Holmes, a founder member, was actress in our first and costumière for our 2006 productions, with a total of 39 productions in one or other (or both) of these capacities and as director for the first time in 2006; John Frost, who joined us in 1981, just tops her record with 41 productions as actor and/or furniture maker and set builder.
The youngest actor was little Jake Oxford, only 5 years old when he stood in the Chalk Circle (1992); and the oldest Mary Hovells, who gave her last performance in A Christmas Carol (1996) when she was in her 93rd year.
Some are 'old troupers', some are young 'beginners' and some are more in the limelight than others: directors, wardrobe mistresses, stage management, scene-makers and painters, musicians, secretaries, treasurers, committee members - all of them are as vital as actors in bringing to appreciative audiences the quality of performance for which we aim and for which we hope we are known.
The atmosphere of shared enjoyment and shared adventure which each new project brings ensures the continuation of the Society. We have a committee that attempts to keep things in order, but we have no prima donnas: we all work together and "a good time is had by all."
