Death in High Heels
By Richard Harris
May 2022
Neighbourhood Watch
By Alan Ayckbourn
January 2022
California Suite
October 2021
Neil Simon's hilarious comedy , eventually put on 18 months after its original production date of March 2020
The Wind in the Willows
January 2020
This ingenious adaptation of the classic children's novel by Alan Bennett created a sensation at the National Theatre.
See Badger, Rat, Mole and Toad of Toad Hall in the familiar tale with a contemporary slant. By Alan Bennett.
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A Murder Is Announced
October 2019
An announcement in the local paper states the time and place when a murder is to occur in Miss Blacklock's Victorian house. The victim is not one of the house's several occupants, but an unexpected and unknown visitor.
What follows is a classic Agatha Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities, a second death, a determined Inspector grimly following the twists and turns, and Miss Marple on hand to provide the final solution at some risk to herself in a dramatic confrontation just before the final curtain. By Agatha Christie.
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The Memory of Water
June 2019
On the eve of their mother's funeral, three sisters meet, bicker and reveal the conflicts of the past and its grip on the present, the patterns and strains of family relationships and the distortions of memory. By Shelagh Stephenson.
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The Picture Of Dorian Gray
March 2019
The youthful, pure and handsome Dorian Gray is the subject of a full-length portrait in oil by Basil Hallward, an artist who is impressed and infatuated by Dorian's beauty. Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, and he soon is enthralled by the aristocrat's hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfilment are the only things worth pursuing in life.
Newly understanding that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul, to ensure that the picture, rather than he, will age and fade. The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a libertine life of varied and amoral experiences, while staying young and beautiful; all the while his portrait ages and records every sin. By Oscar Wilde.
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The 39 Steps
January 2019
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have The 39 Steps, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This two-time Tony® and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast), an onstage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers, and some good old-fashioned romance!
In The 39 Steps, a man with a boring life meets a woman with a thick accent who says she’s a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organisation called “The 39 Steps” is hot on the man’s trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale! A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, The 39 Steps amounts to an unforgettable evening of pure pleasure! By Patrick Barlow.
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A Bunch Of Amateurs
October 2018
Keen to boost his flagging career, fading Hollywood action hero Jefferson Steel arrives in England to play King Lear in Stratford - only to find that this is not the birthplace of the Bard, but a sleepy Suffolk village desperate to raise funds for the perpetuation of their beloved am-dram group. Jefferson's monstrous ego, vanity and insecurity are tested to the limit by the enthusiastic am-dram thespians. As acting worlds collide and Jefferson's career implodes, he discovers some truths about himself - along with his inner Lear.
Writer Nick Newman describes this play as “a love-letter to amateur dramatics”. The play is lots of fast paced fun and perfect for an am-dram group such as Theydon, who are happy to laugh at our crazy hobby and ourselves for undertaking everything that we do. By Ian Hislop and Nick Newman.
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Much Ado About Nothing
June 2018
Theydon’s summer show for 2018 is probably Shakespeare’s most sparkling comedy, but with a very dark side too. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, we set the play in 1918.
Claudio and Benedick return home from the Great War. Claudio has been pining for his love, Hero. Benedick loves her cousin Beatrice and Beatrice Benedick; but because neither will admit it, nothing seems likely to bring them together. Only the intrigues of a soldier with a dark heart, force Benedick to prove his love for Beatrice – by vowing to kill his best friend, Claudio. By William Shakespeare.
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Quartet
March 2018
Cecily, Reggie and Wilfred are in a home for retired opera singers. Each year, on 10 October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts the equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on .....
By turns funny and poignant , this comedy was a success during the cold winter month of March '18. By Ronald Harwood.
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Cinderella
January 2017
Follows the famous story, adapted for panto by Norman Robbins, the beautiful Cinderella is bullied by her wicked stepmother Medusa and step sisters Euthanasia and Asphyxia. Buttons, the footman in love with Cinderella tries to protect her but she falls in love with Prince Charming. With the help of her Fairy Godmother, Cinderella goes to the ball but as the clock strikes midnight, her luck runs out.
Full of romance and fun, this most beloved pantomime will delight the audience with song, dance and comedy. By Norman Robbins.
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The Hound of the Baskervilles
October 2017
Holmes' most spine chilling mystery is placed in a modern setting in this version with suspense, humour and terror. Sir Henry is heir to the vast Baskerville fortune, a legacy that comes with a family curse death at the fangs of a horror that prowls the moor. Only Holmes can stop the beast.
All the while, mysterious lights signal Baskerville Hall and the hound terrifies the countryside, the sleuthing begins and suspicion falls on sinister servants, butterfly collectors, ladies in distress and escaped convicts. Who wrote the letter that summoned the hound? Is Sir Henry's romance with the lovely Kathy doomed? Is the supernatural at work? By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
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Snake In The Grass
June 2017
Miriam has cared for her father in the family home during his vituperative last years with the help of a creepily polite nurse. On his death Annabel returns home after some years in Tasmania to find that he has left the bulk of his fortune to her. Alice complains that Miriam sacked her and is intent upon blackmail, saying she has evidence that Miriam did away with the old man. Miriam and Annabel join forces against Alice and throw her body down the well but all does not end there! By Alan Ayckbourn.
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Third Week in August
March 2017
When Sue decides to try and get away from everybody on a solo caravan holiday, little does she realise that she’s booked into the caravan site from hell!
She is soon taken under the wing of expert but inadequate caravanner Neville… when he’s not engaged in battle with his wife or trying to cope with his recently separated sister-in-law. Matters become complicated with the arrival of the enthusiastic Tony and his sceptical girlfriend Jenny, who has joined him against her better judgement. In an effort to boost ‘camp spirit’, Neville decides that a communal barbeque is the order of the day… then things really start to hot up. By Peter Gordon.
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Blithe Spirit
January 2017
The play was first seen in the West End in 1941, creating a new long-run record for non-musical British plays of 1,997 performances. It also did well on Broadway later that year, running for 657 performances. The play enjoyed several West End and Broadway revivals in the 1970s and 1980s and was revived again in London in 2004, 2011 and 2014 and was last performed by Theydon in 1988.
Charles Condomine, a successful novelist, wishes to learn about the occult for a novel he is writing, and he arranges for an eccentric medium, Madame Arcati, to hold a séance at his house, attended by friends – Doctor and Mrs Bradman. At the séance, she inadvertently summons Charles’s first wife, Elvira, who has been dead for several years. Only Charles can see or hear Elvira, and his second wife, Ruth, is troubled by what ensues as Elvira haunts the household.
Can Madame Arcarti exorcise this ethereal being and what, if anything, has this do to with the maid - Edith? By Noël Coward.
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Lock up your Daughters
October 2016
Lock Up Your Daughters is a musical based on the 18th Century play Rape Upon Rape by Henry Fielding, with references to the Restoration play The Relapse by John Vanbrugh. It was adapted by Bernard Miles, with lyrics by Lionel Bart and music by Laurie Johnson. The first production was at the Mermaid Theatre in 1959.
Licentious London, 1735: The age of the coffee-house politician. Hilaret, our naive heroine, determined to escape her over-protective father, sets forth to elope with her beloved Captain Constant. Justice Squeezum, a corrupt roguish judge, has a fine time keeping tabs on his distinctly lecherous wife, Mrs Squeezum. Add in Ramble, a virile gentleman in love with the ladies, his friend Sotmore, more in love with his wine, and many other colourful characters, plus plots galore, mistaken identity, intrigue and double-dealing… All the ingredients of a Restoration play with lively music and lyrics to help the story unfold! It all adds up to an evening of frolic and fun!
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Rumours
June 2016
Ken and Chris have found their host Charley, a prominent Government official, in his bedroom, too dazed to speak, with a bullet wound in his ear lobe! Len and Claire arrive, themselves injured in a car crash, and are soon joined by Ernest and Cookie, Glenn and Cassie, each with their own problems. A second, accidental, gunshot leaves Ken temporarily deaf, the police arrive and Len has to pretend he is Charley, concocting a touching and fantastic explanation ...
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Theydon Bois Drama Society productions
2016 - 1986
2016 Season
Confusions | The Killing of Sister George | Rumours
2015 Season
Up Pompeii | The Ladykillers | The Diary of Anne Frank | Yes Prime Minister
2014 Season
Viva Variety II | Murder Weapon | Billy Liar | Dick Barton: The Tango of Terror
2013 Season
Absurd Person Singular | See How They Run | The Aspern Papers | When We Are Married
2012 Season
’Allo ’Allo | The Odd Couple | Macbeth | Fallen Angels
2011 Season
Viva Variety | The Beaux’ Stratagem | Lloyd George Knew My Father | Pygmalion
2010 Season
Aladdin | Time of My Life | Love’s a Luxury | Murder Mistaken
2009 Season
By Jeeves | The Heiress | Don’t Dress for Dinner | Tartuffe
2008 Season
Rumpelstiltskin | Cactus Flower | Hay Fever | Plaza Suite
2007 Season
Season’s Greetings | Deadly Nightcap | Kindly Leave the Stage | Dangerous Corner
2006 Season
A Chorus of Disapproval | 84 Charing Cross Road | Rope | Tiptoe through the Tombstones
2005 Season
2005 Radio Times | Sand Castles | A Month of Sundays | The Roses of Eyam
2004 Season
Sleeping Beauty | Deathtrap | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | Lettice and Lovage
2003 Season
Sentimental Journey | Therese Raquin | Time and Time Again | Over the Moon
2002 Season
The Slipper and the Rose | Rebecca | Relatively Speaking | Steel Magnolias
2001 Season
A Christmas Carol | Outside Edge | Run for Your Wife
2000 Season
Stages | Lost in Yonkers | The Anniversary | Beyond Reasonable Doubt
1999 Season
Worzel Gummidge | The Dresser | Arsenic and Old Lace | She Stoops to Conquer
1998 Season
A Funny Thing Happened/Forum | Jekyll and Hyde | Twelfth Night | How the Other Half Loves
1997 Season
Lend Me a Tenor | And Then There Were None | The Happiest Days of Your Life
1996 Season
The Wind in the Willows | Night Must Fall | Table Manners | Stagestruck
1995 Season
Cinderella | Oliver | A Man for All Seasons
1994 Season
Jack and the Beanstalk | Something to Hide | Variety Show | An Inspector Calls
1993 Season
Dick Whittington | The Hollow | The Importance of Being Earnest | Hobson’s Choice
1992 Season
Little Miss Muffet | Pack of Lies | Variety Show | California Suite
1991 Season
Ali Baba | Under Milk Wood | The Winslow Boy | Look No Hans
1990 Season
A Christmas Carol | Habeas Corpus | Stepping Out
1989 Season
The Sleeping Beauty | Fools Rush In | Nightmare
1988 Season
Sinbad the Sailor | Semi-Detached | Blithe Spirit
1987 Season
Aladdin | The Magistrate | Virtue Triumphant | Key for Two
1986 Season
Mother Goose | Look Who’s Talking | Murder in Company | When We Are Married