Comedy celebration for Players

AMID-Norfolk amateur dramatics group is celebrating six decades of regularly treading the boards by staging a comedy which they say will have audiences rolling in the aisles.

The Wayland Players begin a three-night run of the play Don't Dress for Dinner on Thursday.

The show, which is billed as an hilarious comedy of double adultery and gourmet cooking, is set to have ticket-holders cramming into Watton's Queen's Hall, on Dereham Road.

David Taylor, from the Players, said: “We chose it because it was extremely funny when we did the play read through.

“It had us all laughing from just reading the script. It is a really good comedy farce.”

But Don't Dress for Dinner is just the latest in a catalogue of plays and shows which stretches back 60 years - while the history of am-dram in Watton goes back much further.

It is believed there was a group called The Wayland Dramatic Society in the 1890s and also a travelling band of actors called The Curtis Players.

In 1926, the Watton Players were formed and staged plays until the beginning of the second world war.

The Wayland Players were formed in 1949 after the town's Young Conservatives put on a one-off performance of the play Quiet Weekend in Barnham's Sale Room.

More plays followed and the Players soon moved to the larger venue of Coronation Hall, which would later become Queen's Hall.

Over the decades, the troop has grown and grown and now enjoys the regular support of more than 200 local people as well as having more than 50 acting members

Mr Taylor said: “It is a huge amount of fun and there is a lot of camaraderie. You do get a huge buzz out of it.

“We are trying to build up and bring in more members, especially younger people in their 20s.”

Tickets for Don't Dress for Dinner are still available by calling 01953 881248 or calling at Adcocks in High Street. For more information on the players go to www.waylandplayers.org.uk.