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Five Nominations in the CDA 2024 Awards

We are excited to announce that CDDG has been nominated for awards in five categories in the Cornwall Drama Association’s 2024 awards.
 
Our nominations are:
CDA AWARD FOR BEST SET IN A MUSICAL
Karnon Kids ‘Matilda Jr’
 
CAROL TAYLOR AWARD FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A PLAY
Jamie Simpson as Mephistopheles in ‘Doctor Faustus’
 
RICHARD POULTER TROPHY FOR BEST ACTOR IN A PLAY
Will Husbands as Faustus in ‘Doctor Faustus’
 
FRED SHEPHERD TROPHY FOR BEST DIRECTOR OF A PLAY
John Frankland ‘Dr Faustus’
 
CDA TROPHY FOR BEST PLAY
‘Dr Faustus’
 
Thank you to all those who have helped with any aspect of these productions, we couldn’t have done it without you!
 
We’re now looking forward to seeing the winners announced on 19th October. Good luck!
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Puss In Boots Auditions

CDDG would love to welcome you all to come along to the auditions for our 2025 pantomime, Puss In Boots.

This will be our own version of the traditional story: three brothers, Petrock, Patsy and Piran Trelawney, inherit the mill in Perranwell from their father, but the elder brothers won’t share with Piran, who is forced to seek his fortune in the great city of Truro, with only his cat and an old pair of boots. However, when the cat puts the boots on – she can talk! Puss plans for Piran to pretend to be the Marquess of Glasney, so that he can marry the beautiful Princess Gwinevere, but Petrock does his best to stop that and the King and Queen are more concerned about battling the wicked Ogre of Penelewey and his evil henchwomen. True love is under threat, Warfare is pending, but all ends happily, once Lawyer Roscarrick has found his proper glasses…

Auditions are to be held at The Perranwell Centre, Sunday 15th September from 10am to 1pm. The first full rehearsal will be on Sunday 13th October, 2 to 5pm. Company rehearsals will be on Sunday afternoons and principal rehearsals on Friday evenings. The production dates are Thursday 30th January to Sunday 2nd February 2025.

List of Parts:
There are plenty of parts of all sizes, suitable for people of all ages. Roughly in order of number of lines. Indications of age and gender are only for guidance – anyone is free to audition for any part.

Piran Trelawny, our lovable hero, teen male, must sing
Puss in Boots, clever and bossy, teen female
The Ogre, wicked and imposing, adult male, must sing
King Pydar of Cornwall, always speaks in rhyme, adult male
Queen Lamorna, capable and intelligent, adult female
Princess Guinevere, beautiful but feisty, teen female, must sing
Petrock Trelawny, Piran’s greedy brother, adult/teen male
Patsy Trelawny, his gullible brother, teen m/f
Mrs Polparret, Cornish villagewoman, could be played as a dame role, adult m/f
Lawyer Roscarrick, elderly and shortsighted, adult male
Freda, Ogre’s First Henchwoman (all the henchwomen are supposedly evil but really more concerned about their salaries and pension plans), adult female
Demelza, a lady in waiting, friend to Princess, teen female
Veryan Tregurra, Truro girl, teen/child female
Camilla, Prunella and Lucinda, henchwomen (see Freda), adult female
Herald, teen/child m/f, needs loud clear voice (well, everyone needs a loud clear voice, but Herald especially)
Cuby, King’s page, child m/f
Igor, Ogre’s sinister servant, child m/f
Roberta, Rowena and Rosie, three rabbits, child m/f, must sing
Boy Blue, a trumpeter, child m/f
Bo Peep, a shepherdess, child f
Suitor Lancelot, child m
Suitor Ruan, child m
First and Second Guards, any age m/f
First and Second Villagers, any age m/f
Cat, must move well, miaows, child f

Chorus of Villagers, Courtiers, Ruffians and Ghouls – a lot of the characters above can be in chorus also, and many of the musical numbers are for full company, so everyone needs to sing, even if they think they can’t.

You can see that we need a good-sized company for this, so do come to the auditions and encourage your friends to come along too.

 

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Charles Dickens’ “The Chimes” Launch and Auditions

The Chimes

CDDG would like to welcome you all to our launch and auditions of our productions of Charles Dickens’ “The Chimes”.

The Launch will be held at The Perranwell Centre on Friday 7th June at 7:00pm.

Auditions will be held at The Perranwell Centre on Sunday 9th June at 5:30pm and Thursday 13th June at 7:30pm.

This production will be performed at The Perranwell Centre on the 3rd to 5th October 2024. Those currently in Matilda or Labour of Love will not be called for rehearsals until those shows are complete.

CHARLES DICKENS’ “THE CHIMES” 

After A Christmas Carol, The Chimes is the second of Dickens’ Christmas Books. Set on New Year’s Eve it tells the story of Toby Veck a humble porter who makes a meagre living, waiting for jobs as he sits on the church steps; inspired by the church bells to hope for better times.

This is Dickens at his most uncompromising. Ever the social reformer, he presents stark differences between the hard, the uncaring and the ignorant well-off, with the down-trodden poor who take pleasure in simple comforts and companionship, to live as well as they may. Although this is a dark tale it does conclude with a surprising and uplifting happy ending.

Ultimately it is a tale of the triumph of hope over adversity, and being Dickens, there are ghosts and goblins who are very much part of the story.

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NODA SW AWARDS NIGHT – SATURDAY 18TH MAY 2024

There were 374 in attendance for the dinner and the presentation, and it was really nice to meet other groups and to see the wide range of productions that had been performed across the south west.
 
Karnon Kidz had received two nominations for this years awards:
 
Youth Award for Company Characterisation and
Best Youth Production Cup
 
Understandably (and expectedly) we weren’t successful in either category (the regions stretches a fair way including Bristol, Gloucester, Somerset, Wiltshire and Devon as well as Cornwall; and we were up against a number of other groups with much older casts than ours), but we did come away with a couple of nice certificates, which I will laminate for posterity.
 
However, all was not lost and, much to our surprise, Karnon Kidz was announced as the winners of the Youth Advisor’s Award!!!
 
Apparently, NODA’s South West Regional Youth Co-ordinator, Jo Wilson-Hunt, travels around the region seeing as many of the youth productions as she can and, following a visit to present a workshop for Karnon Kidz in early 2023, she came back (with her family) to watch our presentation of The Wizard of Oz – Youth Edition.
 
Some very kind words (see below) accompanied another certificate (gold this time!) and we also received a trophy in the form of a work of art (apparently it represents two adults teaching a child to fly . . . in the world of amateur dramatics).
 
“This production not only looked like it had been lifted visually out of a story book, home produced in every way, but the children’s characterisation and vocals were outstanding. The principals made each role their own, delivering with care and realism. A truly magical experience.”
 
Jo (Wilson-Hunt) also singled us out after the awards to emphasise that the award was truly deserved and that her daughter had told her that this was the best youth show she had seen in 2023, so we were suitably chuffed!!
 
The cast and crew of The Wizard of Oz can all give themselves a big pat on the back!
 
Well done all.
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Wizard of Oz nominated for NODA awards

Breaking News
We are delighted to announce that the cast (and crew!) of Karnon Kidz production of
 
Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition 
 
have been nominated for, not one, but two NODA South West Awards (National Operatic and Dramatic Association): 
 
The NODA South West YOUTH AWARD for COMPANY CHARACTERISATION 
and 
The NODA South West BEST YOUTH PRODUCTION CUP 
 
Congratulations to you all!! 
This is a HUGE achievement and rightly recognises our talented cast and crew.
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Matilda Jr Workshop and Auditions

Matilda

Karnon Kidz (the youth section of the Carnon Downs Drama Group) are pleased to announce that their next show will be Matilda Jr.

Are you between the ages of 7-18?

Would you like the opportunity to be part of the cast?

Maybe you would like to help behind the scenes?

Why not come to our workshop on Sunday 4th February 2024 from 10:00am until 1:00pm.

Auditions are being held on Sunday 11th February 2024 from 10:00am until 1:00pm.

Both the workshop and the auditions will be held at The Perranwell Centre.

Performance dates will be Friday 5th, Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th July 2024 at The Perranwell Centre.

 For more details, please contact Samantha Barker- tinkerbellstar870@hotmail.com

Audition Pieces

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Dr Faustus Launch and Auditions

DrFaustus

CDDG would like to welcome you all to our launch and auditions of our productions of Dr Faustus.

Auditions will be held at The Perranwell Centre on Saturday 13th January from 9:30am until 2:30pm. If necessary further auditions can be held Sunday 4th Feb 2pm to 5pm.
 
This production will be performed at The Minack on the 19th to 22nd May 2024. We will be beginning rehearsals on Sunday 11th February.
 
We would be happy to welcome children 14 or over to the launch, but that they and parents need to consider the timing of the show (week before half term so permission would have to be obtained from school) and also the increased commitment of either driving daily to The Minack or finding accommodation/ camping as a family nearby.
 
DOCTOR FAUSTUS BY CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE and COLIN TEEVAN
 
Welcome to Hell!
Here is Doctor Faustus the scholar who sold his soul to the Devil. In this new adaption the third and fourth acts of Christopher Marlowe’s Elizabethan classic are re-written by Colin Teevan, updating the satire and placing Faustus in a modern world of avarice and celebrity. Faustus isn’t the only one selling his soul, bankers and media moguls all sign on the dotted line.
 
This new version was performed at the Duke of York’s Theatre, London in April 2016. This production at the Minack will be it’s amateur premiere produced by the same team that brought a vibrant ‘Twelfth Night’ to life in 2022.
 
Directed by John Frankland with original music by Ben Sutcliffe and puppetry created by Jennie Rawling. It promises a mix of tragedy and terror with comedy and magic, a wild ride through life peopled with devils, a Swat team and even the Pope and Marilyn Monroe make an appearance.
 
Doctor Faustus is a story that has been running since humanity came into existence. Enjoy the magical in the magical setting of a real cliff edge.
 
‘The stars move still; time runs; the clock will strike;
The devil will come; and Faustus must be damned.’
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Help raise some fund for Mind

Ben Oakley, who has supported the group with our show lighting, is doing a charity sky dive in aid of Mind. Please help him reach his fundraising target – https://www.justgiving.com/page/ben-oakey-skydive

Mental health is something that affects us all, and Ben believes it’s important to support those who are struggling. As a young adult studying at university it is something that not only myself but also others around me suffer with. Not only that but there is not a large enough of help available on offer in most places.

The Skydive will be taking place on the 25th November 2023!

Your donation will go directly to Mind, so you can be sure that your contribution is making a real difference.

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Rescheduling of ‘Labour of Love’

‘LABOUR OF LOVE’ The Reason for the Postponement:

I remember being at an early meeting between the RSC and several Amateur Drama Groups, where their spokesperson was explaining why they had reached out to Am Dram. It was, he said, that they simply could not understand how Am Dram groups managed to stage plays by only rehearsing in the evenings and weekends against a backdrop of work and family life. He went on, in not complete seriousness, to consider the financial impact it would have on the RSC to only finance that amount of rehearsal. What he was really getting at was wanting to tap into the Am Drama commitment to staging plays not only with limited resources and time but also against the intrusion of all those outside realities.

Of course changes in circumstances affect the professional world as well but in their case that rarely results in postponement, but the promotion of an understudy. In the world of Am Dram that is a luxury we do not have.

In a lifetime of involvement with amateur drama I have never had to postpone a production that was weeks away from performance, except of course for our Minack production of ‘Sisterly Feelings’ but that was due to a worldwide pandemic so can hardly be considered normal.

The concept of pulling through, the show must go on and pure determination usually does the trick but I have never met a series of obstacles which dogged this production from it’s launch /audition.

Days after casting the show the actor given the role of David had to quit as our performance dates clashed when he had to be in Geneva involved in humanitarian assistance to the war in Ukraine.

I finally found a replacement, but rehearsal time was lost. Our replacement was also committed to work and another show, which although he worked hard did not help us catch up missed time.

The play requires that for one scene you must cast a Chinese businessman eventually we found our Mr Shen. A sigh of relief all round.

Then a month from performance in quite a short sequence we were faced with three very different events. My having to go to hospital for a bypass operation. Not in itself a calamity we arranged a new rehearsal schedule and for the assistant director to take over rehearsals.

At the same time our leading man, announced that his application to go on ‘Pointless’ had been successful, and he had to go to London for a week for filming.

If that was hilarious it was followed by the seriousness of a sudden illness to the child of our leading lady and assistant director, who was diagnosed with possible epilepsy and was having to spend time in and out of hospital with no certainty of any immediate solution.

Faced with a choice of going ahead knowing that apart from having two crucial members of the team having to cope with the worry of looking after their child, but that in all reality they would not be available for the performance. There was little option but to cancel or postpone.

As a cast and a production team we had loved this play from the beginning, finding it both challenging and extremely funny, none of us wanted to abandon the production. The decision was taken to postpone ‘Labour of Love’ until 24th – 27th July 2024, which was endorsed by the Drama Group.

The story of this production has been a labour of love mixed with unique events some funny and some very serious. Let’s hope for just the normal complications when we resume for the performance in July, please join us then.

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Postponement of “Labour of Love”

Labour of Love

We are very sorry to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances we have taken the very difficult decision to postpone our production of “Labour of Love”.

This is a fabulous play and our wonderful cast have been having so much fun rehearsing, so we will be announcing the new dates for this play very soon.

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Nominations announced in CDA 2023 Theatre Festival

Carnon Downs Drama Group have secured four nominations for the 2022/23 season:

Best Costumes in a Musical Karnon Kidz Wizard of Oz (many congratulations to Janet, Linda and everyone who helped)

Best Pantomime Sword in the Stone (many congratulations to Nick and Zoe, who I’ve copied in)

Best Costumes in a Play Oedipus at Colonus (many congratulations to Vron, who I’ve copied in)

Best Director of a Play David Ivall for Oedipus at Colonus (that was a surprise)

All the competition looks very strong, but we might win something, you never know. Full details of all nominations and the awards evening on Sat 21 October are on the CDA website, https://cornwalldrama.co.uk/theatre-festival-2023-nominations/

Booking is through Eventbrite, but make payment direct to CDA. If you do book, and put CDDG as your group to sit with, then please use ‘Ivall’ as the reference when paying so that they can tie payments to tickets (sounds like a recipe for confusion to me).

Well done to cast and crew of all three productions!

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Mother Goose Auditions

Mother Goose

Auditions for CDDG’s annual pantomime Mother Goose written by our very own Logan Fox and to be directed by John Frankland will be held on Sunday 15th October at The Perranwell Centre.

The auditions are open to all ages with under 16’s auditioning from 10am to 12 noon, and adults auditioning from 2pm to 5pm.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Labour of Love – Launch and Auditions

The October play (5th to 7th October) will be

Labour of Love by James Graham

This is a relatively new play professionally performed in 2017 with Martin Freeman and Tamsin Greig.

James Graham is a highly successful modern playwright ’This House’ performed at the National Theatre. He currently has his latest play ‘This England’ running now at the National Theatre. He also wrote the highly rated drama series ’Sherwood’

Labour of Love is a political comedy set in the party’s traditional northern heartlands. Its particular challenge is that it explores the clash of philosophy, culture and class against the backdrop of the Labour Party over 25 years from Kinnock, through Blair to Corbyn. That sounds quite sombre but it is a really sharp comedy with parts that verge on farce.

Labour MP David Lyons cares about modernisation and electability, his constituency agent, Jean Whittaker, cares about principles and her community but, what are their real feelings for each other?

So up is down, left is right, right is wrong, behold the new politics.

 

CAST:

David Lyons (a Labour MP)

Jean Whittaker (a constituency agent)

Elizabeth Lyons (David’s wife)

Len Prior (a local councillor and party worker)

Margot Midler (a constituent and party worker)

Mr Shen (a Chinese businessman investor)

 

Also, a group of constituents, party workers, delivery boy, takeaway owner, vitally important to the transition from one period to another.

There are a group of unique challenges for this production. It spans a period of over 25 years, early 1990’s to 2017 or, put another way from 1970’s bulky computers and fax machine to iphones. 

If anyone has or has any ideas for where we can find old computers and a fax machine please let me know.

The Launch/ auditions will be on Sunday 23rd July 2.00 to 5.00

at

The Perranwell Centre.

Auditions will be open to all. Please can everyone share this information far and wide so we can bring new and existing members to this production, especially, can we share the role of Mr Shen, who needs to be of Asian background (age is not specific 18 to 60)

As the play spans 25 years, age for all the parts is not specific.

So, whatever your political affiliation, red, blue, green, independent or, none at all, please join us in staging what will be an amateur drama FIRST and only the SECOND production ever of this brilliant comedy.

Any queries please contact Director, John Frankland

 j-frankland@hotmail.co.uk or Tel:  07974 799774

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Community Coronation Tea Party

Join us for a community coronation tea party at The Perranwell Centre on Saturday 6th May 2023, 4pm to 6pm.

This event, organised by the trustees and supporters of The Perranwell Centre, is a free event open to all, and will feature pop up performances and royal themed activities.

 

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Wizard of Oz Launch and Auditions

Pin back your ears and spread the word that Sam, Elaine, Jason and the usual team are back in action. Here are the details you have been waiting for.

Sunday 19th February Launch Day 2pm – 4pm at The Perranwell Centre.

Come along for a fun filled afternoon to find out all about the show and get to meet everyone involved. We will be reading some of the script, singing some of the songs with Jason as well as learning some of the dances with Sam. Of course we’ll also be doing lots crazy team games so that by the end of the session you’ll definitely want to “…follow the yellow brick road”!

Sunday 26th February – Auditions! 2pm – 5pm at The Perranwell Centre

We will make this an enjoyable and fun experience and it will give you the chance to tell us what parts you would like to audition for. Don’t be shy just show us what you can do so that you will be ready to shine on the stage as brilliant as Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers.

If you would like more information or have any questions, please email Sam Rogers the Director, via the following email address: tinkerbellstar870@hotmail.com

We look forward to seeing you all “somewhere over the rainbow”!

Wizard of OZ- Character List:

Dorothy Gale: strong singer, good dancer and large speaking role. American Accent

Aunt Em: singer and speaking role. American Accent

Uncle Henry: small speaking role. American Accent

Hunk (Scarecrow): Comedy singing, dancing and speaking role. American Accent

Zeke (Lion): Comedy singing, dancing and speaking role. American Accent

Hickory (Tin Man): Comedy singing, dancing and speaking role. American Accent

Miss Gulch (Wicked Witch of the West): Dramatic speaking role. Evil laugh required. American Accent

Toto: limited singing and barking role

Professor Marvel (Wizard of OZ): Strong actor and large speaking role. American Accent

Doorman: speaking role

Guard: speaking role

Glinda: delicate singer and actor

Nikko: small speaking role. “Eee-Eee-Eee”

Munchkins: small singing and speaking characters available

Ensemble: Munchkins, Jitterbugs, Winged Monkeys/Winkie Guards, Ozians, Crows, Apple Trees

Audition Pieces:

Aunt Em, Uncle Henry, Dorothy- Pages 4-5

Wizard of OZ & Dorothy- pages 43-44 / pages 6-7

Toto, Glinda & Dorothy- pages 10-11

Glinda, Dorothy & Wicked Witch- pages 16-17

Scarecrow, Lion, Tin Man & Dorothy- pages 30-33

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Card Payments Now Accepted

Card machine

If you haven’t managed to reserve your tickets for our shows in advance, then we are now able to accept card payments as well as cash payments on the door.

So whether you have a ticket or not, please do come down to see our shows.

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Free Vocal Workshop

Sunday 12th February Vocal Workshop at Perranwell Centre 2.00 to 5.00pm
 
This FREE Workshop promises to be a lot of fun and will deal with not only protecting and exercising your voice, which will lead you to have more confidence in projection, but also how to deconstruct an accent, using the Yorkshire accent as a working example with text work from a Yorkshire play.
 
Our voice is the single most important element that we bring to our acting which is why CDDG have chosen it to be FREE. So whether you are considering joining us for the Youth Group ‘Wizard of Oz’, our October Play, maybe our Minack production in 2024 or simply want to learn a little more in a fun environment then we look forward to seeing you on the 12th Feb.
 
The Workshop is open to members and non-members from the age of 13 to however old you are! 
 
The Workshop will be led by Gemma Wright a professional voice coach, lecturer at Falmouth University and contributor to the RSC vocal team.
 
Please can you send a request for booking to John Frankland (j-frankland@hotmail.co.uk ) as numbers will have to be limited and to help us assess how many cakes we need for the break.
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Alice in Wonderland Workshop and Auditions

Alice in Wonderland Jr

As it stands it’s STILL all systems go for Disney’s Alice in Wonderland JR to be performed by the Karnon Kidz on Friday 22nd – Sunday 24th July 2022.

As you can imagine with having to postpone this production twice, we are very much aware a lot has changed in that time. We have had an amazing response from our appeal asking those of you who were involved originally whether they were still interested in joining us for this fabulous show which is great. Bearing this in mind the Director Samantha Rogers and her team are excited to inform you that they will be holding a workshop/audition on Sunday 27th February 2 – 5pm at the Perranwell Centre for anyone aged between 7 & 18 years. We are looking forward to seeing you all again and finally getting this production on the road. If you have any friends or relatives that would like to join us then please do bring them along as we are aware that some of you couldn’t join us last time due to our age restrictions, but are now old enough to join us.

If you have any queries or are unable to attend but would like to take part then please do let us know by emailing: smeagleandprecious@hotmail.com

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Twelfth Night Auditions

’Some are born great; some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them’ by attending our

Twelfth Night Launch / Audition

Everyone is welcome for a practical afternoon exploring Shakespeare’s comedy of love, folly and mistaken identity. A play that mixes partying with a darker side of humiliation and madness. A dangerous world, where falling in love can be complicated. ‘I’ll sacrifice the lamb that I do love’.
 
Launch and Auditions will be on 5th December, 2-5pm at The Perranwell Centre.
 
We will be performing at the Minack Monday 23rd May to Thursday 26th May 2022. (Get in Sat 21st and tech, dress rehearsal Sunday 22nd May)

CDDG takes it’s COVID responsibilities very seriously. For us to ensure adequate ventilation, the hall may not be as warm as usual. We would advise you come adequately clothed.