In amateur dramatics, there are people that come and go. But some are real golden mainstays for a group and, for St Jude’s Players, Ted Burrough has been that gold.

Ted joined SJP a massive thirty-seven years ago. Since then, the group has gone from seven members to substantial numbers. Other changes: nowadays we run our own Social Hall and a Pavilion, so there is plenty of rehearsal and storage space. That was not always so; at one point costumes were stored in lofts, rehearsals were at the Church Hall – if not in someone’s house – and set-building was in somebody’s garage!

Ted has been the “steadying block” through all of this change, as long-standing member Jean Cameron says: “He is the group. He’s always been there.” Tony Cullen agrees: “He was chairman when I joined, and the amount of work he’s done for the group is tremendous”.

But as the saying goes, for every great man there’s a great woman, and Ted’s wife Betty certainly was that. For years her partnership with Ted made them a fantastic team. Ted says, “My wife was very active within the group, and did all the box office ticket sales, the teas etc.” Jean Cameron comments: “Although amateur dramatics was principally Ted’s hobby and not hers, I think Betty secretly enjoyed it!”

Ted concentrated more on the acting side, and there are many memories of this:

Ø Tony Cullen says, “I remember one time we asked him to step in at very short notice and he was fantastic”.

Ø Tracey Docwra comments: “I joined for our original production of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and I can still picture him entering the audience wheeling a bicycle looking every inch a vicar! I can recall Ted appearing as various members of the clergy in several melodramas during some of Olde Time Music Halls. Perhaps he missed his vocation in life…! But then, we may not have been fortunate enough to have had him as a member of SJP had he taken up an ecclesiastical career!”

Ø And Jean Cameron remembers when he played the Genie in Aladdin: “My cue was for him to rub a ring on his leg, but I wasn’t quite ready to come on so he had to rub the ring quite a few times!” And there was another memorable occasion, when she says “Ted was telling a joke backstage and missed a cue. I was on stage at the time!”

Ted means a great deal to SJP. He has been with us for thirty-seven years, and now to celebrate that fact there is going be an inauguration to make him President! His inauguration is held on 11th July, at the Social Hall, Englefield Green.

And what’s Ted’s reaction to being made President? “I think it’s a hoot!” he says.

Well Ted, the reason why we want you to be President is because for the last thirty-seven years you’ve been just that – a hoot! It’s safe to say that St Jude’s Players would certainly not be the same without you, so on behalf of us all, enjoy your Presidency, and ‘three cheers’!!!