COLBURY AND ASHURST THEATRICAL SOCIETY

This week's featured group is Colbury and Ashurst Theatrical Society from the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire.

CATS started twelve years ago, when it grew out of a village church fund-raising activity. From beginnings in pantomime, the society has spread into a diverse range of plays and the occasional musical.

Their home base is still the original church hall, which presents a few "interesting" challenges to the stage crew, on the grounds that it doesn't have a stage, curtain or theatre lighting and it is hexagonal. A new theatre space has just opened at the Hanger Farm Arts Centre in neighbouring Totton (just west of Southampton) where a listed 18th century barn has been converted into a 130-seat theatre. The space looks fabulous and the acoustics are brilliant.

CATS will be making the first public use of the space at the beginning of March with "Chatroom", by the Irish writer Enda Walsh, their first entry in the NT/Shell Connections festival. (For those who haven't come across it before, Shell Connections is a national competition, promoting youth theatre and new writing. The National Theatre commissions new plays from ten playwrights. The plays are stage by youth drama groups competing for places in regional and national finals. The shell connections web site gives more information.)

CATS has always attracted large numbers of youngsters. The Youth Theatre has grown as a major component of the society, mainly through the enthusiasm of the leaders, Kevin and Joanne Denson. It started with a series of workshops during school holidays, and has added regular meetings, shows and festival entries which augment the productions of the main society. The worshops have tackled Shakespeare (directly via "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and indirectly via Tom Stoppard's "Dogg's Hamlet"), melodrama, Brecht and most recently Greek tragedy, with a production of Antigone.

CATS is the home base of writer and publisher Stuart Ardern and usually gets the first crack at his scripts, though as a matter of policy, CATS deliberately stages a broader range of material. With an increasing number of people willing to take the reins and direct shows, the group has developed an open attitude - if someone has an artisitic idea they want to pursue, they are given the opportunity to have a go. Thus the next production after "Chatroom" will be a revival of the 1951 comedy "Sailor Beware", directed by Jaqui Edwards, CATS' regular wardrobe mistress. The rest of the group has no idea about the content of the play, but they are sure it will look lovely!