A Brief History of Aberfeldy Drama Club
When the Club were researching their production 'Breadalbane Armed', (see below) they discovered that the Drama Club had organised a fundraising event for the war effort in 1916. Nothing more is known about the club till the 1950’s when it was quite active, and performed plays at Weem Little Theatre, which became Tom McDougall’s Garage, and has now had holiday houses built on the site, next to the Weem hotel. In 1953 it performed a Pageant to celebrate the Coronation of the present queen. In the early 1960’s the club went into abeyance.
In 1970, the local excise man, Bill Gray, along with English teacher Ann Winning and Fishers Laundry manager Norman Galletly and his wife April, got together a group to create a new Drama Club. Their first production in the spring of 1971 was ‘Johnny Jouk the Gibbet ‘by T M Watson. Of that cast only Anna Price and Ann Winning still survive. That Christmas they produced their first pantomime, a homemade affair, ‘Beauty and the Beast’. The popularity of the pantomimes increased each year, and became part of Aberfeldy’s staple Christmas diet.
The club continued to perform a pantomime at Christmas and a play in the late spring/ early summer.
In 1979, Ann Winning, entered a play, The Happy Journey’ by Thornton Wilder into the East Perthshire District of the Scottish Community Drama Association’s One Act Play Festival. They surprised themselves, and rather shocked the other competing teams, by winning the Festival and gaining the Hunter Trophy for the first time. Since then they have entered the One Act Play Festival every year, entering at least one play, often two and sometimes a Youth play as well, with a considerable degree of success. They have qualified for the divisional Festival on numerous occasions and competed five times in the Scottish final, achieving a third place on two of them.
With the arrival of Gordon Murch as Principal Teacher of Music and his wife Hazel in 1983, both talented musicians, the club branched out yet again, by producing their first Musical ‘Oliver’ instead of the traditional pantomime. This also was a great success, and won the SCDA, Northern Division’s Dore Jackson Trophy for best musical in the Division.
With the arrival of Gordon Murch as Principal Teacher of Music and his wife Hazel in 1983, both talented musicians, the club branched out yet again, by producing their first Musical ‘Oliver’ instead of the traditional pantomime. This also was a great success, and won the SCDA, Northern Division’s Dore Jackson Trophy for best musical in the Division.
During the 1980’s and 90’s the club continued to produce a pantomime or Musical at Christmas, enter the one act play festival, and a summer production. Although there was no Youth section as such, the club strived to incorporate young people in the club especially at the pantomimes. Sometimes Youth productions were entered into the One Act Play Festivals. In 1995 The Northern Division of the SCDA awarded a trophy for the best youth one act play in the Division, and the Club were the first winners of this trophy with Anna Price’s production of ‘This Property is Condemned ' by Tennessee Williams. In 2004 a trophy was presented to the best one act Youth play in Scotland. The Club reached the final that year with Pat Zich’s production of ‘Regarding the Label, Displaced Persons ‘.
In 1995, to celebrate the Club’s Silver Jubilee a special production of J B Priestley’s ‘When we are Married ‘, celebrating the Silver wedding of three Yorkshire couples was performed. The club also held a dinner at Moness House Hotel.
In 1995, to celebrate the Club’s Silver Jubilee a special production of J B Priestley’s ‘When we are Married ‘, celebrating the Silver wedding of three Yorkshire couples was performed. The club also held a dinner at Moness House Hotel.
Rehearsal facilities were always an issue for the club. In 2000 the old Free Church premises in Aberfeldy came on the market. One of the club’s long standing members, Allan Webster decided to buy the Church for the club. Unfortunately, Allan died shortly after this, leaving no will. The Club had therefore to raise money in order to buy the Church from his estate, which they did after about 3 years. One high profile funding event was organised by Marjorie Fearn, when due to her efforts, we were chosen to be part of the radio Show ‘Let’s do the Show Right Here’ with Jackie Bird. This was recorded in the Town Hall in front of a very enthusiastic audience. The upkeep of the church is financed by a very vibrant Thrift Shop, where part of the church is let out to charitable organisations and clubs to raise money for their societies.
At this time there was a move to create an umbrella Arts Group in the town and the Drama Club became incorporated in this venture. By 2007 the Arts Trust project had secured the Church premises financially, but was not attracting the wider Arts community and so disbanded. So, Aberfeldy Drama Club was re-formed in 2007.
Since then the club has continued to produce summer and winter productions and one act plays with considerable degrees of success. The Club reached the Scottish Finals in 2013 and 2015. Development of the youth section of the Club was helped when in 2012 the school appointed a dedicated Drama Teacher. She has run a drama club which performed 3 musicals and in 2016 entered the one act play festival, winning through to the Scottish Final.
In 2014, to commemorate the centenary of the Great War, members of the club researched the history of the town during that War. Local inhabitants of Aberfeldy very generously shared letters, stories and artefacts of the War, enabling the club to produce a very moving, authentic account of how WW1 affected the community. Hence ‘Breadalbane Armed’ was created. This was a great success and much appreciated by the local townspeople.
Also in 2014 long standing chairman of the club, Gilbert Price stood down. He was replaced by David Roy. There are a number of younger people becoming more active in the club. and It is hoped that the baton has now been firmly handed on to a new generation, who will continue the development of the club.
At this time there was a move to create an umbrella Arts Group in the town and the Drama Club became incorporated in this venture. By 2007 the Arts Trust project had secured the Church premises financially, but was not attracting the wider Arts community and so disbanded. So, Aberfeldy Drama Club was re-formed in 2007.
Since then the club has continued to produce summer and winter productions and one act plays with considerable degrees of success. The Club reached the Scottish Finals in 2013 and 2015. Development of the youth section of the Club was helped when in 2012 the school appointed a dedicated Drama Teacher. She has run a drama club which performed 3 musicals and in 2016 entered the one act play festival, winning through to the Scottish Final.
In 2014, to commemorate the centenary of the Great War, members of the club researched the history of the town during that War. Local inhabitants of Aberfeldy very generously shared letters, stories and artefacts of the War, enabling the club to produce a very moving, authentic account of how WW1 affected the community. Hence ‘Breadalbane Armed’ was created. This was a great success and much appreciated by the local townspeople.
Also in 2014 long standing chairman of the club, Gilbert Price stood down. He was replaced by David Roy. There are a number of younger people becoming more active in the club. and It is hoped that the baton has now been firmly handed on to a new generation, who will continue the development of the club.
PAST PRODUCTIONS IMAGE GALLERY - Click on Thumbnails to enlarge