A small village amateur dramatic society with around 45 active members has won a top district award for two of its productions last year.
Founded more than 50 years ago, The Holt Players have been awarded the prestigious 2023 National Operatic and Dramatic Association’s District 14 Award.
The award will be presented at the NODA South West awards ceremony on Saturday, May 18 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Plymouth.
The District 14 Award was given to The Holt Players for two of its 2023 productions: ‘Trap for a Lonely Man’, a taut edge-of-the-seat thriller by Robert Thomas, directed by Simon Welch in March, and Richard Everett’s poignant ‘Entertaining Angels’, a story of a clergy widow and her grief, directed by The Holt Players chair Kate Palmer in November.
Dee Way, the outgoing NODA representative for District 14, covering Bath and North Wiltshire, said: “This village company, performing in a small village hall, has staged two outstanding plays in 2023.
“The range of style and intricacy of their productions makes for great theatre, as characters within characters have demonstrated.
“However, it is the cohesion of the company, and the various departments working together, that creates believable sets for intriguing dramas, enabling the actors to show the depth and variety of characters that is needed. Congratulations!”
Kate Palmer said: “In my role as chair of The Holt Players I am thrilled, and very proud, that we have received the District Award from NODA. It certainly makes all our hard work worthwhile.
“As one of the directors involved, I know how important it is that every aspect of putting on a play is recognised.
“We might be village-based but we have a wealth of talent to call upon and are so grateful to see all elements of our two latest productions praised in this way.”
She says the award is praise indeed for everyone involved - from the actors, directors, producers and stage managers, to set design and build, light and sound, props, furniture, costumes and make-up, not forgetting publicity and programme design, front of house teams and the bar staff.
The Holt Players next production will be ‘7 Ages of Mankind’ – a highly original, and sometimes riotous trip through life from cradle to grave as seen by William Shakespeare himself.
It will be performed in Holt Village Hall from Thursday to Saturday, April 25-27. Tickets are available from the Wiltshire Music Centre Box Office.
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