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SIDs Autumn Newsletter 2023 As I write this the Autumn Equinox has passed and we enter the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. Or perhaps, the season of wind and a bit of rain, who knows? However, we do have a couple of productions in Sidbury during October, so you might not have to venture too far for your entertainment. The first is the SIDS production of ‘A Spot of Murder’ a full-length richly comic mystery play by Geoff Bamber. Performance dates are Thursday 12th October until Saturday 14th October and the play commences at 7:30pm (Doors open 7:00pm) So….., Could you spot a killer? The Actress: What’s in her kiss and tell book? The Artist: Why does he spend so much time in the meadow? The Housekeeper: What happened to her three husbands? The Ghost Writer: What’s her sordid back story? The Psychic: She foretells the future, but what’s in her past? The Doctor: She’s been giving someone a tonic, but who? The Actor: Is his life just one big performance? The Vicar: Where is he going when he wanders round in the night? The Detective: Is as clueless as he appears? The Constable: Can he keep his mind on the job? Find out in ‘A Spot of Murder’. Tickets are £10 each and are available now from me or from Drews of Sidbury. As usual a licensed bar will be available. Honiton Community Theatre Our second production is ‘Out of Focus’ a comedy by Peter Gordon which is being presented by Honiton Theatre Company in Sidbury Village Hall on Monday 30th October. An unfortunate over-booking of the Church Hall results in a gathering of a wonderful mix of local characters, ranging from Evonne, the nervous Vicar's wife, to Leonard, a man intent on delivering a talk on steam locomotives to anyone who will listen! Eventually they all unite to produce a pantomime but, as rehearsals proceed, alliances are forged and switched as the opening night looms. Events culminate backstage after the final performance. Tickets will be £10 and will be available from me or the usual Sidbury outlet after A Spot of Murder. Please note that this is a Sidbury event and tickets are not available from The Beehive It's Pantomime time again! The next SIDS Pantomime will be performed on 28th & 29th February and 1st & 2nd March 2024. Anybody interested in taking part should note that the read-through dates are: Wednesdays 22nd and 29th November In the Parish Room Review of Funny Turns My thanks to Beth McClean for permission to include this review from ‘Focus’ SIDS were really on top form at the end of April, presenting their 2 One Act plays, ‘A Little Box of Oblivion’, by Stephen Bean and ‘Murder in Little Grimley’, by David Tristram. Both were very different. Characters in ‘The Little Box …’ are one-offs, isolated and extreme, yet still have to integrate. This was constantly achieved by Vicky Grove, Gwenan Paewai, Tracey Stone, Ian Harbour and Emma Murdoch. The pace never dropped, either from park bench, where the possibilities of the box’s contents never ceased to multiply, or the rehearsal room in the second half, where the village inhabitants know each other well and just cope with each other! (Much like home!) ’Murder in Little Grimley’ felt warm and friendly and easy, because here we had characters we could understand, well portrayed and spot-on-cue by Sheila Lewis, Andy Tilbrook, John Rush, Pam Ward and Dave Foreman. Congratulations to Backstage and The Bar, and to the Directors, John Rush and Katharine Ward. And finally my thanks to those who attended the AGM on 14th June, the new Committee is : John Rush, David Maltby, Katharine Ward, Tracey Stone, Simon Belither, Maggie Knights, Richard Wainwright, Rosemary Sowden, Emma Murdoch and Andy Tilbrook.