70 years of drama: Valley Performers set to perform again Nambucca Valley Nambucca Valley by News Of The Area - Modern Media - August 4, 2024 The Valley Performers are rehearsing for their latest production set to start performances later this month.(Front) Sandi Butler, Elwin Butler, Terry West, (second row) Sally Heather, Marie Indja, Karen Forbes, Lisa Yeo, Carolyn Blackadder, (back row) Mark corner, Lucas Searle, Ruth Stuart, Jacinta Siracusa, Peter Connie, Dean Hopkins. Absent: Peter Williams. ONE of Nambucca Valley’s oldest continuing theatre groups, currently known as the Valley Performers, will present six performances at Macksville Ex-Services Club between 23 August and 7 September. “Four Wills and a Birthday will be presented as a theatre restaurant, and we will be asking the audience to interact and help solve the murder mystery. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au “It will be terrific fun,” director and co-writer Ruth Stuart told NOTA. The entirely original show features a cast of fifteen performers with a wide range of ages and backgrounds. “We have such a wide range of community members in our show,” she said, “from hairdressers, an engineer, aged care-workers and local businesspeople. “Elwin Butler is one of the original members of the group which began in the 1950s under the name Macksville Musical and Dramatic Society.” Although the not-for-profit club has gone through several changes since then, Mr Butler, who continues to teach art in the Valley, remains an active member. “He’s in this play and he also painted our sets for this production,” explained Ms Stuart. The group loves to present interactive performances and this year will continue that theme. “We encourage the audience to dress up in ‘60s gear,” she said. “We hope there will be a lot of audience participation.” Profits from the shows are funnelled back into the club with on-stage lighting and sound equipment recently upgraded thanks to previous performances. Ms Stuart sees it as her mission to keep the tradition of performance alive in the Nambucca Valley for the next generation. “It’s a family show and when young people see and enjoy a performance, they are more likely to attend and participate in one themselves,” she reasoned, encouraging parents to bring their children along to see the show. Four Wills and a Birthday is a dramatic presentation including loads of music and set in England in 1965 at a birthday party. Those familiar with murder-mystery games will understand the style of this production but Ms Stuart promises there will be more than a touch of blackmail, death threats, murder, secrets and lies before the evening is over. By Ned COWIE
