My mum and dad were involved since about 1991 or 92 and we’ve been going to the plays all my life. I kept wanting to be part of it but my mum said it would be too late at night for me. So when I got the chance of being in it when I was older I leapt at it. I remember going to see Grist to the Mill at White Mill, The Lie of the Land at Pamphill, By Hook or By Crook in Holt Forest, Source, the mini-Great Rinsing at the Pump House, and Enquire Within at Allendale House.
I enjoyed being part of the group enormously, because I’m good friends with half the members already (because of my mum and dad being in it in the past). They welcomed me in as if I’d always been part of it. My sister Laura was also in it so that gave me reassurance.My first play was The Great Rinsing. That was a good one to start with because it was so big. Then I was in The Quarterjack’s Christmas Challenge at Allendale House and the Priest’s House Museum. Allenbourn Middle School drama club was involved as part of The Great Rinsing project and because I was at Allenbourn and in WCT, I could liaise with them.
WCT has helped me with my confidence enormously and it has made me choose drama as a GCSE option. I think community theatre is a very good way of meeting different people in the area. I also like the way that we do our research and we don’t have a script to follow. We don’t do conventional plays, we write our own.
I’m the Youth Representative on the steering group, and I’d like to get more young members into WCT. We might have to contact schools and get in with the community, like we did with Allenbourn School and The Great Rinsing and then hopefully more people will come through from that. I could possibly talk to my GCSE drama group and see if anyone is interested in getting involved. Maybe more publicity about joining is needed at the performances.