Parish Cake - Winter 2018

eventnews
Some
of the great events
we are rightly proud of!
Second Literary
Festival a Huge Success
CODS - Guys and Dolls Review
OVER A four-show run Cranbrook Operatic
and Drama Society (CODS) played to
packed audiences at the Queen’s Hall
Theatre in Cranbrook. Often described as
the best-ever American musical, it was
directed by Annie Hatcher with support
from her musical director John Williams.
The show opened with a great overture
played by the in-house 10 piece orchestra.
Cleverly placed at the rear of the stage
both in view and then hidden behind
a tasteful white curtain when scenes
dictated.
This production had strong
performances from leading roles, including
in pictures
Sissinghurst
Fête
debut CODS performances for Duncan
Fryer as Nathan Detroit, Monika Green as
Sgt. Sarah Brown and Louise Franklin as
Miss Adelaide. Simon Tomlinson starred as
the smooth Sky Masterson.
The famous number, Sit Down, You’re
Rockin’ the Boat was superbly delivered
by old favourite Robin Harrison playing
Nicely-Nicely Johnson. An encore ensued
mid-show which is a rarity in any theatre.
The whole cast clearly enjoyed
performing and a packed house left into a
cold night chattering about another great
CODS autumn musical.
Andy Fairweather
THE TOWN was buzzing for two days with all
things “booky” when the second Cranbrook
Literature Festival was held in September.
It was a real community event and the aim
of the organisers was to promote the joy of
reading and the written word to people of all
ages, said founder Christine Newman.
The not-for-profit festival sees all the
money raised from ticket sales being ploughed
back into events for schools in the area to
provide them with an author to spend time
with pupils.
This year, six local schools benefited from
visits by authors Sarah Driver, Jonny Duddle,
Kevin Brooks and Natasha Farrant. Festival
founder Christine Newman said: “They
all thoroughly enjoyed their time with the
students.”
Events for adults included an evening with
BBC presenter, journalist and writer Jeremy
Vine, a talk about her recipe books from TV
celebrity Davina McCall, and poetry theatre
with renowned performance poet Luke
Wright.
The festival also ran creative writing
workshops, poetry sessions and talks from
authors including Alison Weir, Ann Morgan,
Louise Dean, Jane Thynne and Mimi
Anderson. There were also competitions for
children of all ages, including writing short
stories and creating book mark designs.
Twenty four shop owners took part in
creating a Guess the Book Title design in their
windows. James Steel was the winner with 23
correct answers, Debbie Bell second and the
Lock family third.
Mrs Newman said: “All in all, a
terrific community event, all
organised by hard working
The event
was joint runner up
volunteers to help promote
with the Weald Literary
the love of the written word
Festival in the Cultural
– and hopefully keep people Event of the Year
of all ages off their electronic
2017
devices for a while!”
20 Parish Cake • Winter 2018