A huge WELCOME to you all from Pinxton Welfare Drama Group.
I expect many of you will not have heard of us - or maybe you have - that would be nice. Anyway I will give you a brief resume (virtually impossibly for me!) about our origins, past performances and future productions.
About 6 years ago - the then Pinxton Development Group conducted a 'Village Audit' by questionnaire to find out how people felt about the village, any concerns they had, what they felt the village needed and suggestions to improve the village and the lives of the residents. Quite an ambitious task given that most questionnaire studies tend to fall by the wayside. However, in this instance we were quite lucky and over one third of the populas replied and gave us some execellent feedback.
One of the suggestions that came to the fore was that the Drama Group be resurrected. 'Drama Group' - what Drama Group? This was news to me (but there again I am not indiginous to the village having only lived here for around 20 years!) After researching the subject I managed to establish that Pinxton Welfare actually had a thriving Drama Group in the days when the mines flourished and the community were 'as one' - unfortunately with the closure of the pits in the 1960s the Drama Group fell by the wayside. One bright spark on the horizon was that Pinxton Welfare Social Club (ex Miners Welfare) still had the theatre upstairs complete with stage, curtains and everything else budding actors and actresses could need to once again start treading the boards. However, as with all things that have been left unloved and neglected this really needed some TLC and life bringing back to it - someone had to pick up this idea of reforming the group and run with it.....so I did just that. We started off our first meeting in January 2004 with around half a dozen interested parties and we met once a week on a Monday to turn over ideas and begin experimenting to see what we were capable of doing. As the weeks went by we gained more members and putting on our first show became more of a realistic proposition.....rehearsals began for Songs from the Shows. We had a lot of young/old and raw talent amongst our membership and it was all put to good use. Not wanting to rest on our laurels after a triumphant return which left everyone on a 'high' and with membership constantly growing we knuckled down to rehearsals for our next offering....
To date we have performed quite a few full productions - either music from the shows, or Musicals namely:
Night on the Town
Songs from the Shows
Summertime Special
The Enormous Nose
The Taming of Cal Capone
The Christmas Show
Robbin (as in robbin you!) Hood
That's Life
The Sound of Musicals
All our scripts are original, written especially for the group and of the shows we have performed up to press after each one we have gained new members. There are still a couple of the existing members within the group, others have gone on to University to study Performing Arts after the experience they gained with us, which is very rewarding. The great thing about the Drama Group is that membership includes families, we have mums, dads, children, aunts, uncles, grandparents - everyone has a valid contribution to make and we ensure that all are welcomed into our 'family' and encouraged to fulfill their full potential.
Pinxton Welfare Drama Group are also really pleased that our 'home base' has had a facelift - realising that we were once again becoming a focal point for the village, albeit two or three times a year, the Welfare have been fortunate enough to secure funding to help revamp the tired old lady that was the upstairs room - just like Cinderella after her visit from the Fairy Godmother the transformation is amazing - a lick of paint, new curtains, new seating, a new floor, new toilets and above all a wonderful lift for those less able to manage the two flights of stairs - all this has helped to improve facilities for our community and also to provide our members with the most amazing 'true to life' experience on a real stage.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention - we are a self funding group - we have been lucky enough to receive a couple of small grants towards production costs etc. but what mainly happens is that one performance profits (ticket and raffle sales|) rolls over to cover costs for the following show, costumes etc. So if there are any millionairs out there reading this article and you are not sure what to do with your spare change - we would be more than pleased to help you find a worthy cause to donate to ....US...ha ha.
We have been very fortunate in just securing some funding via Jim Coyle from Derbyshire County Council - this will provide several sets of head microphones which will enable us to give better sound quality in our shows...our sincere thanks to Jim for his continued support of our endeavours. Must mention Wayne Swift at Wharf Aquatics who, show after show, sponsors our ticket and programme printing, this would be a huge drain on our meagre finances but for his generosity, so thanks Wayne.
Joining our group is fun -
BUT it is also very hard work and you must be prepared to make a committment, get shouted at occasionaly, have to do as you are told, come up with ideas, source costumes, speak on stage to others, sing, pretend you are a tree and anything else it takes to get the show on the road!! With the group members supporting each other, every effort is worth the trouble and the end products speak for themselves.
If you would like to come and have a look at us and find out what we are doing please feel free - we meet every Monday from 6pm to 7.30pm and when full rehearsals are underway it is both Mondays and Wednesdays. We are currently rehearsing for our next show - our Pantomime for this year Cinderella which will be in November. Be assured you will receive a very warm welcome from both myself Carol A. Smith (Executive Director) and Ian Smith (Director)and our membership.
Remember you don't have to live in Pinxton to be a member, our membership comes from Pinxton, South Normanton, Selston, Heanor and various other points so if you want to give it a whirl we would be delighted to see you.
The photos below show some of our members ready to tread the boards in That's Life and The Sound of Musicals (When I get it to work!!)
Take care - hope to see you soon...watch this space.....
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Yeah I May Not Be The Best Singer Or Actress But Carol + Ian Give Us All Equal Chances And Trys. I Love This Group So Much And Without This I Would Probably Still Be Singing In My Room, Instead Of Considering Preforming Arts For Collage 
