
The Merry Widow
Performances 13-16 November 2019
Director: Alison Cooper
Musical Director: Ian Stone
The Merry Widow is Franz Lehar's most popular and enchanting operetta. With dazzling melodies, wit and elegance the story unfolds as the fabulously wealthy widow, Anna, arrives in Paris. Pursued by numerous suitors, complications and misunderstandings abound when at an Embassy party, she rekindles her relationship with her old flame, Danilo. But, will he forsake the Grisettes, the famous dancing girls at Maxim’s, and declare his true feelings for Anna…?
An amateur production by arrangement with Glocken Verlag Ltd (music adapted and arranged by Ronald Hanmer)

Cast
| Anna | Sarah Esser Haswell |
| Danilo | Peter Thomas |
| Baron Zeta | Trevor Allen |
| Valencienne | Jane Khan |
| Camille | David Clark |
| Njegus | David Longes |
| St Brioche | Andy Davis |
| Cascada | Mark Edwards |
| Kromov | Roger Nelson |
| Bogdanovitsch | David Eccles |
| Olga | Jane Seymour |
| Sylvia | Jane Johnson |
| Praskovia | Gini King |
| Grisettes |
Diane Mayall, Sue Nelson, Margaret Longes Diana Barnsley, Kathy Wilman, Linda Slater |
| Parisian Guests | Pam Patch, Vicki Hodges, Edward Marston |
Lighting: David Ames
Photography Mick Mercer
Privacy Policy for members and supporters
BODS is committed to protecting personal information. This Privacy Policy relates to our use of any personal information we collect from you when you become a Member or Supporter of the Society. Members pay a membership fee and Supporters are individuals who are involved in supporting the activities of the Society. This involvement includes (but is not limited to) scenery construction, costumes, properties, publicity, front of house arrangements, stage management, sound, lighting, direction, choreography, music and orchestra. Supporters also include lapsed members, as such members normally wish to remain in contact with the society and may wish to renew their membership at a future date.
The personal information we collect from you
We collect basic personal details such as your name, address, e-mail address, telephone number, subscriptions and dates paid, standing order details. For Members, we may also take your photograph and ask you for your biography.
How we use information
We will use your information to send you newsletters, letters or emails to give you details of General Meetings, Shows, Rehearsals, Production Meetings and similar events that are likely to be of interest to you. Your name, and possibly photograph and biography, may appear in our show Programmes and newsletters. Your information may also be shared with our committee members (who are our Society’s Trustees). This use is in our ‘Legitimate Interest’. You will be aware that our show programmes are public documents and that our newsletters are shared amongst our membership and with our supporters. We will not share your information with other third parties without your consent.
Security
We put in place reasonable security measures to protect against any unauthorised access or damage to, or disclosure or loss of, your information.
Your rights
Please let us know if your information changes as it is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up to date.
We may keep your information after you leave BODS, in case you decide to later rejoin and take part again in our activities. However, you can ask us to remove your personal information from our records at any time and we will do so and stop sending you any further newsletters.
You have the right to request a copy of all the personal information we hold about you in a Subject Access Request. To do this, simply write to us at the address below. We will take all reasonable steps to confirm your identity before providing you with details of any personal information we may hold about you.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time; for example, to keep it up to date or to comply with legal requirements. If there will be any significant changes made to the use of your personal information in a manner different from that stated, we will seek your permission first.
How to contact us
For any questions or concerns relating to this Privacy Policy or our data protection practices, or to make a Subject Access Request, please contact us in one of these ways:
Preferably by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Or by phone/post to the Secretary
Linda Slater
10 Lazell Gardens
Betchworth
This policy was last updated 31st May 2018
Thespis

or "The Gods Grown Old", by W.S. Gilbert and A. Sullivan
Directed by Lynda Barrett-Mercer
Musical Director: Ian Stone
7-10th November Betchworth Memorial Hall
The 'lost' G&S opera
This is a unique production of the earliest G & S work, for which no musical score survives. First staged in 1871 as a Christmas entertainment, it ran for 63 performances, but Sullivan's score was then lost, and the work largely forgotten during the writers' lifetimes - although Sullivan certainly reused at least two of the tunes. The story concerns a group of actors in ancient Greece - the original Thespians - who take over the role of Gods on Mount Olympus so the decrepit deities can take a holiday on earth, with predictably chaotic consequences
Thespis has only occasionally been revived, from the 1950s onwards, sometimes with a score specially composed 'in the style of Sullivan'. Lynda and Ian however have painstakingly created their own score using familiar tunes in Sullivan's later repertoire, but incorporating 'Climbing over Rocky Mountains' (Pirates of Penzance) and 'Little maid of Arcadee' which are known to have been in the original.
Cast
| Jupiter | Patrick Gallagher |
| Mars | Matt Stainer |
| Apollo | Colin Bousfield |
| Diana | Pam Patch |
| Mercury | Jane Khan |
| Thespis | David Longes |
| Daphne | Jane Johnson |
| Nicemis | Margaret Longes |
| Sparkeion | Carolyn Burnley |
| Tipseion | Jane Seymour |
| Preposteros | Julian Warner-Edney |
| Prettiea | Julie Bickerdike |
| Timidon | Stephen Tickell |
Production
| Sound & Lighting | David Ames |
| Set Design | Lynda Barrett-Mercer |
| Set Construction | the Company |
| Costumes | Lynda Barrett-Mercer |
| Video recording | Jonathan Bickerdike |
|
Front of House |
John Bryant, Sally Coleman, Alison Cooper, Kate Cottrell, Jane Flanders, Fiona Garner, Selena Hegarty, Linda King, Jane Sillett, Ann Staddon, Sheila Staples, Shirley Trower, Neil Williams |
Rehearsal photos by Mick Mercer and Lynda Barrett-Mercer
The 39 Steps
Performances 17-19th May 2018
Directors: Julie Bickerdike & Diane Mayall
Sound & Lighting: David Ames
A comedy thriller adapted by Patrick Barlow from the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock film and original John Buchan novel. All the elements of the film - romance, murder, a manhunt and even the Forth rail bridge are brought to the small stage. Follow fearless Richard Hannay from 1930s London to Scotland and back, on the run from police and German spies
| Richard Hannay | Julian Warner-Edney |
| Pamela | Tracey Hulf |
| Annabella | Linda Slater |
| Policeman, Heavy and other parts |
David Longes |
| Policeman, Heavy and other parts |
Stephen Tickell |
| Compere, salesman and other parts |
Ian Stone |
| Mr Memory | David Ames |
| Professor Jordan and other parts |
Neil Mayall |
| Mrs Higgins and other parts |
Diane Mayall |
| Margaret and other parts | Amy Mager |
Rehearsal photos


























































































































