On The Stage.

Watching people arriving at The Lamb the other night for the AGM of the Drama Group reminded me of the concert parties that used to be held in the New Hall back in the late 1950's. We have before on the blog commented about the need for a Silverton's Got Talent vontest and I suppose, the old concert parties were the nearest equivelant we ever had to that without the competitive element. We had a selection of villagers performing their party peices and also appearing in sketches. I can remember appearing in a sketch performed by the Cubs or Scouts, probably my only acting appearence on stage. Many other performances stick in your mind mainly because they tended to be a regular feature of such occasions. One or two that spring to mind were the late Flor Vittles doing her own, and very individual interpretation of the 50's hit 'Tom Dooley' and Sid Hutchings performing the ballad 'Danny Boy' backed by the Reverend Guy Sanderson on piano. Guy Sanderson, as older residents will remember went on to become Bishop of Plymouth in later life.

The old concert parties really were a very Silvertonian event in a way that would probably be impossible now because they featured people who had been born, brought up together or had been neighbours for most of their lives. Also, of course, we are talking about an era when television still had a limited reach within the population and people were accustomed to making their own entertainment. The concert parties were also part of that old social structure within the village that has now gone, along with the New Hall. They were followed in later years by The Silverton Players who contained some very talented local people and now by Thye Drama Group which is slowly but surely beginning to make its mark. The tradition of amateur performance within the village may have changed but is still alive and well.