MALCOLM WINSLADE - "Man in Dress Shop"

I work for an engineering company in Farnborough. I have enjoyed film entertainment for as long as I can remember, but it was not until quite recently, that I discovered theatre to be far more interesting. Must be that you get one chance to get it right. I considered that the character roles in theatre were demanding such that my involvement would be purely as a member of an audience. My misconception of amateur theatre was that societies could not match anything staged by semi/professional companies. Then I discovered the Crowthorne Amateur Dramatic Society and in the year I have been a member, there have been some wonderful shows. I was given the opportunity to run the lighting board in the designer's absence for one evening performance of C.A.T.S. "Out of Focus" in the summer of 2001. I helped as a member of the stage crew for "Baby Sitting Kelvin" in C.A.T.S. entry at the Woking festival in the autumn of 2001. My first experience on stage was in "Dracula - the Panto", C.A.T.S. Christmas show as chorus. I was cast as Ted Washbrook in "Chorus of Disapproval" in the spring of 2002. This was the first time ever I had spoken dialogue in front of an audience and most of all it was the first (and possibly the last time) I have sung solo.