BUXTON DRAMA LEAGUE
P A S T P R O D U C T I O N S
LADIES' DAY
Pavilion Arts Centre,
May 2024.
GOLDILOCKS & THE THREE BEARS
Pantomime,
February 2024.
UNCLE VANYA
Pavilion Arts Centre,
November 2023.
TWO
Buxton Festival Fringe,
July 2023.
BLITHE SPIRIT
Pavilion Arts Centre,
May 2023.
RED RIDING HOOD & HER MERRY MEN
Pantomime,
February 2023.
WYRD SISTERS
Pavilion Arts Centre,
November 2022.
100 YEARS IN ONE NIGHT
Green Man Gallery,
September 2022.
THE CRUCIBLE
Buxton Opera House,
May 2022.
SNOW WHITE & THE SEVEN DWARFS
Pantomime,
February 2022.
'Shakespeare Jukebox is the link between the Fringe and The Festival. It enhances the overall experience for theatre-goers and the forecourt of the Opera House simply would feel very empty without it. I am certainly going back for more, as each night promises to be different. This really is street theatre at its best!' - Buxton Fringe review 2012
'Buxton Drama League continue their tradition of early New Year pantos, and this has to be one of the best yet ... the production is slick and contains all the elements you might expect in a panto – oh yes it does! ... The acting is great throughout, and it is lovely to see the enjoyment on the faces of these (mostly) young performers.' - Review of Red Riding Hood & Her Merry Men, 2023
'Scattered with sharp, witty lines, this is a performance which commands undivided attention to the often-wordy philosophical arguments ... Buxton Drama League has once again shown that the amateur can be every bit as professional as those who do it for a living. With such a fine performance, it is a pity that all the effort and skill runs for only three nights' - Pure Buxton review of Breaking the Code 2013
'The Winter’s Tale was a triumph – possibly the best Drama League production I can remember. I have been much less moved (and more irritated) by professional productions of this, admittedly difficult, but really profound play.
... The acting was uniformly strong, even to attendant lords, ladies and messengers. All deserve high praise;
... the production, like the play, was great. I went prepared to forgive, but came out dewy-eyed and cheering.' - Review of The Winter's Tale 2013
Buxton Drama League past shows
(This is an incomplete list. If you can remember other BDL shows that we've forgotten, email buxtondrama@yahoo.co.uk)
1922 – Bazhouka Meets The Gods
1923 – The Master of the House
1924 – Playgoers
1925 – Isabel, Edward & Anne
1926 – Husbands Are A Problem, Becky Sharpe
1927 – Kick-In, The Dover Road
1928 – The Bill of Divorcement, The Chinese Puzzle
1930 – Passing Brompton Road, The Eternal Spring
1931 – The Romantic Young Lady
1933 – Murder on the Second Floor
1934 – The Circle
1935 – Laburnum Grove, Black Coffee
1936 – Children To Bless You
1937 – The Two Mrs Carrolls, Eden End
1938 – Night Must Fall, Eight Bells
1939 – Still Life, Crisis Comes Home, London Wall
1940 – They Fly By Twilight
1948 – Grand National Night, An Inspector Calls
1949 – Richard of Bordeaux
1950 – The Chiltern Hundreds
1951 – The Blind Goddess, By Candlelight
1952 –The Seventh Veil, Home at Seven
1953 – Treasure Hunt, The Wandering Jew
1954 – Love from a Stranger, The Noble Spaniard
1955 – A Symphony in Two Flats, Night Was Our Friend
1956 – The Happy Marriage, Relative Values
1957 – A Murder Has Been Arranged, A Bride in Samaria
1958 – Teahouse of the August Moon, The Man Who Came To Dinner
1959 – My Sister Eileen, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
1960 – Blithe Spirit, Hans, The Witch & The Goblin
1961 – The Matchmaker
1962 – Doctor in the House, One-Act Plays (Villa for Sale, Collect your Hand Baggage, The Bear), Affairs of State
1963 – Pygmalion, One-Act Plays (Living Image), The Kingmaker
1964 – Brush with a Body, The House by the Lake, One-Act Plays (The Proposal, Holiday Eve, The Eccentric)
1965 – One-Act Plays (A Family Occasion), Love's A Luxury
1966 – Arms & The Man, Harlequinade
1967 – The Italian Straw Hat, Semi-Detached
1968 – The Bride & The Bachelor, Hotel Paradiso, The Heiress
1969 – The Heiress, One-Act Plays (The Return of Arlecchino, Gentle Rain, El Campasino), Christmas Punch
1970 – The Chalk Garden, Triple Bill (The Orchestra, The Faithful Widow of Ephesus, The Public Eye), More Christmas Punch
1971 – Under Milk Wood, The Crucible
1972 – Hobson's Choice, A Christmas Carol
1973 – The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Dinner with the Family, Dear Octopus
1974 – The Murder of Maria Marten (or the Red Barn), Arsenic & OId Lace
1975 – She Stoops To Conquer
1976 – The Love of Four Colonels, Blithe Spirit
1977 – Macbeth, Play It Again, Sam
1978 – Everything in the Garden, When We Are Married
1979 – The Importance of Being Earnest, The Hollow, Under Milk Wood
1980 – Habeas Corpus, And Then There Were None, Toad of Toad Hall
1981 – How the Other Half Loves, The Glass Menagerie, Doctor Who & The Seven Keys to Doomsday
1982 – Bedroom Farce, The Man Who Came To Dinner
1983 – Murder by the Book, Billy Liar, A Christmas Carol
1984 – The Enquiry, Fur Coat & No Knickers, Tom Jones
1985 – Boeing Boeing, Spring and Port Wine, The Creature Creeps
1986 – The Secretary Bird, An Inspector Calls, Close The Coalhouse Door
1987 – A Bedfull of Foreigners, Charley's Aunt, Season's Greetings
1988 – Fur Coat and No Knickers, The Happiest Days Of Your Life, Ring Around The Moon
1989 – A Chorus of Disapproval, Fatal Attraction
1990 – Rebecca, Outside Edge, No Sex Please, We're British
1991 – Miranda, Confusions, A Voyage Round My Father
1992 – My Cousin Rachel, A Month of Sundays
1993 – The Killing of Sister George, The Roses of Eyam, Run For Your Wife
1994 – Humpty Dumpty, Last Tango in Whitby, Lord Arthur Savill's Crime, The Real Inspector Hound
1995 – Mother Goose, Sherlock Holmes, How the Other Half Loves
1996 – Sinbad the Sailor, Arms & The Man, It Runs In The Family
1997 – Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Family Circles, The Roses of Eyam, Shadowlands
1998 – The Grand Old Duke of York, Comfort & Joy
1999 – Robinson Crusoe, Suddenly Last Summer, Something Unspoken, Mixed Doubles, Maskerade
2000 – Cinderella, Black Comedy, Mansfield Park, Merry Regiment of Women
2001 – Babes in the Wood, Habeas Corpus, An Inspector Calls
2002 – Aladdin, Move Over Mrs Markham, Relative Values
2003 – House of Dreams, Beyond Reasonable Doubt
2004 – King Arthur, Hobson’s Choice, Office Suite, Carpe Jugulum
2005 – Old Mother Hubbard, Body Language, Seeds of Doubt, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Stepping Out
2006 – Old King Cole, Communicating Doors, Chopin & The Eurovision Song Contest, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Flare Path
2007 – Theseus & The Maze of the Minotaur, The Memory of Water, The Shakespeare Jukebox, The Darling Buds of May
2008 – Babes in the Wood, Steel Magnolias, Come Wind, Come Weather, Gym & Tonic
2009 – The Pied Piper & The Rats of Hamelin, Contiguity, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Witness for the Prosecution
2010 – Aladdin, The Venetian Twins, Beginnings, The Shakespeare Jukebox, I Remember Mamma
2011 – Snow White & The Nine Aliens, Absurd Person Singular, Hungry Generations, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Alarms & Excursions
2012 – The Three Musketeers, Mort, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Habeas Corpus
2013 – Frankenstein the Panto, The Winter’s Tale, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Breaking the Code
2014 – Oh, What A Lovely War!, Caroline, The Shakespeare Jukebox
2015 – Treasure Island, Butley, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Season's Greetings
2016 – One Man, Two Guvnors, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Theseus & The Maze of the Minotaur
2017 – 1001 Arabian Nights (and a Matinee), Enlightenment, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Dracula
2018 – Knight Fever!, Telling Lives, The Shakespeare Jukebox
2019 – Captain Hook's Revenge, Bedroom Farce, Contractions, The Shakespeare Jukebox, The Box of Delights
2020 – Mother Goose, Alice Goes Elsewhere (online), The Shakespeare Jukebox (online)
2021 – The Shakespeare Jukebox
2022 – Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, The Crucible, A Whiter Shade of Pale (online), The Shakespeare Jukebox, 100 Years in One Night, Wyrd Sisters
2023 – Red Riding Hood and her Merry Men, Blithe Spirit, Two, The Shakespeare Jukebox, Uncle Vanya
2024 – Goldilocks & The Three Bears, Ladies' Day
Awards and Nominations
2005 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Actor nominations – Maria Carnegie, Robbie Carnegie, Margaret Gill (Seeds of Doubt)
2006 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Actor nomination – Rebecca Widdowson (Chopin & The Eurovision Song Contest)
2008, 2010–2019, 2021–2023 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Street Theatre winner – The Shakespeare Jukebox
2014 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Production nomination – Caroline; Best Actress nomination – Ioana Voisei (Caroline)
2015 – NODA East Midlands Awards: Best Production nomination –Season's Greetings
2016 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best For Families nomination – Theseus & The Maze of the Minotaur
2018 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Production nomination – Telling Lives
2019 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Actress nomination – Corinne Coward (Contractions)
2022 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Spoken Word nomination – A Whiter Shade of Pale, Spirit of the Fringe winner – The Shakespeare Jukebox
2023 – Buxton Fringe Awards: Best Production nomination – Two, Best Actress nomination – Corinne Coward (Two), Best Actor nomination – Andrew Freeman (Two)