Wyong Drama Group History
Amateur dramatics go back a long way in the Wyong Shire, with the first
recorded performance of the twentieth century taking place on 27th July 1907.
Staged by the Wyong Musical and Dramatic Society it took place in the local
School of Arts hall. According to a review in the local press "the
programme was an attractive one and its production marks the newly formed
association with a success." The performances were of Hook
and Eye and Joffin's Latchkey.
The Wyong MADS later produced Lady Audley's Secret in 1909 and
Milky White in September 1911.
In 1921 the Wyong Famous Players presented The Outcast in Gosford Hall and the local
press were happy to publish that "through a somewhat shortness of notice and
for other reasons, the hall was not as full as one would have liked to see, but
this fact had a decided set-off in the appreciation shown by those who were
privileged to witness what was universally considered a very excellent
production."
One pioneering member of what was to become WDG, Rene Baker (later Mrs Rene
Levenspiel) gave a concert in Wyong with her pupils in May 1932. The cast
included one Mildred Ede, yet another pioneer of WDG, at that stage still a
student. The Levenspiel family were later to become owners of Wyong Motors
(later WM-Holden).
On Monday 18 August 1949, Rene Levenspiel organised a revue known as
Happy-Go-Lucky in the Astra Theatre. Chorus boys included the three
Levenspiel sons.
What was then known as the "Wyong Dramatic Society" began in 1952 with Charity Begins staged in the
Astra Theatre (a handsome Art Deco cinema demolished sadly in 1973). The
group was formed mainly through the efforts of Geoff Cox, who also produced
(directed) this first play. In February 1954 Geoff Cox, who worked for the
Rural Bank of NSW, was transferred to the Macksville branch of the bank, and had
to resign from the group. There were fortunately enough members left to
maintain the group.
1953 a production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever
went ahead at the "old" Wyong Memorial Hall and Candied
Peel at the School of the Arts. From 1955, productions were mounted in the
Wyong Youth Hall in Hely Street. At this venue the group encountered many
distractions, including stiff competition from the nightly departure at nearby
Wyong railway station of the 9.00pm steam train. As if its loud puffing wasn't
enough to drown out the dialogue, actors also had to contend with a colony of
operatic frogs that lived in the dampness under the hall and also the din made
on the corrugated iron roof when it poured with rain!
In the middle of 1956 the name of the group was simplified from the "Wyong
Dramatic Society" to "Wyong Drama Group". In 1965 the group moved to the new Wyong Memorial Hall
in Anzac Avenue which had just been officially opened by (then) Shire President
Wilfred Barret, and staged
their first play in this hall, Murder Mistaken directed by Gwen Clarke.
From 1988, the group held an annual Bush Bash, comprising a dinner, a
one-act play and a bush dance. There were to be seventeen Bush Bashes, the
last one being performed on Saturday 26 June 2004. Houses had been
dwindling in the latter years, and since they were mainly designed to be
revenue-raisers, it was decided the group would raise more money by attracting
larger audiences to its mainstream productions. This has occurred.
In 1988, WDG became incorporated under NSW State Government legislation, so
officially the name was changed to "Wyong Drama Group Incorporated" at this time.
What this meant is that a legal entity was created in the group, protecting the
main office-bearers from personal liability in the event of negligence or
misdeeds. However, the "incorporated" part is frequently omitted from the
moniker.
Wyong Drama Group has attended many theatrical festivals around New South
Wales and won many awards in all categories. In the 1950s through to the
1970s, the Arts Council of NSW held an annual Drama Festival which saw an
adjudicator sent to each local production of a full play as the entry, with the
four or five finalists sent to Sydney to compete in the overall final.
In 1998, WDG produced a Theatre Festival of One-Act plays with entries
encouraged from groups all around the state. WDG did not produce another
TheatreFest until 2004, but has organised one on an annual basis ever since.
It is currently known as the Central Coast TheatreFest and attracts normally
over a dozen entries state-wide providing a vehicle for local and not-so-local
groups to competitively show their wares. Many of the festivals around the
state that WDG used to compete in are no longer held, due to the financial cost
becoming prohibitive to the organisers.
Since 1952 the group has presented over 220 productions. They have played in
a variety of venues, including the Astra Theatre (Anzac Avenue, now the site of
Wyong Plaza - now known as Village Central), the Masonic Hall (Howarth Street,
still extant), the Youth
Hall (in Hely Street, now the site of the former Court House) and the Old Bakery
(Anzac Avenue, Fred Chapman's stores), as well as the Laycock Street Theatre in
North Gosford (twice). But
the majority of the productions have been staged at the Wyong Memorial Hall,
where they have made their home in the Green Room at the back of the hall.
Council Minutes 285 (13 August 1975) and 122 and 151 (24 March 1976) specify the
rights given to the Drama Group to occupy these facilities exclusively.
Many well-known local identities have been associated with Wyong Drama Group
over the years, including Fred Chapman (local merchant), the Levenspiel Family
(WM-Holden), Aubrey A Brown (solicitor, a local firm still bears the name),
Clive Dowler (local dentist, still practicing in Railway Street) and Dr Howard
Oxley (in practice currently on the Tuggerah Straight). Probably the most
common occupation of a member is a schoolteacher, retired or otherwise.
with kind permission of Ian Hawkins, author of: Curtain Up - 100 years of
Amateur Theatre on the Central Coast of New South Wales, additional material
added by Peter Deane, based on WDG archives.
Hit No
