CLUBS AND SOCIETIES: Award for Castaway Theatre Group’s Graham Waddleton

A WELL-KNOWN member of the local amateur dramatics scene in Yeovil - who is more than familiar with speaking and singing on stage - was somewhat surprisingly lost for words this morning (Saturday, February 7, 2015) when presented with an award from the Castaway Theatre Group.

Graham, who first started treading the boards in the mid-1960s, received the Yeovil-based Castaway Theatre Group Award in recognition of all his work on the stage and off it.

Lynn Lee Brown, of Castaways, presented Graham with the award during the group’s weekly session at the Octagon Theatre in Yeovil

“Graham’s never missed a rehearsal and he does so many things beyond the call of duty,” she said. “He’s always been there to help over the years.”

PHOTO - TOP: Graham Waddleton receives the Castaway Theatre Group Award from Lynn Lee Brown.

PHOTO - RIGHT: Graham Waddleton performs a Les Miserables routine with the Castaways in the Quedam Shopping Centre in Yeovil in September 2014. 

The Castaways last year celebrated its tenth anniversary last year and Graham has been involved in the group for the majority of that time.

But he told the Yeovil Press today that it was back in 1966 that he first got the “bug” for performing on stage with a panto of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves at the old Assembly Rooms in Princes Street, Yeovil, which was put on by a pantomime group from the former Wessex Club - which used to be the social club for workers from the Electricity Board, and is now The Beach pub/nightspot.

Graham said he was “very surprised and very pleased” to have received the award from Castaways.

And he joked: “It’s the first thing I’ve won since winning a football trophy and that was many years ago!”

But he later added: “I was taken aback by the presentation, but I would like to thank Lynn for her kind words and also a big thank you to my Castaways family for all their kind remarks.”

PHOTO - ABOVE: Graham Waddleton as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Castaway Theatre's Group's recent panto production of Babes in the Wood at the Swan Theatre in Yeovil.

PHOTO - ABOVE: Graham Waddleton performs in the Les Miserables routine for the Castaway Theatre Group at the tenth anniversary show at the Octagon Theatre in September 2014.

PHOTO - ABOVE: Graham Waddleton performs in the Hairspray routine during the Castaway Theatre Group's performance at the O2 Arena in London in June 2014.

PHOTO - ABOVE: Graham Waddleton with Toni Pincombe in Castaway Theatre Group's panto of Sleeping Beauty at the Swan Theatre in January 2014.

PHOTO - ABOVE: Graham Waddleton with Toni Pincombe in Castaway Theatre Group's panto of Cinderella in February 2013.

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Clubs and Societies.