Acerca de
Wispians
Who we are
This group was formed in 2013 when the County Challenge was to write and perform a 10 minute play reflecting one of the WI resolutions. One of our members wrote a script about the resolution to support our bee population by opposing the pesticides which were found to be killing them. A group of willing actors and props makers were soon found among our members. And so began the WIspians. Although the member who wrote the script was coerced into also being director, it soon emerged that this would be a democratic group, with everyone suggesting ideas for improvements, our resident choreographer ensuring that we moved in a bee like fashion, and two husbands brought in to provide the sound system for the music. We won the challenge trophy!
Our actors then ‘rested’ for four years, until the next County Challenge in 2018 asked for a play that reflected the end of World War 1, the founding of the WI in Northamptonshire and the triumph of the suffragettes. The same member wrote the script that united all three themes in a 10 minute play, the same democratic direction took place, and this time, as well as brilliant props by our resident crafting expert, we also had excellent wigs by our resident hairdresser. We entered, and we won. This time, because it was our County WI centenary, we had to perform at the Lighthouse Theatre in Kettering in front of 600 WI delegates, Kate Humble, who presented our prize and the WI national president. As ever, the actors rose to the occasion and performed brilliantly.
With this success, we decided to do a short Christmas pantomime in 2019 to entertain members at our Christmas dinner. It was an alternative version of Cinderella, no politically incorrect body shaming of ugly sisters who were replaced by Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, and a series of trials to see who would marry the prince – with a twist at the end.
2020 was not allowed to pass without WIspians attempting something via Zoom. The Murder Mystery gave plenty of opportunity for dressing up, but the performance was chaotic in the extreme. We obviously needed to work together in person to make the democracy work. Our Christmas Dinner in 2021 was entertained by the WIspians performing a very funny script from Denman, a brilliant solution, as it needed minimal rehearsal time, a necessity as we were all regaining confidence in meeting up again.
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We returned to the Pantomime with a script relating to our WI in 2022. We still had our prop maker, our choreographer and wig designer, and once more got back to working on the original script together to make a performance about the heroines and heroes of the fairy stories forgiving the wicked witches and stepmothers who had tried to harm them. Our previous success brought new members to the group and, as always, we had fun putting the play together, then gave enjoyment to the whole of our group.
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