The Witches Revue

In the early part of 1985, Theatre Workshop Coulsdon still had a tutor assigned to us, through our association with Croydon Council via their education remit of the time. Lucy Blows, our tutor, regularly took the group through its paces, with various exercises, vocal and otherwise. At some point, it was decided to run a series of improvisations based on a theme of witches and witchcraft. Members went away and did research, returning with choice morsels of information culled from actual books (we were decades away from Wikipedia) and gradually, over a period, a series of sketches, skits and monologues were developed.

Having got this far, the next logical thing to do was give it an audience. There wasn’t really the confidence in it to go truly public, but for one evening, we would put the revue on the stage and run it as a proper performance in front of an audience of interested individuals, related to the group at one level or another. It was more of a social event than a real show, but honour would be served.

Records are few. No posters or programmes ever existed. Memories are hazy. There was definitely a sketch involving a shop where Paul Ford came to purchase items relating to witchcraft from shopkeeper Simeon Dawes. And Paul and Simeon were involved in a musical sketch alongside Simeon’s brother Jonathan on bass guitar and Lee Wilkinson on ‘backing vocals’, playing a version (with reworked lyrics) of the little-known Bacharach and David song, ‘My Little Red Book’. Paul, on lead vocals, was holding a ‘voodoo doll’ which when he moved it, had Lee mirroring the move, culminating in the doll being thrown over Paul’s shoulder, and Lee doing his best to mimic the action.

More music was provided by Wendy Cole on violin and Mark Taylor on piano, as they gave us a rendition of “The Devil Went Down To Georgia” originally by the Charlie Daniels Band. We’re not sure who handled the vocals.

Richard Lloyd regaled us with a tale of the unsolved murder of Charlie Walton back in 1945. Bludgeoned and hacked to death in a field in the shadow of Meon Hill, Stratford, in mysterious circumstances, the whole affair was shrouded in rumours of witchcraft. Was Walton himself a witch? The village never said a word…

Simeon also undertook a reinterpretation of the prophecies of Nostradamus, proving that the 16th Century seer had somehow foreseen the rise of English football teams in the European Cup. Or rather, you can pretty much interpret them any way you like.

If anyone reading this took part and remembers other aspects, or has photos, then please let us know.