The Oxfordshire Drama Network Festival honours its best plays in two ways - either by inviting them back to perform at the Gala Performance, or by awarding one of the two trophys on offer. HAODS were lucky enough to receive both these honours.

Our performance on Thursday 6 June finished to the longest applause I have every heard for a play. Half the audience were wiping away tears, but still determinedly clapping, nobody willing to be the first to stop. The Adjudicator was filled with praise for the play. The actors (Richard Evans, Angharad Jones, Kevin Goodfellow and James Gwynne) were congratulated for their flawless New York accents, their sensitivity in handling the subject matter and their excellent performances all round. The Director (Samantha Fields) and her production team (Kelly Britton and Jennamarie Smith) were praised for the fluidity between scenes helped by the efficient lighting and set changes, the use of movement in a restricted space throughout the scenes, and a very empathetic and knowledgable presentation of the onset of dementia. The set was admired and the attention to detail - such as the light switches and plug sockets - was commented on. Altogether, the cast, crew and play received excellent feedback and we were hopeful of a callback for the Gala Performance.

 The call duly came, and we were one of the three plays asked to perform for the Mayor of Abingdon, Colin Dexter and other special guests on Saturday 8 June. Another incredibly moving performance had the audience in tears once again, and many members sought out the cast to congratulate them - some had been through this themselves, one lady, a dementia nurse, told Richard how she cried from beginning to end because his portrayal and the reactions of the cast around him, were so accurate she could recognise what she has been through with patients over and over again.

The reception to the play was enough to consider the evening a huge success, but we were even more delighted to be the recipients of the Colin Dexter Award for Magic Moment of the Festival! This was awarded to Richard and Angharad for the closing scene of the play.

Kenton Theatre 13-16 November

Director: Julie Huntington
Musical Director: Alan Lineham
Choreographer: David Parsonson

Readings: 15 and 23 May 2013 07.45pm
Auditions: 2 June  10.30am:

Further Auditions/recalls 5 June 7.45pm

Rehearsals: Weds and Thurs throughout June, resuming on September 4, with additional Sundays to be advised nearer to the production
Show Dates: 13 – 16 Nov with Sat Matinee – 5 performances

The story told in Pride And Prejudice of the Bennet family, centred as it is on the relationship between the proud aristocrat Fitzwilliam Darcy and the high-spirited Elizabeth Bennet, is one of the most enduringly popular novels of all time and has had a far-reaching influence on all romantic fiction right up to the present day. Jane Austen described Elizabeth Bennet as "quite the most delightful creature as ever appeared in print". Tens of millions agree, and it is the closest the author came to true romantic comedy. The determination of the bright and sparkling Elizabeth to dislike Mr Darcy is matched only by his arrogant pride.

The musical has eleven fantastic roles for women (most with solos), from the dim Mrs Bennet, to feisty Elizabeth and her four other daughters, to the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the bitchy Caroline Bingley. For the men, the six principal roles include the complex and challenging part of Mr Darcy, and a classic part for a comic actor in Mr Collins.

Bernard J Taylor's musical follows the plot and characterisation closely enough to suit those who can quote every line of Jane Austen's book, while telling the story plainly enough to entertain the few who don't know it. A show with 32 songs and a number of prominent roles for old and young, that also has plenty of chorus work. It has been staged numerous times with great success for the companies concerned. "... a feast of lovely melodies, wedded to excellent lyrics."

A cast of at least 25 will be required, preferably a lot more!