With many years of singing, acting and playing music under his belt, Ian is perfectly qualified to be a founder member of Merthyr Amateur Dramatics.  Born and raised in Merthyr, Ian has had extensive experience entertaining the public.  He is a multi-instrumentalist, being able to sing, play guitar, bass, piano and drums.  He has been playing in various bands for 22 years, most recently Merthyr's own "One Hot Puppet."  During this time, he has played well over 2000 live gigs across Britain, has participated in various studio sessions as a guitarist, singer and producer, has recorded an album, several EP's and a music video.  Ian has also appeared live and recorded on BBC TV and Radio.

His theatrical experience includes playing lead roles in many Chekhov and Miller plays including "The Cherry Orchard", "A Jubilee" and "Death Of A Salesman."  In addition to this he has also played Dodger in "Oliver!", Rooster in "Annie", Roddy in the 70's musical "Boogie Nights" as well as various pantomime roles, such as Ali Baba from the pantomime of the same name and Buttons from "Cinderella."  Ian has also directed various straight plays and was Musical Director for "Snow White" and "Cinderella."

Ian has always wanted an amateur dramatics group of his own and is delighted to play his part in the establishment of M.A.D

 

 Sian Dinham - Assistant Director/Dance Director/Deputy Treasurer

Sian is a fantastic founder member of Merthyr Amateur Dramatics.  Her level headedness, efficiency and sense of humour are all essential ingredients that enable a group like this to function.

Sian's expertise lies in dance and choreography and has choreographed many routines for both adults and children.  She played a pivotal dance role in a recent production of  the 70's musical, "Boogie Nights." 

Being an excellent motivator and teacher, M.A.D will benefit enormously from her unique skills. In addition to this, she has proved herself to possess excellent business skills and a fondness for professionalism.  Her passion for the M.A.D project is unrivaled and she, like the other founder members is excited to see what will happen in the forthcoming year.

 

 

Eric Dinham - Secretary

 Eric has been treading the boards for over ten years and in that time has gained a wealth of experience in amateur theatre, be it acting on stage or playing a lead role in the backstage area.

He is undoubtedly a loveable character and is one of those rare people you just want to be around!

Eric is first and foremost reliable and hard working.  He has "been there and done that" and these skills make him possibly the most valuable member of the founding team.  His resistance to bad situations is second to none and his past career as a police sergeant has no doubt moulded him into the person he is today.

Now Eric has retired, all his passion, time and energy will undoubtedly make M.A.D a roaring success!

Ceri Furber/Louise Whan - Choreographers

Ceri loves food, and in particular loves the middle part of a chip.  Her dilemma is that she hates chewing, and so is now researching a perfectly healthy meal condensed into a single pill which you can take three times a day.

The idea was inspired by Willy Wonka who almost perfected the technique, but fell short when it came to the dessert.  She is currently in negotiations with top experimental TV chef Heston Blumenthal to bring her idea to fruition.

Her Chicken Jalfrezi pill is truly scrumptious!

Louise has a Dr. Dolittle quality to her and many animals come flocking to see her when she walks down the street.  At first, she considered this a great inconvenience as she couldn't walk more than three steps without some bear, antelope or pigeon trying to converse with her.  However, in more recent years Louise has decided to embrace this and has set up the "Noah's Ark Dance Studio" specifically catering for our wild furry and feathered friends.  When she is not teaching and performing with M.A.D, you can find her there.  All animals love her!

Except budgerigars.

 

Phil Hoult/Clare Rogers/Matt Rees - Lighting Technicians

Phil and Matt operate the spotlights and anything else that is over 2000 degrees celsius.  Their hands have been studied by scholars of anatomy and biomedical science and they are baffled at their resistance to scalds, burns and all manner of heat related tissue damage.
Their girlfriends are chuffed to have them though, as they are very useful for getting the turkey out of the oven at Christmas.

They are both currently in Iceland trying to plug the volcano with their miracle hands and make plane travel safer for the entire world.

Clare handles the main lighting desk of which there are many different sliders, flashing lights and basically, loads of things that could go wrong.  Fortunately, her mind is so random, she can make both head and tail of this big black control board. She is a big fan of Michael Jackson and her impersonations are legendary.  Next time you see her out, buy her a pint of lager and ask her to do one - she never refuses and your life will be enriched!  Her chilli beef bolognese is not quite as good as our director's though.  Shame.

 

Alex Bradbury - Sound Engineer

Alex loves gadgets and gizmos. His favourite film of all time is Gremlins simply because the main character is called "Gizmo."
His mother had an extremely long labour, which meant that Alex was actually born in three countries - Holland, England and Wales, so no-one truly knows his country of birth.  In fact, no-one really knows anything about him at all, except that he loves gadgets and gizmos and that he magically appears in front of a sound desk during dress rehearsals and show nights, and then disappears in a puff of green smoke as soon as the show ends.  We think he's going to enjoy our next production, Cinderella as there are lots of green puffs of smoke in it. Either that or he'll feel upstaged and leave.  Hopefully not though, as who would do our sound for us then?

 

 

Stella Thomas - Official Photographer, Stage Manager

Stella made her own camera at the age of seven by glueing two sandbricks together and placing a small oblong sheet of glass over the front of it.  Not only did the camera not work, but she couldn't actually lift it and, to this day, Stella has a slight weakness in her right wrist.  Despite her handicap, she persevered and now actually has a camera that takes some great pictures thanks to a lightweight chassis and the invention of batteries.

Stella lives a double life however, and during show nights can be found lurking in the darkest recesses of the backstage area waiting to pounce like a giant squid on unsuspecting cast & crew members who are talking and breathing out of place.  She does a great job and along with Alex, has possibly the hardest job when we go live in front of an audience.  She must love it though, as on her nights off she can sometimes be found backstage at other establishments, lurking in corners.  These activities have seen her ejected from many a plush establishment such as The London Palladium, Her Majesty's Theatre, Theatre Royal Drury Lane and the Aberdare Colisseum.

What a dedicated soul!