Feature: A Not So Amateur Hair

Amateur theatre company SEDOS has been putting on shows in the heart of the City of London since the early 20th century. Its main home is the Bridewell Theatre, situated off Fleet Street, just a stone's throw from the Novello, Aldwych and other West End theatres. It was founded by senior members of the Stock Exchange to take advantage of the talent they saw around them and to help raise money for charity.

While its amateur status may give pause for some, it has built a loyal following thanks to its reputation for high-quality work and interesting production choices. This is no ordinary am-dram group. Run by an annually-elected committee, everyone who works for SEDOS has a day job too - these people really do do shows for the pure love of it. Celebrities such as Nicholas Parsons and newsreader Faye Barker are just some of those who have been involved with the society during its long tenure.

Musical director Matt Gould, a solicitor by day, explains: "We tend to focus on modern, challenging works, rather than classics. We also have a truly open audition policy, which ensures that the talent on-stage remains fresh and vibrant - it means that we have a wide number of people performing for us each year, and hopefully many stay involved. We're able to put on exciting vibrant modern shows to a high standard - I think it's a combination of our location and the fact we do produce a very interesting repertoire."

Recent SEDOS productions have included Parade and Rent, and coming up later in the year is Kiss Of The Spiderwoman. Currently on is SEDOS' version of Hair. Yes, the very same Hair currently on in both the West End and Broadway. While SEDOS actually got the rights for the show way before it was even a twinkle in Cameron Mackintosh's eye, rumours flew earlier this year that they had lost the rights when Hair hit the West End, thanks to the ubiquity of Mackintosh. However, this is inaccurate, according to current director Matt Prince - all that happened was that the then-director went to work for Mackintosh, necessitating a new director.

The rights were never in question, he says: "There was a rumour that the Broadway show was going to come over, but at the time there was no fixed date - rumours went round in the late summer, but before that point we'd decided we wanted to do it and we went and secured the rights. When you're working for somebody putting on a very big professional show on Shaftesbury Avenue and you're directing the same show, virtually round the corner... Cameron Mackintosh's HR team said 'there's a bit of a conflict of interest here'..."

"It was a bit disconcerting to know there are two shows going on," Prince admits. "But our audiences are quite different - we're never going to chase a West End show's audience, we just don't have the marketing power. Plenty of our audience will have seen the West End show too - but our audience tends to be people we've had contact with through previous shows."

Gould says he chose Hair because he wanted another rock show to follow up on a previous production of Rent. "Hair seemed timely, with its anti-war message - and it is also a show about love and the environment, which is appropriate for the current time. A number of our society saw the show on Broadway - we decided that we would see if we could get the rights, which we were lucky enough to secure."

Prince, whose day job is at TFL, is a relative newcomer to SEDOS. He joined last year, stage managing shows like One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and its acclaimed production of Parade. "What I love about SEDOS is that they're a non professional company with very high standards that match some of the professional shows that you see. They're always looking for something that will add to the market. That's where we're working towards."

As far as the future goes for SEDOS, Gould hopes it will continue to keep up its high standards and produce interesting work. "The quality of our on-stage talent continues to grow," he says. "We want to embrace and use that talent by performing great shows."

SEDOS' production of Hair is on until June 26th. Buy tickets here.

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