You can register your interest by emailing Ellen.

Once upon a time there was a girl called Sally and a boy named Richard. They grew up as children together and became childhood sweethearts. Sally liked to help and watch her granny bake whilst Richard enjoyed playing with boats and anything nautical.

Did Richard follow his  career path and go to sea?

What did Sally do with granny’s cookery book?

Can you mend a broken heart?

What happened that they ended up in court?

The Jury’s Out is a new work created by Linda D Milne with music arranged by William Campbell.  It includes much-loved chorus numbers from The Sorcerer, HMS Pinafore, The Gondoliers, The Mikado and ending with Trial by Jury.

Don’t miss out on joining us on the Carnegie Hall stage for the première of this new show, which is on 13–15 February 2025. We look forward to seeing you when we start back on Wednesday 28 August, even if you can’t make it to the the workshop at Limekilns on the afternoon of Sunday 19 May, when all will be revealed!

Susan Kennedy, Regional Representative for District SC10, attended our Saturday matinée and reported on behalf of NODA:

As my first visit to Dunfermline to review a show this proved to be an enjoyable experience.

Although G&S this show had a modern feel and setting. The concept of a village hall and its users along with a group of dancers made it pertinent to today. Do you believe in Fairies? I certainly do! Combined with dialogue adapted to events of the time and modern dress the whole worked well. This is a funny story and was played with an emphasis on humour. Although dialogue and setting were adapted the music and singing were pure G&S.

I felt that the singing was of an excellent standard. All the principals were strong with many exceptional solos, duets and trios all performed within character. The chorus certainly handled the harmonies with style and complemented the principals. Well done to all, the band and your musical director, Eddie.

The group of dancers added a new dimension and were cleverly used more than once in Act 1. This was a clever production, carefully thought out to maximise impact without complicated set changes and furniture shifting with costume changes on stage. Well done Michael.

The experience was completed by the front of house staff set up as the W.I. of Thanolie selling raffle tickets and home-made goodies.

Thank you all for your hospitality.

Our final rehearsal for the concerts on 15/16 September will be on Wednesday 13 September, at the usual time of 7:30pm and replacing the Iolanthe rehearsal, with preliminary rehearsals on Sunday 3 September at 2:30pm in the Gelert Hall (behind the church) and on Sunday 10 September at 7:00pm (note the change!)

Meanwhile, don’t forget to sell the tickets that Anne gave you, and let her know how many you’ve sold for each concert so she can keep an eye on the numbers – wouldn’t it be lovely to have a full house!

Apart from the concert and show dates, plans are afoot for three social activities:

• On Saturday 16 September at 5:00pm, a pre-concert meal at the Bruce Hotel, Limekilns for participants and friends. Book with Jack Archibald soon!
• On Friday 8 December, at 6:30pm for 7:00pm, our usual Christmas Night Out at the Pitbauchlie House Hotel. Sign-up sheets at rehearsals.
• A re-run of our successful Anniversary Tea on Sunday 21 April 2024. Note that this time it won’t be on the Saturday because other exciting things are planned for that weekend – details to follow!

And don’t forget to check with Ian Anderson to pick your number(s) and register your interest in the Bonus Ball competition. Only £1/week for each number for a bit of fun and a potential £20 win, and last year Ian made £300 for Society funds.

This is what greeted members and guests at our much-delayed 50th Anniversary tea, which was held at the Pitbauchlie House Hotel on Saturday 22 April 2023. We sat down at wittily-devised G&S-themed tables – thanks to all the creative members of Sinead Black’s team:

Not only did Sinead organise the event splendidly, but she also acted as Mistress of Ceremonies. Guests who were introduced included two of our founder members, Ann Duly and Robin Ożóg, who duly cut the cake after Robin had spoken most movingly of our history and what it had meant to him to be involved with the Society. Do take time to read what he said, which you can find at this link.

Stuart McCue-Dick, Councillor for NODA (Scotland), was our guest, both to speak and to present a record number of long-service awards. Illustrated at this link is how we totalled 315 years of NODA service! Presentations acknowledging specific service were also made to Gwyneth Kirby in memory of Howard, who had laboured valiantly front of house, and to Mary Kidd, a former vice-president and orchestra convenor. And, of course, no G&S gathering these days is complete without an appropriate ode from our G&S makar, Kerry Black, which you can read at this link!

Grateful thanks to everyone who took part on the day or worked behind the scenes to make the event such a success, and especially to Sinead. And of course we are eternally grateful to Val McManus our resident photographer who has helped us fix the fugitive moment! Val had also put together the archive material presentation projected during the Pirates overture, and this formed a backdrop to the tea: you can enjoy it again at this link.

And grateful thanks to everyone who came and supported. You can see below that they enjoyed themselves! [The order is fairly random, based on Val’s walkabout round the room, with some artefacts of the uploading process, and we hope that everyone has been identified correctly. All comments to the webmaster, please!]