Rediscovering my love for the theatre with New Stagers
- Jun 9
- 2 min read
New member Lily Frost reflects on breaking her decade-long acting hiatus, finding her feet with New Stagers, and the absolute joy of getting back under the lights.
When I was younger, It’s fair to say I had a flair for the dramatics.
I practically forced my parents to send me to stage school every Saturday from the age of 11 and was in almost every school production from Alice in Wonderland, Grimms Tales, Les Miserables and more. We won’t even get into the piano lessons, dance classes and choir rehearsals that filled the rest of my schedule.
As you can imagine, by the time I got to university, I was a bit theatred out and nothing tempted me back. Fast forward to now, I’ve worked as a professional copywriter for the last four years and spent the last two and a half living in South West London. In March, after spending far too much time in Daunt Books, I found a copy of one of my favourite plays (A Zoo Story by Edward Albee). After re-reading it, watching it and obsessing over it, I felt a pull back to the stage.
A quick Google search gave me the names of local AmDram groups and soon I stumbled across a play reading at a local pub that Sunday. I hadn’t heard of Ripen Our Darkness but I thought why not? Walking into a room full of strangers was a little unsettling, but everyone was so welcoming. We all read different parts and my personal highlight was putting on my best cockney accent for Alf with lots of colourful effing and blinding.
I wasn't especially keen on doing a scary audition, but after meeting Nellie, the director, she assured me it would be super informal. The fact we'd all be auditioning in front of each other actually made it feel much less intimidating. And I was over the moon to be cast as Susan.
My favourite thing about being back in rehearsals has been the routine of it all. Sunday afternoons and Tuesday evenings spent with a fab group of people, plenty of laughs, and the joy of watching scenes come together week by week. We’re on stage at the end of July, so we’re pretty much off-book now and I’m really looking forward to our first full dress rehearsal.
It’s been a long time since I’ve played a character and Susan has definitely challenged me. She’s a complex woman dealing with an incredibly difficult set of circumstances. One of our scenes is particularly raw and emotional, but there’s a real sense of trust between the cast. It’s also super rewarding to feel like we're doing justice to a story that deserves to be told.
Joining New Stagers has been the best thing I’ve done this year. Ripen Our Darkness has brought me back to the stage after 10 years and reignited a passion I thought I’d left behind so I’m so glad I took that first step to the pub.
Lily Frost
Susan, Ripen Our Darkness
Ripen Our Darkness by Sarah Daniels runs from 22-25 July at The Studio, New Wimbledon Theatre.
Find out more about the show and get your tickets here:
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