Judith Dolley
Judy joined the group as a teenager, as Judith Humphries, in 1957, her first contribution being as prompter for Black Chiffon, but very soon her strong acting attributes were on display and she went on to appear in more than 40 RDG presentations - the most recent being My Mother Said I Never Should in 1998.
However it has been as a director that Judy has made a huge contribution to the company over recent decades' having directed more than 80 productions. These have ranged from comedies such as Stepping Out and The Happiest Days of Your Life (2) through musicals such as Guys and Dolls and Oliver! (1) to powerful dramas like Elephant Man, The and The Visit.
Judy's productions have been highly praised at drama festivals where dozens of her productions have won major awards. Undoubtedly the pinnacle of her directorial career came in the year 2000 when her production of Scarecrow won the National All-Winners Final and her production of Lears Daughters won the British Final. Subsequently Lears Daughters was selected to represent England at the 2001 International Festival of Amateur Drama in Monaco. To mark this dual achievement she was awarded Life Membership of the Woking Drama Association.
Early in 2002 Judy's production of Bed won the Elmbridge Festival and progressed through the various rounds to win the English Final - following which it progressed to Inverness where it was placed Runner-Up at the British Final.
Judy won the Best Director Award at Woking Festival for her "creative and intelligent" production of the trio of short Tennessee Williams plays,Till I Fall Off. She has also directed the hilarious production of Privates on Parade , Passion Play a devastating dissection of a modern marriage and Amy's View. Her production of the original play The Allotment won the 2004 Woking Drama Festival which was followed by her Elmbridge festival-winning production of the gritty States of Shock Judy's directed a devastating presentation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, followed by Not A Game For Boys, which won four awards at local festivals. At the Leatherhead Festival she won the Best Director Trophy for her multi-award winning production of The House of Bernarda Alba.
She directed the highly successful production of the First World War classic drama ~ Journey's End and, in contrast, the dark comedy The Lightning Play. 2008 ended a year considerable dramatic achievement when her production of But Yesterday won a total of nine awards in the autumn festivals including the premier trophy at the prestigious 50th Woking Drama Festival. With barely a pause for breath she then launched into rehearsals for yet another multi-award production ~ The King - production which subsequently was selected for the National All-Winners Festival. In the week before that important event was Judy's sell-out production of Ayckbourn's comedy RolePlay. 2010 ended with Judy's memorable production of Alan Bennett's An Englishman Abroad which won seven major awards at the autumn festivals. Ever indefatiguable, Judy went on to direct a claustrophobic production of Pinter's The Birthday Party. A very different Pinter followed - A Kind of Alaska - which garnered eight awards at the 2011 local Festivals. It won the Spelthorne Festival where Judy won the first Best Director trophy recently donated in the memory of our dear RDG friend Jane Walters. Judy's hugely popular production of Calendar Girls in 2012 was dedicated to the memory of Jane.
2013 brought further festival when her forensic direction of Suzie Kimnell's new play won the Elmbridge Festival while her production of Woody Allen's RiversideDrive won both the 2013 Woking and Spelthorne Drama Festivals. Riverside Drive was subsequently was selected for the All Winners Festival in the Isle of Man where it received the Runners-up trophy. The following year Judy scored the same double success when her sharp direction of [Definitely The Bahamas(/productions won at Woking and Spelthorne festivals. In 2106 her production on Primrose Way won the prestigious Leatherhead Festival with just winning the Best Director trophy. The production also won two major awards at the Elmbridge Festival. An incredible milestone was reached when in November 2016 Judy directed her 100th RDG production - The Beggar's Opera.
She has continued to direct with more recent productions include For Services Rendered and the popular comedy Handbagged and the delightful astringent comedy Humble Boy.. In 2022 Judy ventured in classic Russian theatre with her direction of Uncle Vanya. In what she says is likely to be her final production she directed our award-winning production of Albertine in Five Times at he 2023 Woking Festival