PEOPLE who fancy appearing in a community play for the first time are invited to take part in a workshop this month as preparation for a giant theatrical undertaking in Dorchester next year involving a cast of hundreds.

If you’ve ever wanted to be a part of a massive dramatic production, or wondered how such an undertaking is put together, here’s your chance.

Plans for the staging of the next Dorchester Community Play, Spinning the Moon, are well underway, and on Sunday, June 4 the playwright Stephanie Dale and director Peter Cann are holding a day of drama skills and script exploration at Dorchester Town Hall, above the Corn Exchange.

Spinning the Moon is Dorchester’s seventh community play, and will be staged next year.

The workshop day on June 4 runs from 10am until 5pm and will consist of practical work, stage fighting, rehearsed reading and characterisation workshops.

Numbers are limited, and it is aimed at people who are interested, but have never taken part in a community production before.

Play spokeswoman Ruth Hayes said: “Dorchester has a proud tradition of staging excellent large-scale community plays, and we are really excited that plans are now properly afoot for the next one.

“This has been a long time in the planning, and these are still early days, but taking part in a community play – especially for the first time – will be an absolutely fantastic experience.”

Spinning the Moon is a multi-layered tale set shortly after the Wars of the Roses, when new ideas are filtering down through rural communities. Sheep are seen as the way forward, and witchcraft and monastic corruption are powerful forces to be reckoned with.

In parallel with the news today, people are being forced from their land, and crowds of refugees wander the countryside, looking for a place they can call home.

Staging Spinning the Moon will require a cast of hundreds, from village children to the King and Queen of Spain, as well as an army of backstage hands, technicians and costume makers.

The first Dorchester Community play, Entertaining Strangers, was staged in 1985, and the most recent, Drummer Hodge, was performed in the theatre at Thomas Hardye’s School over several nights in spring 2014.

Each play takes many months of script workshops, rehearsals and preparation, as well as a long and concentrated fund-raising effort.

Ruth said: “What generally seems to happen is that people come along to see what it’s all about, then get so enthusiastic that they rope in their families and friends.

“Many people involved in Spinning the Moon were there when the first play was staged in 1985, and see the play ‘community’ as one large family.”

She added: “So come along and find out about the play for yourself. The day on June 4 is free of charge, and all are welcome.”

Anyone interested in taking part should contact Anne Jonathan on 01305 269510, or email bannejonathan14@gmail.com