It was the scent of success that wafted through the village hall after the curtain fell on the Rottingdean Drama Society´s production of James Saunders´ A Scent of Flowers.

The amateur dramatic group, which puts on four productions a year, ended the 2010 drama year in style with a fine adaptation of the hauntingly beautiful play. Wednesday night through to Saturday, audiences were treated to a few hours of excellent drama.

The play deals with serious and deep issues. It centres around a young girl who has committed suicide and retells important parts of her life leading up to her tragic end. The girl has been looking for love all her life and turns to different people in society, including the Catholic church for help. Director Adrian Herbert said it highlights “how society and certain institutions do not respond to individual needs.” He felt it was very relevent and was a “cry for compassion for the vulnerable and fragile in society.”

The subject matter of the play proved to be the major challenge to all involved. Henry pointed out that two of the main parts were for younger people and the two young actors Sian Elizabeth Selway and John Osborne had very demanding, dark parts. The society have been rehearsing for the past ten weeks, four hours per week and when spoken to before the show opened, the director felt the usual nerves but felt confident that they had successfully met the challenges.

Sian Elizabeth Selway played the leading lady Zoe and portrayed the naivety of youth and the lost, vulnerable soul of the girl so diligently. A women of many talents it seems, as she also composed some original music for the production.

This play is being adjutacted for a competition which is run by the Brighton and Hove Arts Council.

Two years ago, the society scooped three awards in the competition and they are hoping to recreate or even better this success.

The society has been going strong for over fifty years and is a huge part of Rottingdean. It is important to both the participants and the villagers. The members work very hard; as soon as this plays wraps, auditions are starting for the pantomime that will be staged in January. Adrian Henry said that the society is “vital to the community and provides a wide range of drama for a limited price.”