How The Blue Light Theatre Company got started…..

Sally Waudby, a Paramedic at York, was diagnosed with Motor Neurone disease. During her illness she remained very positive only becoming frustrated that she was losing her ability to communicate her needs and wants to those who cared for her. She also lost her ability to socialise with friends.

Her friends and colleagues at the Yorkshire Ambulance Service decided to step in and organise a fundraising event (which raised £7500 in one night!) in order to purchase an Eyegaze computer which gave Sally a way of communicating once again. It is an amazing piece of kit which ultimately works on eye movement. Towards the end of Sally’s life this gave her a voice even though she could no longer talk….. She never lost her sense of humour and was a whizz on it!!

Sadly, only had the device for a short time before her untimely but inevitable death at age 50. The computer is now being used by another person with the disease and giving them their voice and life for a little longer. It was then decided to continue with the fundraising and the idea of performing a Pantomime was put forward. This was where The Blue Light Theatre Company were officially formed.

Our first Pantomime was ‘Snow While and the 5 Ailments’, which was produced mostly with Ambulance and NHS staff with lots of ‘in house’ jokes.  It was also performed by all Ambulance Staff, some of whom had never set foot on a stage before.  With the help of more experienced group members, they were quite accomplished performers by the time of the show.  Some of the cast are still performing with us to this day.

‘Snow White’ was originally intended to be a “one off” but proved so popular that audiences and the cast, demanded more!

Since then, we have performed a Pantomime every year, with the exception of 2021 due to Covid.  Our Cast and Crew now consist of Ambulance and NHS staff and talented performers from the York Stage.

To add a further string to our bow, in 2018 it was decided to branch out into Plays which again have achieved great success.  We have since been invited to perform our Plays, written by our resident writer Perri Ann Barley, at other venues around Yorkshire – plus we have produced a Short Film with the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

Since the initial performance the Blue Light Theatre have raised a further £20,400 with all the proceeds from our Pantomimes and Plays go to Charity.