The British Catholic Stage Guild, the main organisation for

Roman Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in British entertainment, was founded in 1911. The aim of the Guild, as laid out in the 1931 Year Book, was ''"to establish and encourage spiritual, artistic and social intercourse among

oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

Catholics connected with the theatrical and allied professions"''. The Guild is now known as th
Catholic Association of Performing Arts
(CaAPA). The Guild is closely associated with Corpus Christi Church, Maiden Lane in London’s Covent Garden area. Its current details include: *Address: Corpus Christi Church, #1 Maiden Lane, London, UK, WC2E 7NB *Registered charity number: 267957 *Chair: Frank Comerford *CaAPA National Chaplain: Fr Alan Robinson *CaAPA Chairman of Trustees: Monsignor Vladimir Felzmann Current membership includes such noted performers as

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and

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, as well as numerous less well-known performers, such as actor Martin O'Brien, who co-founded ACTS (Association of Catholics in Theatre and on Screen) in 2005, and is the current Artistic Director of the CaAPA-affiliated Ten Ten Theatre. Deceased former members of the Guild include actors

Sir Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...

(a former Vice-President of the Guild),

Patricia Hayes Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress. Early life Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...

(who was a former Chair of the Guild, as was her son, actor

Richard O'Callaghan Richard O'Callaghan (born Richard Brooke, 7 March 1940, London) is an English film, stage and television character actor. He is the son of actors Patricia Hayes and Valentine Brooke, whose stage name was Valentine Rooke. As a boy actor he was ...

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, Michael Williams (a former Chair),

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(a former Chair),

Lionel Jeffries Lionel Charles Jeffries (10 June 1926 – 19 February 2010) was an English actor, director, and screenwriter. He appeared primarily in films and received a Golden Globe Award nomination during his acting career. Early life Jeffries was born in ...

(a former Chair) and Frank Finlay. Guinness and Jeffries were both converts. Member

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was a noted television writer and producer. ''

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'' star

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was Northern representative before his death.The Catholic Directory of England and Wales, 1981, pg 393

Activities

Activities of the Guild since then have been numerous and varied, including links with other denominations in services and carols, play readings, Students' Evenings,

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual ma ...

awareness Masses, music halls, recitals, and concerts. Past events have included a Memorial Mass for former Vice-President of the Guild, Michael Williams, which was attended by his widow, Dame

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, and their daughter, actress

Finty Williams Tara Cressida Frances "Finty" Williams (born 24 September 1972) is an English actress. Life Williams was born on 24 September 1972 in London, the only child of Judi Dench and Michael Williams. Williams trained at the Central School of Speech an ...

; a reception at the Garrick Club for Cardinal

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, which was hosted by Frank Finlay. Members of the Catholic Stage Guild and the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

provided the entertainment; a fund-raising Quiz Night at Holy Apostles Church,

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and a talk at the CAA, 20 Bedford Street, by

Piers Paul Read Piers Paul Read FRSL (born 7 March 1941) is a British novelist, historian and biographer. He was first noted in 1974 for a book of reportage, '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', later adapted as a feature film and a documentary. Read ...

, the official biographer of the Guild's late Vice-President, Sir

Alec Guinness Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including '' Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (1 ...

.{{Cite web , url=http://caapa.org.uk/diary/index.html/ , title=Catholic Stage Guild website , access-date=2012-08-10 , archive-date=2012-04-21 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421033316/http://caapa.org.uk/diary/index.html , url-status=dead

References

External links

CaAPA website (PDF)

London Online website
Theatrical organisations in the United Kingdom 1911 establishments in the United Kingdom Performing groups established in 1911 Christian organizations established in 1911 Religious organisations based in the United Kingdom Catholic lay organisations Catholic Church in the United Kingdom