Chris Dale is our Uncle Fester in The Addams Family on the Horsham stage

“I think everyone knows the characters from the show or at least everybody should. They have been around for some time now. It was all based on a comic strip maybe in the late 50s or early 60s and certainly the TV series came out in the 60s and was very popular. And it's just evolved over the years. It seems like every ten years or so it springs up again in a different version. We've got the very popular Netflix series Wednesday more recently so really it's just part of the zeitgeist.

“I grew up watching the Anjelica Huston and Christina Ricci version in which Christopher Lloyd played Uncle Fester. And Uncle Fester was quite a transformation for Christopher Lloyd. You think of him as being quite gaunt and skinny but Uncle Fester is usually portrayed as quite rotund, bald, very pale and shrunken. He is such an odd character but he is very lovable. Despite his ugly appearance he is the sweetest, kindest, most caring character in the whole show. His mantra is that it's all about love and giving love a chance. He is described as the narrator but really he is almost like a cupid character which is ironic given it’s a very macabre show. He mends people’s relationships and puts people back together. He manipulates everyone for the greater good of the family.

“I think I must have with HAODS for 13 years. I joined in 2011, and we always say that it feels like a family. We support each other. Despite putting on all these wonderful shows, it is also a lovely support group. If you've got any troubles or problems, you've got a wealth of people to connect with and talk to. It is incredibly supportive. And the fact that it's such an unusual hobby, not like playing football or whatever, I think it takes people out of their comfort zones especially when you're doing something that's got a lot of drama or high comedy or something like this and it just means that everyone supports each other within the show and outside the show as well. If you've got a problem or issues, then they're there. That's what keeps me the most. I love to perform but it's making the connections and the relationships.”

For Chris, the highlight of his time with the company was meeting his wife Rachel. The show that they first worked together on was The Mikado. The first show they did as a couple was The Sound Of Music: “We have been together since 2013. We got married in 2019 and we had our daughter in 2020 and she comes and sits in the rehearsals and is usually singing around the house.”

As for his stage highlight with the company, it was playing the part of Max Bialystock in The Producers: “I have been so fortunate to get to play lots of wonderful characters but I think that that was probably the best. The Producers is one of my favourite shows of all time and I just love the opportunity to make people laugh. It's a lovely gift to be able to create, and that has always been my mantra. I just love to entertain people.”

Tickets from The Capitol.