Having celebrated our 90th birthday in 2006, the Society is not only thriving but is also one of the longest-established drama groups in the area. And we are, of course, looking forward to celebrating our centenary in 2016.
Buy the Book - History of DADS
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A Short History of DADS
The first performance of what was to become DADS was presented in the gardens of the Dunsfold Rectory in August 1916. Titled A Fairy Play, it was composed by Mrs. Hollins, the wife of the Rector, and performed by children from the village school. The next year, Mrs. Hollins presented Christmas Eve in the Clouds in the newly opened Winn Hall. Over the next twenty years, the energetic Hollins family presented nearly 50 plays and ballets, mostly in the Winn Hall, but sometimes at the village summer fete, and often "on-tour" in the surrounding villages.
In the late 1940s, Miss Kit Hearn, the school headmistress, revived DADS, staging many one-act plays, a couple of reviews and three pantomimes. When Kit left the village in 1951, DADS presented a string of two and three-act comedies and dramas, in the next twenty years regularly playing to full houses and gradually building an impressive reputation as a very professional amateur drama group. Besides the regular shows in Spring and Autumn, the Society also held a regular carol singing "concert" at various houses in the village, raising money to support The Evergreens summer outing and Christmas party.
In the late 1970s, the Society was faced with shrinking membership and some financial difficulties, leading to cancellation of several shows and a rethink of what it was trying to do. One of the solutions to these problems was the formation of the junior DADS group. Together with a drive for new membership, the Society started to thrive again, gradually rebuilding its reputation for staging first-class shows.
During the 1980s and early 1990s the high reputation of the Society attracted more and more members from outside Dunsfold until, by the end of the decade, there were virtually no Dunsfoldians appearing on-stage. At the end of the 1990s, nearly three-quarters of a century after its formation, DADS decided to focus more on the village, drawing members mainly from Dunsfold and concentrating on presenting a single show each autumn.
The Winn Memorial Hall, Dunsfold
Reviews, cast lists and plots of 150 comedies, dramas and pantomimes presented over the last 90 years, with history of the DADS and the Winn Hall, The Holy Well, Carol Singing, Poetry Evenings, charities and memories by past members.
First published 2006 - Price £10. Contact us for your copy.
Cover design by..
Richard Woof
