Who are we?
Woodcote Amateur Dramatic Society (WADS) was founded in 1965 and has an established reputation for staging musical/Drama/Panto theatre productions that are of an exceptional standard using talent from in and around Woodcote.
We are an enthusiastic friendly group, and we stage productions in spring and autumn and these include a varied selection of entertainment. Recent years have seen a number of successful murder mystery evenings, various revues, plenty of comedies, and some musical evenings. We have in the past staged an annual pantomime which was extremely popular locally but since the Covid Pandemic we have been unable to run this event. We are hoping to revise the traditional pantomime this year.
WADS members get together on a regular basis throughout the year for a number of other fun events.
Some more of our History
A minute book survives for a Woodcote “Playgoers” Club in the 1950’s which visited local productions and put on a limited number of productions, including pantomimes, but did not survive long.
After this short-lived precursor, a quartet of Tom and Anne Hinds and Barry Gibbs, from the Oratory School, and Margaret Fowgies established the Woodcote Amateur Dramatic Society (WADS) in the early 1960’s. The first production was “Jane Steps Out” in 1963 and a pattern was quickly established of two productions per year in the spring and autumn, together with a pantomime in the New Year. This has largely survived to the present, although it has proved necessary to move to a more flexible timetable in the light of modern career demands and more flexible holiday arrangements.
Membership grew quickly, although, throughout our history, many members, particularly men, have joined with no intention of treading the boards but have swiftly been persuaded to abandon their area of technical expertise for the pleasures of acting.
Before the Village Hall extension was built, facilities were very limited backstage. There were no storage facilities, with props and costumes being kept in members’ houses, one changing room, (often shared with footballers on a Saturday matinee) and only two lavatories in the hall, shared between cast and audience. Since the 1970’s, facilities have been gradually improved in all aspects of WADS’ activities.
Only in one year before the pandemic has WADS failed to provide a pantomime or children’s play, as a strong pantomime tradition was quickly established, resulting partly from a long line of very talented individuals, both on stage and off, the latter in set design and construction, costumes, music , lighting and direction. Originally, auditions were held for local children wishing to participate but the numbers attending these auditions were so great that the process became impractical and a rule was established that children in pantomimes must be related to adult members. Many children have spent ten years or more in our pantomimes and this has fostered a strong family involvement over many years. Since 2020 we have not produced a pantomime but we are hoping to resurrect this joyful event in 2024.
We still have members who joined in the 1960’s and 1970’s, not to mention loyal Woodcote residents who started watching us at that time who still come. Long may they and WADS flourish! Some of our archive of pictures, programmes, and publicity is available in our "Show Archives" section.
Life & Honorary Members
Life Members
Keith Ashby
Carole Wylie
Bella Saunders
Chris Chant
Peter Saunders
Gloria McAdden
Sandra Evans
Nanette Stacey
Terry Sopp
Sandy Worsfold
John Worsfold
Honorary Members
Ken Poyser
Joan Poyser
Mary Hulbert
Come and joins us
To see what we’re currently working on, please follow the "Our Next Show" link on our Home Page - better still, come and join us on any Thursday evening in the Woodcote Village Hall.