Our History

A Brief History of Stock Drama Group

The village of Stock was first entertained by amateur dramatics in 1927 when the Stock Amateur Dramatic society
was formed by village residents. The first performance was a selection of 3 short plays performed over two nights in
March and, according to the society minutes, well received by the locals...

“The SADS gave their first performance on Thursday and Friday of last week at the Village Hall, Stock, and the great interest aroused entitles them to be regarded as outstanding events in the history of the village. The hall was crowded to it's utmost capacity for both performances, and even then requests were made for a further production owing to the difficulty some people had in obtaining admission.”

Unfortunately personality clashes within the group came to a head at the first AGM in June...

"A general meeting of the dramatic society was held in the Village Hall on Monday, about 50 prospective members being present... A discussion took place regarding the management of the society for the ensuing season - Mr Falkner alleged that there was dissension among the members and urged them to unite, lest their differences should lead to the destruction of the society. Mr Dunsterville invited the contending parties to lay their cards on the table in order that the whole matter might be cleared up. This course was agreed to by the chairman and a long and lively argument followed. Finally the meeting was abandoned after a vote of sympathy had been passed with the chairman."

The group was immediately disbanded but reformed again the next year to try again, performing two plays including Noel Cowerds 'Hayfever' in 1928 (picture below) and another in 1929 before disbanding for a second and considerably longer period.

Drama returned to the Village when Stock Drama Group was born out of the local Women's Institute, the first performance being 4 short plays in February 1957. The group continued to perform at the village hall twice a year, sometimes a full length play and sometimes a selection of shorter works, in 1964 they performed ''Thicker Than Water' a challenging one act drama (about a mother who murders her innocent son as she believes him to be a sex maniac) at a local drama festival and were awarded the prestigious Jobson Award.
The cast were : Maisie Lowe, Marie Brierley, David Ross, Roger Lunn, Sylvia Elliott, Graham Lowe, Barry Everitt and Elizabeth Hunter.

The group has continued to perform a wide variety of shows two or three times a year ever since. Our first pantomime was Cinderella in 1962 and sixteen years later we presented our first Old Tyme Music Hall. We have performed in three different Village Halls.
The latest (and by far the roomiest) was opened in 2000.

In September 2012 ,the rights were released to perform Calendar Girls for 18 months giving amateur actresses all over the world a chance to bare all whilst raising money for Leukaemia research, Stock Drama Group was one of the first in the area to sign up and our perfomances in November of that year attracted record crowds and raised nearly £163, 400 for the charity, featuring director Peter Baker and the girls : Claire Wilson, Jan Cummins, Shirlee Grundy, Barbara Woolnough, Joy Tugwell, Fiona Tugwell and Victoria Rossiter

If you would like to join us (either on stage or helping behind the scenes) please contact us as we would love to hear from you