WOODFIELD Operatic Society, as DODS was first known, was founded in 1953 by a small group led by Charlie Wall who became their founding chairman.

Rehearsals took place in Woodfield School and we believe the first performances were staged at Slimbridge Village Hall.

The production was Pirates of Penzance and further Gilbert and Sullivan shows were put on at Highfields School until in 1959 it broke away from this tradition with Merrie England, continuing with operetta until 1964 when Merry Widow was the last show to be performed up at Highfields.

An ambitious move to Lister Hall with a bigger stage and more audience capacity was successfully manoeuvred with a production of White Horse Inn. A semi-circular, two-layer apron was added to enlarge the stage further - this could be lethal if you normally wore glasses!

This was altered in 1983 for Hello Dolly to a large rectangular apron and since then we have experimented with thrust stages and various forms of balconies, towers and levels - memories of West Side Story when the set was built entirely of scaffolding.

Amongst the directors of musicals have been Mervyn Jewell, Madge Hewitt and Chris Darlaston, the longest-serving, interspersed with notably Mary Clark, the present president, Darren Kitchen and Sue Cheshire, who directed the golden jubilee production of Oliver. The musical director for Oliver was Roger Winter, joining us for his first show as MD. Almost full houses over seven performances saw this production. Musical directors have come anyone but most well remembered are Eric Davis and Eddie Garrard, who was with us for many years.

Mary Clarke, now 88, still attends every night of all performances and nearly all rehearsals and committee meetings. She is an inspiration and example to all members and much loved both by them and our regular audiences. She was presented with a special award at our jubilee dinner.

In 1975 Woodfield Operatic Society amalgamated with the local drama group Priory Players and gained 'actors' to add to the singers and dancers. It was at this stage the name was changed to Dursley Operatic and Dramatic Society. Hard work was put in over the first years to encourage all members to take part in both musicals and plays.

This was achieved to a very large extent and the experience of working in plays has strengthened the acting of our musical casts and some actors have been persuaded to sing! Plays have been very varied, thrillers, comedies, farces and dramas taking their turn over the years. Audience appeal is not so large as for a musical, but they are an equally important part of DODS yearly programme.

Cynthia Jackson was the producer who took Priory Players through into DODS and her husband, Ted, was the stage manager. They have been followed by many excellent producers over the years including Doug Batchelor, Mike Lyons, Andy Jaggard, Ken Hitchings, Sue Cheshire, Chris Darlaston/Chris Curnock jointly, Darren Kitchen and our present chairman Frankie Telford.

A junior section or DODS was formed in 1979n by Ros Montague, Mary Clark and Andy Jaggard and instructive workshops were the order of the day until with help from the senior members they presented Hansel and Gretel. As the Junior members grew Ros was joined by Jean Hughes, Hilary Green, Elsa Batchelor and Hazel Harris as musical directors. With the help of producers Melissa Jones and Frankie Telford these juniors presented, over the next ten years, full scale musicals in the Lister Hall. Emma Hitchings, Kim Desborough and Laura Cooper then took charge of workshops, preparing the youngsters for the pantomimes which the Society began to produce at this time.

The pantomime was a big addition to DODS programme in 1980 and has been a major source of funding ever since. Ken Hitchings was the main instigator, producing the first ones, followed by Mike Hennessey and Peter Nolan, who has written and adapted scripts for pantos and produced them for several years, including an enchanting Peter Pan in January, 2003. We have just learned this production has won a National Operative and Dramatic Association Award for Excellence.

The sets for all productions are a mammoth task and take months to build, with spectacular results for a relatively small stage. Clive Orchard and his son-in-law, Mike Graham, who is the present Stage Director, have been the leaders in this field. Clive's experience goes back many years to early shows with Mervyn Jewell. Their teams of constructors and painters can't be praised highly enough, particularly when you consider the unfavourable conditions in which they have worked over the years.

In the early years costumes were all hired, arriving late the week before the show, amidst panic to make them fit. Nowadays we have a brilliant costume department headed by Ros Montague, Kate Matthews and Wendy Nolan. The vast majority of our shows are dressed with costumes designed and made by them and the work they put in is unbelievable. Consequently we have a very large stock of costumes in our wardrobe department at Kingshill House.

Inevitably all this activity is a big challenge for the management committee and some excellent offices and members have been led by some inspirational chairmen, in particular David Wood and Ken Hitchings. In our early years in Lister Hall, David had it transformed from a flat floored auditorium to raised seating which initially was hired and then purchased. This had to be erected before each production, carried in from its storage at Listers and put up by cast, front of house, backstage - families and friends! It was a back-breaking job. Ten years ago we raised enough money to buy and install seating which lives permanently in Lister Hall and pulls out from the back wall in about 10 minutes when required. Luxury indeed!

The hall is transformed by carpeting and curtaining to give our audience a very comfortable and attractive theatre. The front of house team, headed by Phil Staddon, provide an efficient and professional touch. We, of course, hope we shall not lose Lister Hall in the foreseeable future and, if we do, that we and other organisations who use it, will be provided with a new venue in Dursley.

The chairmen carrying all this forward from David's time have been Chris Darlaston, Bob Littleford, Mike Lyons and, at present, Frankie Telford. Previous to David were Johnnie Johnson, Ted Jackson (Priory Players) and John Ball. DODS have a unique thank your for Ken Hitchings who was chairman for 12 years and at the end of that time worked with Stroud District Council to take over Kingshill House as our first permanent home, housing all branches of the society. We rehearse in the house, have our costume store there and build our scenery in renovated outbuildings. The on-going conversion of Kingshill House Ltd into an Arts Centre for the area is, of course, a different and on-going story.

The DODS are always looking for new members in all departments. Most pressing at the moment is an organiser for our Junior Section and we would be pleased to hear from anyone interested.

This special anniversary for DODS has been celebrated by a jubilee dinner and dance at The Hare and Hounds Hotel, Westonbirt for members, pasty and present and a further award party for current members is being held at Kingshill House.

Pictured: Dursley Operatic and Dramatic Society president Mary Clark (centre), current chairman Frankie Telford (front left) and Chris Darlaston with past chairmen at the golden jubilee celebration event