SOCIETY HISTORY
George Ruck, a long-standing member current managing director of the Society, has managed to compress ninety years of history into a manageable text! If you would like any further information, please contact us. You can find out more about the four sections of our Society mentioned below by clicking on the links within the text.
The history of the Dover
Operatic and Dramatic Society divides neatly into three sections: 1911-1914,
1926-1939, 1950-2000. Each phase has its heroines, heroes and highlights, and
to tell the full story would result in a work of several volumes! However, a
few special moments, subjectively chosen, should serve to give a glimpse of
the Society at work over the past ninety years.
Following the success of the inaugural production of The Mikado in December 1911, the Society was asked by the newly-appointed Lord Warden, the Earl of Brassey, to put on a special performance during the celebrations to mark his installation. Fifty years on, in 1961, the late Sidney Turnpenny recalled that glittering occasion:
1926-1939
The Great War cast its shadow for several
years after 1918, and it was 1926 before the Society was revived. Yet, by 1929
it was confident enough to enter Iolanthe
in an open national competition for musical productions. DODS was placed second
regionally, and ninth overall in England and Wales. The 1930s saw some spectacular
productions of modern musicals, principally at the Hippodrome. Tickets were
as cheap as eight pence, and the trams took theatregoers to and from the door.
Some there are, who can recall the thrill of “House Full” signs for the Desert
Song (1934) when each evening disappointed customers were turned away. Similar
large-scale and eagerly awaited productions continued annually until the declaration
of war in 1939.
1950-2000
And so to the latest, and longest, chapter
in our history. Undeterred by post-war austerity, or by the loss of the Hippodrome,
a stalwart band met to revive the Society with Iolanthe
at the Town Hall in 1950. Half a century and one hundred and thirty productions
later, and we still use the Town Hall for our major productions.
There have been several landmark productions and events in this, the third phase of our existence. One such magnificent achievement was the 1961 Son et Lumiere at Dover Castle – a pioneering and much acclaimed effort by an amateur society in this highly technical medium. Ten years later, the Society purchased DODS Mill in Temple Ewell, which remains our home for rehearsals, wardrobe and workshop.
In 1975 it was decided to exploit a gap in the market and present a pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk, and the DODS panto continues to draw crowds, even today, when we are faced with stiff competition from the high-profile Marlowe Theatre production in Canterbury.