The society was a "war baby" who first saw the (spot) light of day in February, 1944. Prior to this the office staff of what was then the Horsehay Works, (manufacturers of very large cranes), had performed the three-act comedy "Three Half Crowns", as their contribution to "home-grown" war-time entertainment in the company canteen.

The first "official" production of the Horsehay Works Amateur Dramatic Society was three one-act plays, "Bathroom Door", "Queer Street" and "Tea For Three" to "try out" as many of the wouldbe actors as possible. At this time membership was limited to company employees.

This initial success was followed by the first full three-act play "Rebecca" by Daphne DuMaurier in January, 1945, a play which was revived in 1994 as part of the "Golden" celebrations.

After some time membership of the society was opened to others than employees, but the Horsehay Company continued to support the society, for example, by still allowing free use of the canteen. When the works closed the canteen became Horsehay Village Hall and the society the Horsehay Amateur Dramatic Society.

The society has produced a total of 146 plays to date, (Nov 2008), initially two each year, rising to three in the late 60's. These have varied between the very well known, such as "The Baretts of Wimpole Street", (1948), "The Importance of Being Earnest", (1968), "Dry Rot", (1979) and "Jayne Eyre", (1999) to the perhaps more obscure such as "Give Me Yesterday", (1950), "Busy Body", (1971), "The White Sheep of the Family", (1982) and "Two Into One", (1993).

1981 saw the production of the society's first musical, the ever-popular "Oliver!". This very successful show was followed by "The Sound of Music", (1983), "Annie", (1985), "The King and I", (1988), "Wizard of Oz", (1990), "Oliver!", again, (1994).

Please see our "News and Events" page for details of the next  production.