About Us

Witham Dramatic Club has been established for 60 years and has staged over 125 plays. In addition to our regular productions we have an active and fun social life. We are always delighted to welcome new members, so if you have ever fancied trying your hand at acting or backstage work why not get in touch?

Like any amateur dramatics society we find our programme tends to lean towards comedies, after all that seems to be what most of our audience wants. But that doesn't mean we play safe - even within the confines of 'comedy' there is a great range to choose from. From farce to black comedy and from modern day to period pieces we believe it is important to choose plays that are well written and among the best of their type. Over the years we have presented plays from the likes of Alan Ayckbourn, Ray Cooney, Oscar Wilde, Joe Orton, Alan Bennett, J B Priestley, John Godber, Noel Coward, Tom Stoppard and Neil Simon (to name but a few!)

That's not to say we have ignored more serious drama. Recent years have seen The Memory of Water, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Home and Harold Pinter's The Homecoming.

We believe that a balanced programme of good quality material is what keeps our audiences interested, and if some are more popular than others so be it. We have been entertaining the people of Witham for over 60 years, with any luck we will still be doing so in another 60 - why not come and see us some time?

Membership

Membership of the club costs £25 per year, currently our membership secretary is Jacqui Brown who can be contacted via the following link Questions about Membership.
Membership entitles you to appear in our stage productions as well as participating in our monthly playreadings and, of course, attending our many social functions.

Our History

The Early Years

There had already been a musical society in Witham for some 25 years when a Mr Clifford Stuart decided that the town could do with some "straight" theatre. His first intention was to form a play reading group and called a meeting at a venue in the town centre. The meeting was not an outstanding success with only a handful of people turning up. Nonetheless, those that were at that inaugural meeting in 1946 had enough enthusiasm to persevere and early the following year Witham Dramatic Club was formally constituted.
The regular meetings became very popular and the membership quickly grew. Before long it was decided to take on a public performance and in 1949 the Club staged its first production, Staff Dance.

The 1950's & 1960's

Through the 1950's the Club grew in experience and ability as it staged its annual productions, including Bonaventure and Hobson's Choice and what was, for the time, a controvesial play; Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire.
In 1963 The Club decided to commit to two plays a year. Not only did the Club double its output, but it was also choosing plays of some quality, including a couple of Shakespeare's as well as important 20th century writers like Noel Coward, Terence Rattigan and Jean Anouilh. At the end of the decade, with audiences getting harder to attract, the Club started looking to sure-fire box office, in the form of comedy and farces, though still putting on the occasional more challenging work.

The 1970's & 1980's

High points of the 70's included Max Frisch's political play Andorra, the controversial The Killing of Sister George and a glittering production of Pygmalion. Towards the end of the decade there was a move towards rather more sophisticated plays, especially when it came to comedy.
With the beginning of a new decade the Club had one of its greatest box office successes with an award-winning production of Oh What A Lovely War. 1982 saw the Club up its output once again to three plays a year and the second half of the decade brought a string of high quality plays such as Waiting For Godot, The Birthday Party, The Accrington Pals and Clouds.

  Waiting For Godot - 1985

The 1990's

Through the 90's the Club continued a policy of balancing good quality writing with popular appeal, staging plays from the pens of Oscar Wilde, Alan Ayckbourn, John Godber, Tennessee Williams, Harold Pinter, Arthur Miller, David Hare and J.B. Priestley to name but a few. The decade also saw the Club win the prestigious North West Essex Theatre Guild 'Best Production' Award four years running, something that had never been acheived before. Those winning plays were; Accidental Death of an Anarchist (1994), Amadeus (1995), The Glass Menagerie (1996) and The Caretaker (1997).

The New Millennium

As we enter the 21st Century we can look forward to many exciting and challenging productions. We will still offer a range of plays to suit all tastes and will continue to balance the type of play we put on. Already the 2000's have seen a diverse selection of writing from an equally diverse group of authors, ranging from Ray Cooney to Harold Pinter, by way of Neil Simon, Tom Stoppard and Alan Bennett. We have also tried to make room for new writers and have presented plays by both Debbie Isitt and Shelagh Stephenson.
We believe that a balanced programme of good quality material is what keeps our audiences interested, and if some are more popular than others so be it. We have been entertaining the people of Witham for 60 years, with any luck we will still be doing so in another 60 - why not come and see us some time?
Visit the 'Box Office' section to order tickets. If you are interested in becoming a member 'Contact Us'