Charlemont Dramatic Society

The society was founded in 1947 by George Legg, who was at the time Headmaster of the Charlemont Evening Institute. The CADS' constitution states "The object of the society shall be to encourage and foster Amateur Drama in West Bromwich by the production of plays." In the euphoria of post war Britain, young people and returning servicemen wanted to be involved in something different and very soon there were eight groups in West Bromwich. The CADS had no funds but when the first director, James Holdship, was appointed he was able to acquire the scenery from the pre-war Salters Springs group, some of which we still use today. the first play was The Housemaster with a cast of seventeen. The most experienced of the original members came from the West Bromwich Operatic Society and the Ryland Players. In October 1948 all the groups in the borough combined to take part in the Chronicle Play, a history of the Oak House. This ran for two weeks at the Town Hall and was a huge success. Stagg Displays built a replica of Oak House on the stage and a hundred actors and dancers took part. During the 1950's the society thrived. In 1956 five societies under the auspices of West Bromwich Drama Council put on Saloon Bar to open the Community Centre in Tenscore Street. This was to become our "Little Theatre." The play was a success, but the "Little Theatre" never happened. With the coming of television, attendances began to fall and through the 1960's the CADS kept going with a small group of dedicated members and the generous support of our Vice Presidents. Other groups in West Bromwich could not continue and folded. In the early 1970's things began to improve and, with the arrival of some new and talanted members, the society began to grow. Through the 80's and into the 90's the CADS are proud to have maintained a very high standard of production. Today the CADS being one of only two drama groups left in West Bromwich, continues to thrive. We are not and never have been an elite group, we have no stars, we are more like a family and as a family we have had our joys, marriages, deaths and tragedies, and we always welcome and encourage newcomers who would 'like to tread the boards'. In 1996 we presented our 100th production, Play On!, which was presented at our home of 49 years Charlemont School Hall which was well supported by a regular audience and a very helpful headmaster. Moving into the 21st century CADS is going from strength to strength, much as it has done over the years gaining new members making us able to put on a wide variety of plays with a wide variety of casts. CADS likes to keep drama fresh and still as exciting as it would have been all those years ago when George Legg founded the society.

In 2016 CADS found a new home at Gayton Road Community Centre after 69 years at our previous home, to see how we got on with our big move please follow this link.