The Old Stagers (OS) is an amateur

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

group, founded in 1842 by Hon. Frederick Ponsonby (later

Earl of Bessborough Earl of Bessborough is a title in the Peerage of Ireland. It was created in 1739 for Brabazon Ponsonby, 2nd Viscount Duncannon, who had previously represented Newtownards and County Kildare in the Irish House of Commons. In 1749, he was given ...

) to perform during Kent's annual

Canterbury Cricket Week Canterbury Cricket Week is the oldest cricket festival week in England and involves a series of consecutive Kent home matches, traditionally held in the first week in August. It was founded in 1842, although a similar festival week was first hel ...

. Originally the Canterbury Old Stagers, it took its current name in 1851. It claims to be the oldest surviving amateur dramatic company in the world, having staged its first shows in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...

in 1842.''Daily Telegraph'' "Obituary of Sue Tilling"
published 10 February 2004. Retrieved 5 June 2012. It has continued to give annual performances since (with intermissions for the two

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

s). It now stages its plays at the Gulbenkian Theatre in Canterbury. The Old Stagers has close links to

Kent County Cricket Club Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...

and the

I Zingari I Zingari (from dialectalized Italian , meaning "the Gypsies"; corresponding to standard Italian ') are English and Australian amateur cricket clubs, founded in 1845 and 1888 respectively. It is the oldest and perhaps the most famous of the 'wa ...

nomadic amateur

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

club. Ponsonby was also a founder of I Zingari, and later became president of

Surrey County Cricket Club Surrey County Cricket Club (Surrey CCC) is a first-class club in county cricket, one of eighteen in the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Surrey, including areas that now form South London ...

. One of the earliest Old Stagers was the Kent and England cricketer

Alfred Mynn Alfred Mynn (19 January 1807 – 1 November 1861) was an English first-class cricketer during the game's "Roundarm Era". He was a genuine all-rounder, being both an attacking right-handed batsman and a formidable right arm fast bowler. Cricket w ...

who first appeared in 1847 and then regularly until his death in 1861. Old Stagers Amateur Dramatic Society records, including programmes, newspaper reviews and photographs of productions from 1842 to 2003, are archived at

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

Library as item U449.Canterbury Cathedral Archives & Library News, Newsletter 30, February 2005
.

References

External links

Old Stagers website

Culture in Canterbury Amateur theatre companies in England Cricket culture 1842 establishments in England Sports in art {{UK-org-stub

References

Further reading

External links