Spalding Amateur Dramatic & Operatic Society of

Spalding, Lincolnshire Spalding () is a market town on the River Welland in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The town had a population of 31,588 at the 2011 census. The town is the administrative centre of the South Holland District. The town is ...

is the oldest

amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

society in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The South Holland Centre is the current venue for performances.

History

In 1866 a group of Spalding Gentlemen formed an Amateur Society for the performance of plays, some of which must have been musical plays as accounts show charges of £5 5s for an

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

. In 1928 an Operatic Society was formed to present musical plays and the happy union of this society with the older society created SADOS, as it is known today. In 1969 an urgent need for new scenery flats for the Dramatic Section led to the suggestion of a

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

performance to raise funds.

Other activities

Ex-members maintain the S.A.D.O.S. experiment.

External links

SADOS web site.

South Holland Centre web site.
{{Authority control 1928 establishments in England Amateur theatre companies in England Culture in Lincolnshire Musical groups established in 1928 Organisations based in Lincolnshire Spalding, Lincolnshire