About SBADS

South Brent Amateur Dramatic Society has had a long and busy past since it was formed in 1925.

We usually put on two to three main shows a year, with a pantomime every two years. We always welcome new members of all ages, whether to act, direct, help behind the scenes or front of house, or any combination of the above! Our ‘home theatre’ is South Brent Village Hall, but we also plan to perform in some new venues in the coming years and to try some new plays and one-act shows.

You can find out more about us and our forthcoming productions on our website and through Facebook (www.facebook.com/southbrentamateurdramaticsociety).

If you are interested in joining us in any capacity – actor, stage crew, director, producer, technician, artist, stage designer, stage constructor, bar staff etc. – then please drop us a line by e-mail; full contact details are here.

SBADS History

The SBADS archive, originally compiled by Maggie Taylor, covers over 170 productions and begins in 1925 with an account of the lively musical and theatrical entertainments produced and often written by Mr Arthur Manning. This redoubtable gentleman was mainly responsible, with a little bit of help from his friends, for the village performances for the next 30 years. The name ‘SBADS’ was formally adopted in 1934.

The ’40s & ’50s were golden years as the society flourished with a wide variety of drama and pantomime being performed. The arrival of television dented our fortunes, but slowly the society resurrected itself and in the 1970s SBADS was back in full swing. We regularly won prizes from the South Devon Drama Federation… that we continued to win until the Federation folded in 2014.

The 1980s saw SBADS tackle new ventures and venture into revues alongside drama and the 1990s brought a very busy spell with 3 productions a year – drama, farce and pantomimes galore.  SBADS even went on tour during this decade.

Now we are in the 21st century and we are still busy with many different types of productions and learning new skills every step of the way.  We are in the process of digitising our play archives.

Almost no names are mentioned in this brief history as SBADS is all about the team and not individuals – behind every award and round of applause is a group of people, on & off stage who have worked to make the production a success.

Long may this continue…

You can find out more about our past productions, and the people involved in them, at the SBADS digital archive.