About Us

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The Te Aroha Dramatic Society has a Little Theatre but a huge history. For 75 years this vibrant organisation has been delivering a variety of live entertainment. Back in the 1940s, the members of St Marks Anglican Church Ladies Guild had achieved an enthusiastic response to their offering of religious plays and playlets, so it was suggested that they take it a step further by forming a dramatic society. To this end an advertisement was placed in the Te Aroha News on August 12th, 1949 stating that an "inaugural meeting of the Te Aroha Dramatic Society would be held in the National Party Club Rooms on Friday August 19 at 8pm. All interested parties and intending members are invited to attend".

A committee was formed, and the Society’s first meeting was held on September 21st, 1949. A set of rules were formulated by Mr George Gilchrist to form an Incorporated Society. It was also agreed that the convenor, Mrs Dorothy Clarke, organise play readings at fortnightly club nights in St Mark’s Parish Hall. We must remember there was no television or internet then.

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The first production staged by the Te Aroha Dramatic Society was ‘The Spirit of Christmas’ by Dorothy Clarke, an adaption of Charles Dickens “A Christmas Carol”. There was just one performance of this three-act operetta which featured some ten well known carols and a cast of fourteen, six carollers, three shepherds, three kings, a celestial choir of fourteen, plus an organist. No mention is made of ‘A Partridge in a Pear Tree’. This large group was supported by a crew of ten, so overall a huge number of people for a one-off production.

Throughout the early 1950s TAADS, as it was coming to be known, continued producing plays regularly. Storage for costumes and scenery was a problem until a local chemist made available a structure behind his shop. It became affectionately known as the ‘tin shed’ and saw its fair share of set building, painting, and even rehearsals. The day before a performance the set, in pieces like a jigsaw, was carried to whichever hall was being used for the performance and then at the close of the performance, everything was taken back to the ‘tin shed’, regardless of the weather. 

In 1952 the Majestic Theatre was hired to stage ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ directed by Mrs Joan Strange. From then on, this large theatre was hired for two and later three-night performances with the crew having to move the cinema screen, hanging borders and lights, and piece together the flats, arrange the props etc ready for opening night. There would have been live musicians in these early days too, with a conductor.

In later years this large theatre, seating capacity 600, which stood on the site where Woolworths Supermarket is today, came to be known as the flea pit and a great place to roll Jaffas down the wooden floors at the Saturday afternoon matinee. Eunice Cullen became the President in 1955 and over the course of the next ten years she oversaw a number of changes for the Dramatic Society. One of these was a building fund, opened in 1956 with five donations by members amounting to £16 to enable the theatre to have its own home. By 1960 successful productions and numerous fundraisers enabled the purchase of a section at 8 Honi Street and in 1961 the old Manual Training School building in Kenrick Street was also bought. This structure, built in 1915, had been used for cooking meals during the 1919 flu epidemic and as an army billet in 1942. At 6.30am on December 8 ,1960 the trailer carrying this sturdy old building turned into Honi Street to settle onto its new (and existing) site. The Te Aroha Dramatic Society’s Little Theatre was officially opened by Mayor Henry Skidmore on April 10th, 1962. The first play performed in the new theatre was ‘Uncertain Joy’, a drama directed by Prudence (Prue) Edmondson, an experienced director and one who would have a huge impact on the theatre.

Now that the Society had its own premises, albeit too small for purpose, the productions were extended to a six-day season and generally three productions a year. At the AGM in March 1974 there was discussion around the state of the ‘tin shed’ as it was deteriorating. Should they find another storage unit or extend the building to house wardrobe and scenery? The extension was built in 1975. Also, in May that year, there was a vote as to whether to retain the rear entrance or open a new entrance on Honi Street. The latter won 13 to 3.

During the 1960’s and 1970’s TADS entered a number of One-Act Plays and Full-Length Plays in the Annual British Drama League Festivals and won several awards.  In 1971 the production of ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’ won the award for ‘Best Set Design’ created by Eunice Cullen. 1989 was the Society’s 40th anniversary and as part of the celebration June Wyatt was presented with Life Membership for her dedicated work for the theatre. She was on the steering committee in 1949 and through the years had directed, managed upstage, organised sound, acted and of course been wardrobe mistress. This amazing lady continued to be very much involved with the theatre right through to her late 90’s.

To celebrate the 40th Anniversary the theatre, in August 1989, presented ‘The Sleeping Beauty’, a pantomime in three acts, directed by Stuart Young. Many of the cast members’ names would still be familiar today. Into the 1990’s The Little Theatre continued to produce an excellent selection of plays and many of the actors and crew are still very much involved with the theatre. We see Rod Tanner’s name popping up frequently both as actor and director as does Jocelyn Legg. Ian Harrop has also continued to act and direct. In his 1998 President’s report at the AGM report he was pleased to say he had started the Tadpoles Youth Theatre during the year. As the Little Theatre moved toward the 21st Century names previously seen frequently in the programmes began to disappear. The amazing Prue Edmondson will never be forgotten for her enormous contribution to the Little Theatre for so many years. Also, we must not forget all those who were involved with the theatre but didn't have such a high profile. All who worked away diligently both on and off stage, too many to mention but none the less their contribution is remembered and honoured.

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In the early years of this decade the old theatre building was being revived, brought back to life. The auditorium was completely refurbished including those very uncomfortable Victorian seats. It has to be acknowledged that our modern hips and bottoms are definitely wider than those of an earlier time, so all the seats were widened and reupholstered but because of the width the number of seats overall reduced. A large number of Te Aroha folk ‘donated’ the cost of a chair upgrade to help with the expense. Committee members and those closely involved worked tirelessly to hammer and paint and bring that old 1915 building into the new century. The foyer was also painted, and new curtains put up. Technology too was advancing and ‘the lighting box’ as it was called became home to more sophisticated equipment including computers for sound, lighting and CCTV.

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Through the following years there were so many very good plays, too many to mention unfortunately. Then we hit 2020 – we saw one night of ‘Steel Magnolias’ before going into a Covid Lockdown. The play was resumed at a later date and was highly successful. ‘Joyful and Triumphant’ was also hit by Covid and had to close after the first week as the cast and crew succumbed to the virus one after another. That brings us to 2024 and ’Cauldron Bubble’ - a play that gave some young people a chance to be on stage, and others to step up in the technical roles of lighting and stage management.

Throughout all the years there were the Tuesday Ladies. June Wyatt and her friends, all of whom were made Life Members for their years of dedication, who would meet at the theatre on a Tuesday morning for tea, biscuits and a good old natter. The late Cliff Ditmer was the handyman for sets and repairs. It’s not unusual these days to have 12 or more people at the Tuesday working bees. There is usually some kind soul ready to bring homemade cake or we fall back on Messrs Griffin and Arnott’s biscuits.

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Another major aspect of theatre life has been ‘the wardrobe’. Not just to dress plays but also to provide a costume hire service for the district. The organisation of the wardrobe area and the hire service were started many years ago by June Wyatt. Marilyn Barclay joined the theatre team in 2004 and her love of textile and fashion and ability to sew reassured June that here was a protégé to take over from her. Since then, the ‘wardrobe ladies’ as they are known, have dressed two or three plays every year and hired out a countless number of costumes.

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Tuesday morning is a time of gathering, of friendship, of coffee, but we do get things done. We have a terrific team of ‘tradies’, lead for many years by experienced theatre manager Ron Handford, to design and build sets and also a wonderful team of ladies who run ‘the wardrobe’. Such a huge entity needs constant tidying, sorting and culling. 

Through the decades the Te Aroha Dramatic Society has always had an enthusiastic Committee who worked as a team and were committed to bringing quality live theatre to rural Waikato. They have continued to upgrade the theatre with air conditioning units throughout, a full refurbishment of the ‘lighting box’, a full refurbishment of the conveniences, new carpet in the dressing room, and an upgrade of technical equipment including monitors in every area of the theatre which is so helpful during a performance.

Seventy-five years is a long time and hundreds of men, women and children have passed through the doors of the Little Theatre in Honi Street, wanting to be involved with the fascinating world of live theatre. As individuals the people who manage the theatre have a huge range of talent but their strength is in the synergy of the group. Together they can tackle any job no matter how difficult it may seem. This is not to say the theatre hasn’t faced its share of competition from TV and cinema, not to mention Covid. The finances haven’t always been great either and those who have been around long enough, will remember when there was a garage sale to raise money to pay the insurance. 

The challenge now however is succession. Many have already passed on, those presently involved are getting older, the survival of the theatre relies on younger people stepping up, bringing their talents into this arena and joining the team as it heads towards a golden anniversary, what a tribute you are to those forward-looking people back in 1949. 

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Latterly, we now stage an average of three productions a year and our Committee are committed to continue the Society's legacy of bringing the performing arts to the Waikato. Won't you join us? There are many ways that you can get involved. It might surprise you that our crew outnumber our actors by 4 to 1.