Our History

Tenterden Operatic & Dramatic Society (TODS) has been entertaining audiences since July 1958 with the amalgamation of the Tenterden Players and The Masquers. We have recently celebrated our 65 birthday bringing together new and old acquaintances. We are longstanding  members of the Kent Drama Association (KDA) and the National Operatic & Dramatic Association (NODA)which supports local drama groups.

Usually TODS produces three shows a year – a musical and two plays. We have flexibility in our show slots, partly as a reaction to returning to live performance after the pandemic. In 1994 we used to produce a good old-fashioned pantomime in February but then decided to branch out and include musicals in our repertoire. Our first musical was My Fair Lady. In recent years we have produced The Pajama Game in 2017, Sister Act the Musical in 2018,  Follies in 2019 and our last pre-pandemic production was Chicago in 2020.

There was an hiatus between 2020 and 2021 due to the Pandemic. However, during the hiatus we took part in the first ever KDA Radio Festival of 2021 and received a runner’s up award. The festival proved so successful that NODA will be continuing with an annual Radio Festival to run in parallel with the Stage Play Festival from 2022.

TODS are a small and friendly drama group with a professional ethic who bring quality productions to our audiences in Tenterden and the surrounding areas.

We kicked off our return to live performances back in February 2022, with our fantastic comedy, Confusions by Alan Ayckbourn. This was directed by Heather Barnes and Aaron Birks.  This was followed by our Musical production in June 2022, of  Calendar Girls the Musical, again directed by Heather Barnes. In February 2023 after several postponements due to COVID outbreaks in October 2022, we finally performed Blithe Spirit, directed by Anthony Powell at the Tenterden Town Hall. This was followed by our une, 2023 Musical, 9 to 5 which was performed at the Sinden Theatre. We are currently  rehearsing Bedroom Farce which will be performed at Tenterden Town Hall in September.