Buried deep in the costume store are several trunks: inside are a treasure trove of memorabilia from South Brent Amateur Dramatic Society’s past. This archive is an attempt to put the contents on display.
Now you can find out by looking for Daddy in the SBADS archives.
SBADS has a long history and a well-earned reputation for excellent productions: but we’ve seldom shown them off once the curtains have closed for the last time on each production. Even though we have photos stretching back to 1945 and cuttings dating back a further 20 years, most people never got to see them: in fact, our archives were such a secret that we even got our own anniversary wrong, celebrating our 50th anniversary three years late!
In recent years, there has been a concerted effort to reorganise the archive, and the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 gave us time to look at digitising the archive and opening it up to a wider audience.
So if you’ve ever wondered what productions we’ve put on before, or wonder if a relative took part in our productions, here’s your chance. You can browse by production, date or by person, and we’re gradually adding as much information as we can about each production.
There’s a whole host of detail for you to enjoy, from photos and press cuttings to programmes and posters, showing not just how SBADS has changed but also how the world has changed around us.
There’s too much to look through in one go: there are over 2,250 images from the last seven decades. So dip in every now and then to see what you can find.
Our archive was originally collated by Maggie Taylor and is currently curated by Cathie Pannell. This website has been designed and built by Tristram Grevatt, who has also digitised and electronically catalogued the contents.