After a successful 60th Hertford Theatre Week in 2023 we are pleased to have repeated that success in 2024 at the Ayckbourn Theatre in the splendid setting of the Haileybury College campus, just three miles from Hertford town centre.
A little later in the year than last year we were worried if that would affect our audience numbers, but those fears were unfounded as we played to effectively full houses all week, so a big thank you to all that supported us.
As yet we are unsure of the venue or dates for Hertford Theatre Week 2025 so keep an eye on this website for the latest information.
If you want to be sure not to miss any updates why not click or tap the button on the right and join our email list to be kept up to date with this, and other, Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society productions? It only takes a moment, we don't send hundreds of emails, and you can unsubscribe at any time.
Steve Onyon
Chairman
The festival was instigated when a small committee from Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society, investigating the possibilities of further stimulating amateur drama, invited neighbouring societies and drama groups to perform one of their own productions under festival conditions. With rules agreed and sufficient support promised to ensure a full week's programme of six different plays, 1962 saw the first Hertford Theatre Week.
Sponsorship of the first ten years was provided by the directors of the Hertfordshire Mercury and County Press, the publishers of our local newspaper and supporters of local drama. Since 1972 Hertford Dramatic & Operatic Society has not only been the hosts and organisers but also the main sponsors.
In recent years the festival has been completely self-financing and, unlike many full-length play festivals which draw sponsorship from their local authority or commercial organisations, our only revenue comes from the Box Office sales.
Hertford Theatre Week is run by a team of unpaid volunteers from HD&OS, some of whom give up a week of their annual holiday to work on the competition, and whose only reward is their love of theatre and the satisfaction of being involved in what has become recognised as one of the leading full-length drama competitions in the country.
Since 1986 the Hertford competition has been affiliated to the National Drama Festivals Association and we are proud to say that in a number of past years, Hertford Theatre Week provided the winner of the NDFA National Drama Festival (formerly the British All-Winners Drama Festival).
More information on the NDFA can be found at www.NDFA.co.uk
The programme for 2007 featured 6 productions:
Caught in the Net by Ray Cooney, presented by The Company of Players
The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, presented by OVO
Moon Over Buffalo by Ken Ludwig, presented by Hoddesdon Players
The Cemetery Club by Ivan Menchell, presented by Heath Players, Hatfield Heath
Cold Comfort Farm by Paul Doust adapted from the novel by Stella Gibbons, presented by Hertford Dramatic and Operatic Society
Time of My Life by Alan Ayckbourn, presented by The Barn Theatre Club, Welwyn Garden City
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Thank you.
Mike Kaiser spent over thirty years teaching English and Drama. Originally from Manchester, he has lived for thirty three years in Shropshire, where he was Head of English and Theatre Studies at the Sixth Form College in Telford.
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