The year 1911 saw the Sydney Street Siege, the Coronation of George V and Amundsen beating Captain Scott in the race to the South Pole. In Ringwood Mr.E.G.K.Farwell called on people interested in music and drama to a meeting in the Lecture Hall. From this meeting the Ringwood Musical and Dramatic Society was born. A committee was formed with Harry Barrow as chairman, a post he was to hold for the next 50 years, and Mr. Farwell was elected as the producer. 'The Mandarin' was chosen to be the first production. This was staged at The Manor House Theatre on February 27th and 28th 1912, six weeks before The Titanic sank.

The theatre, which could accommodate about 350, was made of corrugated iron, so one can imagine the problems the audience would have had when there was heavy rain, without the advantages of modem sound systems. However this first production was a great success with full houses and people turned away at the door. Standing room was one shilling (5p) and the total proceeds from the production was £40, a substantial amount of money in those days. In 1913 it was decided to be more ambitious and stage 'H.M.S. Pinafore'. This time the show was staged for three nights and again was a sell out. 1914 saw the Society move to the Town Hall, which was modified later to become a cinema called 'The Victoria' and later still 'The Regent'. That year's production was 'Merrie England', plus concerts staged in aid of charity. With the outbreak of World War I a lot of the men answered the 'call to arms' and organised productions ceased for the duration.

1920 saw rehearsals start again, this time for 'The Mikado' to be staged in 1921. It wasn't until 1927 that the Society turned its attention away from English operetta and offered the town 'Les Cloches de Corneville'. A risk in those days, but early misgivings were proved wrong, for the records show that it was a financial success. 1933 saw the Society move into the field of 'legitimate theatre' by staging the three-act play 'Her Shop'. That year the musical was 'The Geisha'. This set the pattern of a musical and a play each year. This continued until 1939 when, after the musical 'Goodnight Vienna' organised productions ceased for the duration of World War II. With the end of the war the Society was soon back in action and in 1947 produced 'H.M.S. Pinafore' as the musical and also staged two straight plays, a pattern that continued for a number of years.

In 1950 the very successful offshoot of the Society, The Soiree, started, originally called as 'The Nitwits'. For many years the Society staged musicals predominately by English composers such as Gilbert and Sullivan and Lionel Monkton, but, in 1958, the committee took a risky decision to stage an American musical, 'Oklahoma'. Risky, because they were not sure how it would be received by the usual Ringwood audience and because of the great difficulties in putting a show of this size on to the Regal Cinema stage. The scenes were much more complex than the Society had used before and, as in those days we used professional scenery, it was large and cumbersome. They need not have worried because the 1959 production of 'Oklahoma' was a huge success, playing to packed houses.

By now the Society was nearing its Golden Jubilee and the appeal of Rogers and Hammerstein could not be ignored so in 1961 'Carousel' was successfully staged. By 1965 public support for straight plays had dwindled to a point where it was no longer viable to continue with them. This was mainly attributed to the growing appeal of television. However, the following year choral concerts were introduced to replace the plays and they proved to be popular with the audiences.

In 1972 the Society was hit by a bombshell. The Regal Cinema, our home for 58 years, closed. This left the Society without a theatre and meant that we were forced to abandon a production for the first time in our history. Fortunately, thanks to the kind offer of the Headmaster and Board of Governors, we were able to move our productions to the Ringwood School. Obviously, the theatre atmosphere was initially lost by moving to the School, and we also had to design our own sets to fit the stage, but our loyal audience stayed with us. The first show in our new home was our 1973 production of 'HMS Pinafore'

In 1980 the very popular 'Summer Show' was added to our calendar and in 1981 a straight play was again introduced. It was decided to drop the choral concerts in that year so as not stretch the resources of the Societies membership. However, in 1987 the choral concerts were reintroduced to create the pattern, which our audiences seem to appreciate, of a musical, a play, the summer show and various choral concerts each year. Since arriving at the School the Society has always designed and built its own scenery and made its own costumes. This has allowed us to he more adventurous with our choice of shows. We have been able to offer the people of Ringwood such popular hits as 'Guys and Dolls' (1977 and 92), 'My Fair Lady' (1981 and 98), 'Fiddler on the Roof' (1982), 'Show Boat' (1986), 'Hello Dolly' (1991), 'Paint Your Wagon' (1994), 'The Music Man' (1995), 'Anything Goes!' (1996) and 'Me and My Girl' (2000). Staging 'Paint Your Wagon' was a real feather in the RMDS' cap as very few Societies in the country have managed to produce this popular show due to lack of men, luckily a problem we did not have.

The continuing co-operation between the School and the RMDS has proved beneficial to both parties, as well as the people of Ringwood in general. The Society has bought portable tiered seating and wall curtaining for the hall and together the Society and School have funded new lighting and sound systems. This has transformed what was a typical school assembly hall into what we have today, the Ringwood School Theatre.

Over the long history of the Society there have been many outstanding personalities who have influenced events both on and off stage, some as individuals and in many instances whole families have shared this interest. The Barrow family, for instance, with Harry and his brother Ted, being founder members and both taking leading parts on and off stage in the early years. Harry's daughter Esther (later Mrs. Wiseman) followed her father onto the stage, and her son John continued the family tradition.

Another family to have served the Society through throe generations is the family of our present chairman R.N. 'Bunny' Hare. Bunny joined the Society in 1927 and here met his wife Dorice. Their daughters Rosemary and Sonya followed them on to the stage. Rosemary appeared regularly in productions with her husband Lou Guy. Their children Suzy and Nick have been seen regularly on stage and their eldest son Chris was a regular in the pit, on percussion, until his talents took him into the field of professional music.

The longevity and success of the Society is in no small way due to the happy family atmosphere that has always permeated among the members. The fact that members undertake every job to do with a production adds to this atmosphere. Members not only perform on the stage but construct and build the sets, make the costumes, sell the tickets, make the coffee, man the bar, act as stewards, sell the programmes. This leaves no room for a star system or prima donnas, the downfall of so many Societies. The star of the show this year could be in the chorus the next without any resentment, and the star of the show will probably be sweeping the stage the day after.

A sense of fun is what all the members have, even on stage. Many humorous stories have been relayed over the years. There was the time in the 1930's when the gentlemen of the chorus were carrying a member of the cast horizontally off the stage. They weren't quite thinking where they were going as one group went one side of a flat and the other group went the other. The poor actor's legs went either side of the flat. Needless to say he did not reappear for the rest of the week. Then in 1976, during the Saturday matinee of 'The Count Of Luxembourg' the men's chorus refused to go back on stage after the interval as Southampton were winning 1-0 in the FA Cup Final and there were still ten minutes to go!

When mentioning the family involvement within the Society one must pay tribute to those who are never seen 'in front of the footlights' but without whose work the productions you see would be impossible. They are the producers and musical directors who have served us over the years. It seems amazing that in the ninety years of the Societies history we have had only ten producers and eleven musical directors for the musicals. We are so lucky in this Society to have three regular producers for musicals and three regular directors for plays who rotate with their productions. All these people are members who have moved up through the 'ranks', and are quite prepared to appear in productions by other people. Our set designers and stage managers have also been few and far between. John Newton for example, supervised the staging of fifty consecutive productions, both musicals and plays, before he resigned the post to become the Chairman. On the subject of chairmen, or should it be chairpersons, the present incumbent, Tom Glasson, is only the sixth in the ninety years.

Of course the most important people in the history of the Society are our audiences. Without the wonderful support of the people of Ringwood and the surrounding district we would not exist. We are always conscious of the debt we owe our loyal friends and supporters. Ours is a strange hobby because if there is no audience, however good the production is, it has no value.. But as long as people continue support us and come to see what we have to offer in the name of entertainment, we will certainly do our part in providing them with the best shows, plays and concerts that our resources and talents will permit.

I.D.C. 2001

Acknowledgements:-

Margaret Newton (Honorary Life Member) for her article 'The Years Reviewed'

Tony White (Member and Amateur Historian) for his knowledge of the Towns history.