From picture house to playhouse
The society is older than its home by twenty-seven years. This is the story of both.
Which came first?
Romsey’s first purpose-made cinema, the Plaza, opened its doors on 14th December 1931 with a screening of Strangers May Kiss, starring Norma Shearer and Neil Hamilton. That predates RAODS by three years — so the Plaza was first.
RAODS began at a meal in the White Horse on 11th October 1934, when twelve Romsonians gathered and agreed to put on a show. Their first production, The Mikado, opened in the council chamber of Romsey Town Hall on 26th February 1935.
A regular home, on borrowed time
RAODS’ early success caught the attention of J J Crosfield, who offered Romsey Borough Council funds to build a new hall for the town — on condition the council bought the land. The result, the Crosfield Hall, opened in 1936 with RAODS’ The Pirates of Penzance, and remained their home for the next 46 years.
Vincent “Vin” Richards joined the reformed society in 1946 and served as RAODS’ bar manager from the 1960s to the 2000s. The upstairs bar at the Plaza is named Vins in his honour.
The Plaza’s Art Deco facade was designed by Portsmouth-born architect R A Thomas, who built an almost identical cinema in Dorchester a few years apart. By the early 1970s, television and bingo had ended the Plaza’s run as a cinema, and by the 1980s the building stood empty.
A new home
With the Crosfield Hall’s future uncertain and the Plaza cinema standing empty, RAODS acquired the freehold for £150,000 and spent two years converting it into a 246-seat theatre, with members working alongside contractors throughout.
During the works, the building’s original construction date was confirmed by pages of a March 1931 John Bull magazine, found lining the shuttering under the main staircase.
Now let's see you keep it!
Ambition, and a few surprises
With a theatre of their own, RAODS' programme grew quickly — in scale, in ambition, and eventually in number of shows a year.
The Minack, 1985
Member Ken Stott's contacts secured RAODS an invitation to perform at Cornwall's open-air Minack Theatre — a tradition that continues to this day.
Nicholas Nickleby, 1987
The National Theatre's epic adaptation, over eight hours long with a cast of 100+, staged in two halves two months apart.
Fourteen shows, 2010
A second performing space in the old Green Room, plus an outdoor show, made 2010 the busiest year RAODS have ever staged — a long way from three shows a year at the Crosfield.
Sir Ian McKellen, 2012
RAODS' production of Love Off The Shelf was watched by Sir Ian in his role as President of the Little Theatre Guild.
Performances resumed after the Covid pandemic with a specially adapted Jack and the Beanstalk — featuring the two halves of the pantomime cow staying two metres apart at all times.
Built and maintained by members
Every improvement to the building has been carried out by RAODS itself, funded by its own shows, grants and an expanding programme of non-RAODS bookings — live music and comedy now fill an average of three nights a month.
- 1989 — workshop and car park added, opened by George Baker
- Early 1990s — award-winning disabled facilities
- 2008 — Green Room refurbished into a second studio space
- 2017 — auditorium refurbishment
- 2024 — stage house extended, all stage electrics replaced
- 2026 — Green Room, kitchen and bar refurbished
Two centenaries, and a business plan
Owning and running a theatre sets RAODS apart from most amateur companies — in responsibility as much as opportunity. A formal Business Plan, first written in 2017, now guides upgrades from solar panels to heat exchange systems, with the next full review due in 2030.
Two centenaries are on the horizon: the Plaza’s in 2031, when the society hopes to re-screen Strangers May Kiss with prizes for the best 1930s costumes, and RAODS’ own in 2034/35 — with talk of marking it back where it began, in the Town Hall’s council chamber, a century to the day since the first meeting.
Read the full history
This page covers the highlights. The full written history, including a complete list of Presidents and Chairs since 1934, is available from the society.
Be part of the next chapter
RAODS is run entirely by volunteer members, on stage and off. Find out more about the society and how to get involved.