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Henley Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society

Affiliated to the National Operatic & Dramatic Association. Registered Charity 259404.

President: Simon Williams.

simon williams our President HAODS was formed in 1922 and each year usually puts on two musicals and a play at Henley's Kenton Theatre and, every other year at an open-air venue. Our major shows are the musicals, usually one around April and again in November. Productions of plays varies, but we always have an entry into the Kenton Drama Festival.

We are fortunate to own the well-equipped Green Room, behind the Kenton, which is where we hold our rehearsals and social events; our extensive wardrobe is also stored there, in a recently built extension. Rehearsals usually take place three nights a week for large productions, which increase to Sunday rehearsals closer to the production date. Readings and our auditions are generally open to all. If you are a non-member and are fortunate enough to be cast in a show, you will be required to join as a performing member.

The Kenton Theatre is a Regency gem, opened in 1805, set in the heart of Henley-on-Thames. The fourth oldest working theatre in the country, the Kenton’s two hundred and thirty four seat auditorium has a warm, friendly and cosy intimacy that makes it a perfect performance space for both HAODS's large scale musicals and intimate plays. Kate Winslet and the West End's Oliver, Harry Stott are just two of the many stars who trod the Kenton stage at an early age, Harry having appeared in our production of Singin' in the Rain in 2004.

New members are always welcome – whether as budding actors, or to help backstage with set building, costumes or props – or maybe just as a supporter to enjoy the social functions. Drop into one of our Coffee Mornings, Club Room Lunches or come and see a production. You will have the warmest of welcomes and the best of times if you stay! Click here to Join Us.

Vice Presidents
Mr M Chalcroft His Worship the Mayor of Henley Mr J Luker
Mr R Hardy CBE His Worship the Mayor of Falaise Mr J A R Yeates
Mr Simon Langton Mr J Yeates Mrs A Luker

Life Members
Nansi Diamond Mary Reece

NODA Long Service Awards
1977 Mrs V Barter 1983 Mr JAR & Mrs J Yeates
1976 Mr J & Mrs A Luker 1990 Mrs J Taylor

Click here to view a list of all the Henley Operatic shows from 1922 to today

Celebrities who appeared at the Kenton No. 14 - David Kossoff

Written by Dean Beedell (webmaster)

No.15 David Kossoff Variety Performer (1919 - 2005)

David Kossoff was born in the East End of London the son of Russian
parents. He made his first appearance on stage in 1942 and was invited to join
the BBC Repertory Company in 1945. After taking part in, literally, hundreds
of radio plays he began a stage and film career which won him a BAFTA award
for "A Kid for Two Farthings" and great success as the Jewish tailor in "
The Bespoke Overcoat". The warmth and sincerity of his voice made him a
huge hit reading Bible stories on radio which led to a Sunday evening series
and a number of bestselling books.

He was best known in the 1960s as Alf Larkin the henpecked husband in the
television series "The Larkins" after which he moved into another
successful series "A Little Big Business"

In his later years he toured the halls with several one-man shows with
titles like "One Eyebrow Slightly Up" and "A Funny Kind of Evening with David Kossoff". It was this show he performed at the Kenton on April 27th - 29th 1967. The Henley Standard critic wrote "David Kossoff had the ideal situation " an intimate atmosphere and a packed house at his mercy. His one-man show is not, in effect, one man at all as he seems to fill the stage with his characters so that he almost loses his own identity".

His shows remained "outrageously funny" despite the tragedy of the death
of his son Paul from drug induced heart failure in 1976 and of his wife,
Margaret in 1993.

David died in 2005 aged 85.

The following is an extract from Wikipedia.

David Kossoff (24 November 1919 – 23 March 2005) was a British actor. Following the death of his son Paul, a rock musician, he became an anti-drug campaigner. In 1971 he was also actively involved in the Nationwide Festival of Light protesting against the commercial exploitation of sex and violence, and advocating the teaching of Christ as the key to re-establishing moral stability in Britain.
Contents

Kossoff was born in London, the youngest of three children, to poor Russian-Jewish[2] immigrant parents. His father was a tailor.

Kossoff started working in light entertainment on British television in the years following World War II. His first stage appearance was at the Unity Theatre in 1942 at the age of 23. He took part in numerous plays and films. He was a Member of the Society of Artists and Designers. In addition to this, he was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He married Jennie and had two sons, Paul and Simon.

His best known television roles were the hen-pecked husband Alf Larkin in The Larkins, first broadcast in 1958, and a Jewish furniture maker in A Little Big Business. Film credits included The Young Lovers (1954 - for which he won a British Academy Film Award as Most Promising Newcomer to Film), A Kid for Two Farthings (1955), his role as Morry in The Bespoke Overcoat (1956), Freud's father in Freud: The Secret Passion (1962) with Larry Parks, Professor Kokintz in The Mouse that Roared (1959) and its sequel The Mouse on the Moon (1963) with Bernard Cribbins.

He was also well known for his story telling skills, particularly with regard to reinterpreting the Bible. His most famous book, also a television series, is The Book of Witnesses (1971) in which he turned the Gospels into a series of lively monologues. He also retold dozens of Old Testament and Apocrypha stories in Bible Stories (1968).

In 1953, he played the character Lemuel "Lemmy" Barnet in the British sci-fi radio series, Journey Into Space.

Following the death in 1976 of his son Paul, guitarist with the band Free, Kossoff established the Paul Kossoff Foundation which aimed to present the realities of drug addiction to children. Kossoff spent the remainder of his life campaigning against drugs. His one-man stage performance about the death of his son, and its effect on the family, which he toured in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was both poignant and heartbreaking. He died in 2005 of liver cancer at age 85.[3] He was cremated and interred at the Golders Green Crematorium.

His brother Alexander was a radio broadcaster under the name of Alan Keith, the longest serving and oldest presenter on British radio.

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