About us

Dronfield Players was founded in 1943. It began as a play reading group during the war as people sought to find different ways to entertain themselves. We put on our first production – “Mystery at Greenfingers” by JB Priestly in 1944 and have now produced over 180 shows. We still have patrons who were founder members during those war years: such is the strength of the society.

Dronfield players have performed in many places in Dronfield over the years, from Church Halls to the Old Civic Hall and the Gladys Buxton Centre. However, we are now at home in the New Civic Centre with its dedicated sound and lighting system and raked seating ensuring maximum comfort and visibility for our audiences.

We have won numerous awards from SADATA (Sheffield and District Amateur Theatre Association) over the years, including “Best Comedy” – How the Other Half Lives, “Best Stagecraft” - Mystery Plays, “Best Original Script” – Snookered, and in 2010, one of our members won the “......” award and we won “Best Stagecraft” for Can You Hear the Music.

We produce two full length plays a year, and always try to do a one act play for the SADATA One Act Festival which takes in Sheffield each June. Our plays range from farce to drama, and from comedy to thrillers. Playwrights works we have performed include Priestly, Shakespeare, Ayckbourn , Cooney and many many more.

We now have over 70 members, 35 patrons and numerous corporate patrons. We are kindly sponsored by Thomas & Holloway Ophthalmic Opticians in Dronfiled.