100 years of the KLP
This year we are proud to be celebrating 100 years of producing theatre in Kings Langley.
Our society was founded in 1925 by John Kingston, a relative newcomer to the village at that time. John moved to Kings Langley from Cranfield, Bedfordshire in 1923, and had a reputation for having organised entertainments during the war which led to him being asked to produce a variety show in the village.
The very first production was a double bill of ‘The Bishop’s Candlestick’ and ‘A Storm in a Tea Shop’ plus a number of songs, monologues and duets – an adventurous playbill that was highly rated in the local press.
The production was staged at Church House in Church Lane, a building in some state of disrepair, with few comfortable facilities for the cast, but despite that the society grew from strength to strength.
In 1950 Kingston led his troops to their new home, the spacious, newly-built Kings Langley Community Centre (with a sizeable and permanent stage plus up-to-date technical facilities).
Moving forward to the 1970’s our members built out very own studio space in the heart of Kings Langley, that we still use to this day to build our sets and to store our extensive wardrobe, collection of props and furniture.
We are delighted to still be bringing theatre to the Village 100 years on, and are looking forward to sharing our celebrations with you this year. Be sure to join us for our upcoming productions of Caught in The Net and our Music Hall in July, and keep a look out for what is to come later this year.