A History of KATS
The Knockholt Players was established in 1945 to preserve "The Knockholt talent" to use the words of the founder member, the Rev.Ronald Appleton. Their first play was in 1946 and they presented one play and a pantomime annually for very many years, and occasionally a revue or Music Hall as well.
Knockholt Jubilee Group was formed in 1977 (Silver Jubilee year) by Pamela Robilliard in memory of her husband who was a great fan of old-time music hail. She assembled a group of like-minded people and that Jubilee year saw their first production with resident pianist Adam Martin. After several different types of music hall they branched into their own musical shows which they put together - "End of the Pier" and "Don't You Know There's a War On?" but they always returned to "Music Hall". Also for a few years they took abbreviated shows to hospitals and old peoples' homes.
KYTens: 1975 saw a week of celebrations for the opening of the new Village Centre. Pat Bettsworth put together "Youth in Concert", a show performed by talented village youngsters who sang, played piano or violin, recited and performed ballet, followed by a short musical play written by Pat. She asked Liz Morgan, the actress and writer who lived at Ashgrove, to cast a professional eye over the show and Liz was impressed enough to direct "West Side Story" the following year - a sell-out for all six performances. "Joseph" came next and then "Oliver" with the Knockholt Players followed by many more KYTens shows.
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Eventually, with many members involved in each group, it was sensible to amalgamate and Knockholt Amateur Theatrical Society - KATS - was formed in 1987. Since then amateur theatre has continued to be alive and well in Knockholt - not many groups like ours have a background of over 60 years!
