In 1988 Chorleywood resident and respected amateur theatre director, Betty Waddy, decided that she would produce a show to raise funds for the then World Wildlife Fund for Nature and chose “The King and I” for this purpose.   An advertisement in various newspapers attracted a lot of local talent to a first meeting and it was decided that this project should go ahead.   A name for this company of people had to be chosen and the Panda, being the WWF logo, seemed an obvious choice.   The show was presented at Dr. Challoner’s School in 1989 and was a great success, a cheque for £1,400 being given to WWF after the event. 

Buoyed up with this success, many members voted that the company should stay together to perform “one more show” (Kiss Me Kate) – nineteen years on we are still performing “one more show” .   Over the intervening years, there have been many ups and downs but somehow, so far, we have managed to survive the downs whilst enjoying the ups.   It gets harder and harder every year to keep a company like this afloat – costs get higher and live theatre has to compete with so many other activities, both for membership and audiences. 

Panda have always tried to include a few unusual choices in the shows performed.   We really went out on a limb when we did “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” in 1993 – where were we going to find 7 young men who could dance to play the brothers and another 7 young-ish men who could dance to play the townsfolk?    We did, and it was a super show.   “Chicago” was not a show usually performed by amateurs but, in 1998, thanks to the confidence in our then resident director, Jan Samuel, Panda got the licence just before it was revived in the West End.   Since then it is no longer available to amateurs as the professional show is still running.   

Panda have included many of the most loved shows – “Oklahoma!”, “South Pacific”, “Annie Get Your Gun”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, “Guys & Dolls” and “Half a Sixpence” (twice).  For many years a summer concert was also produced but nowadays this has been taken over by the Concert Group who rehearse throughout the year preparing a wide variety of solo and chorus numbers and who are always available for events, short entertainments in residential/care homes etc. at very reasonable rates.