MUSICALS – CODS Crediton

About CODS Musicals .....

It was in 1964 that George Sheppard said to his wife Dorothy, “What this town needs is a Gilbert and Sullivan Society”. This bold statement led to the first COS production HMS Pinafore in the Shelly School in April 1965.

COS, which became CODS in 1972, has produced a Musical every year since that 1965 production. Transforming a large and fairly unprepossessing school hall into a theatre has become an annual ‘art form’.

Most of our shows have been in the traditional proscenium arch/stage format, but since 1999 many productions have been performed ‘in the round’ which, as well as presenting some technical challenges, has given a fresh look to our staging and to the performances. 

During those years cost have risen from under £200 for the first HMS Pinafore to an average of £16,000 to £18,000 for our current productions. The shows illustrated on this page are, HMS Pinafore 1965 which cost less than £200, The Grand Duchess 1982 produced for £2900, La Belle Helene £4750, Jesus Christ Superstar £19,000 in 2010 and Oliver 2011 which cost £20,500.

Rehearsals for a new show usually begin in early November and this is a good time to join us for a new production. CODS is a very open and friendly society and welcomes new members to perform on stage or help off stage. Please click our JOIN CODS button on the front page for more information.

We are indebted to our local audience who support us faithfully each year and who tell us they enjoy the ever-changing and ‘close encounter’ performances. We are also indebted to our many sponsors who contribute towards the ever rising cost of our productions.

A full list of CODS productions is printed below. A photographic online record of many of these shows and can be seen in by going to our About CODS pages.

With the evolution of digital photography we have been able to record more recent shows in greater detail and these have their own dedicated pages. You can link to them by clicking on the show title or by the various drop down menus.

Photographs and, in many cases, video extracts of more recent shows can be found on these pages. The photographs in our photo archive can be downloaded.