Our Shows

Starting way back in 1974 at The Victoria Hall in Akeman Street, a group named Choddles and Co, who had been producing annual reviews and comedy sketches, decided that a traditional family pantomime would be just the ticket for the people of Tring.

Pooling resources with many other local amateur performance societies, Tring panto was born and has never looked back, returning year after year to the delight of many generations of families from near and far.

In 1978 the pantomime moved to the newly opened Pendley Arts Centre, the dreamchild of BBC Sports Commentator and owner of the Pendley Manor estate, Dorian Williams, and made it their home. Since then, apart from a short hiatus when shows returned to the Victoria Hall in the mid-eighties, and of course an enforced break due to lock down, the panto team have delighted generations of audiences ever since at the theatre we all know and love.

Tring Arts Trust continue with that legacy and all monies raised will go towards our work funding and promoting the local arts scene by way of grants and general artistic support.

In 2010 local writer, Karen Banfield, teamed up with Chris Barnett to produce and stage manage murder mystery plays in Tring and latterly in Aylesbury as well. The audience sits back and enjoys watching the drama unfold. By the end of act one, a murder occurs and there follows the first interval. Working as teams at their tables, the audience answers some observational questions and get their first opportunity to guess who the murderer is and why. The second act introduces the police on stage, thoroughly questioning the suspects. Then the second interval gives the audience the final chance to guess who the murderer is and why, as well as why it couldn’t have been anyone else. The third act is the denouement, with the murderer revealed.

The plays are all set in the past, before crimes were solved with DNA testing. The earliest was 1905 for Murder On Camera and the latest so far, Murder is Addressed was set in 1963. In March 2026, we go back to 1908 for Murder in Service.

As the promoting company Tring Arts Trust uses any residual funds to further support local performing arts organisations.