About us​

The AATG is an English-language amateur theatre group based in The Hague. Membership is open to all nationalities, adults and children alike, with or without theatre skills or experience - as long as you share our enthusiasm for anything theatre! Whether you're excited for acting, singing, dancing, choreography, set design, painting, backstage crew, lights, sound, costume, make-up - there is always a spot for you within the AATG.


If you have enjoyed our plays and pantomimes in the past, and want to see them continue in the future, then please do support the AATG. The best way to support us to to become a member and join in with one of our productions or social events!


We are constantly looking for ways to bring entertainment and theatre to you, and this will help us do it.


What we do

Our biggest yearly project is our hugely popular British Pantomime, generally involving about 100 people on stage or backstage in one way or another. This fun show for all the family, usually based loosely on a traditional fairy tale, is seen by nearly 2,000 people each year at four or five performances in a major The Hague theatre. The principal actors are selected by audition at the start of the summer, while the adults and children who sign up for the singing and dancing chorus have their first rehearsal straight after the summer holidays. Principals and chorus then attend scheduled rehearsals leading up to the live performances in December. And, of course, a whole army of backstage helpers has to be recruited as well!


From New Year to the summer, our efforts are mainly focused on our Spring Production, which may be a full-length play or a number of one-act plays or musical sketches. Here too, the cast is selected by audition, but the backstage volunteers are equally indispensable! Our Spring Productions are staged in smaller theatres such as the Warenar theatre in Wassenaar, and often include our subsequent FEATS entries.


Throughout the year we also hold several play readings (about one a month) and other learning and social events, in which anyone can take part. And in recent years we have organised a very successful Murder Mystery Dinner in March, which gives AATG members a great opportunity to dress up and improvise the scripted characters – murderer, victim(s) or innocent bystanders – so that the diners can try to pinpoint the guilty party! The net proceeds are donated to a nominated charity.


The AATG is governed by an annually elected Committee which takes care of day-to-day business and manages the finances in accordance with Dutch law, and selects proposed plays.

AATG Committee 2022-2023

Jenny Hall

Chairman &

Productions

Kyle Buijs

Vice-chairman &

Website

Peter Comley

Treasurer

Chris Buck

Secretary & Membership

Michael Connelly

Media Manager

Emma de Moel

Newsletter

Henri Colens

Business




​Message from the chair

Season’s greetings
to all our AATG News readers!

At the end of another year we look back on an amazing theatrical time. Since September we have not only continued with our regular play readings - hosted by John Kearey and put on a galactic pantomime - 'In a Galaxy Far Away' - written and directed by Michael Connelly, but we have also launched a new venture! The AATG Singing Group was started by Imre Hartog and Marjolein Gabel and ran full gusto with all the participants enjoying their evenings of singing. Their efforts were also enjoyed by an appreciative audience at the AATG 'Holiday Social'.

The New Year brings new, exciting opportunities. Auditions for the spring production - 'The Poetry of Freedom'; A Launch Event for our June musical production 'A Night on Broadway' and social events such as our 'Burns Night', a chance to show your skills in 'Spotlight' and the return of the extremely popular 'Charity Murder Mystery Dinner'.

The AATG will not be taking part in FEATS23, but we encourage everyone to attend this great festival in Frankfurt on 26-29 May 2023. See the FEATS website for more information

Is 2023 your year to be on stage? Do you want to put your artistic talents to the test behind the scenes? Or do you just want to come along and enjoy some English theatre?

The AATG is the place to be in 2023!

Season's Greetings to you all!

Jenny Hall
AATG Chairman



Our history​

It all began in November 1951 here with a production of French Without Tears by Terence Rattigan. The proceeds were donated to the building fund of the Anglican and American Episcopal Church in The Hague, which had been destroyed by the bombings of 1945. The group’s original name was ‘Diplomaten Toneelspelers’. In March 1964 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands gave her Royal Assent and the group was registered at the Chamber of Commerce as the Anglo-American Theatre Group of The Hague.


In May 1976 the AATG co-founded and hosted the first Festival of European Anglophone Theatre Societies (FEATS) in Rotterdam, staging The Collection by Harold Pinter as a competing entry. Since then the AATG has played a very active part in FEATS (held in a different European city each spring) by competing on a regular basis and hosting the Festival in The Hague every five or six years. The first FEATS Fringe – a non-competitive afternoon programme of short plays and workshops that is now an integral part of the Festival – was held in The Hague in 1990. FEATS will be hosted by the AATG in The Hague again in 2026.


The plays we have staged over the years in and around The Hague and at FEATS are shown in the list of Past Productions.