Frederick Ponsonby (later Earl of Bessborough) to perform during Kent's annual Canterbury Cricket Week.
[2] It claims to be the oldest surviving amateur dramatic company in the world, having staged its first shows in Canterbury in 1842.
Ponsonby was also a founder of I Zingari, and later became president of Surrey County Cricket Club.
One of the earliest Old Stagers was the Kent and England cricketer Alfred Mynn who first appeared in 1847 and then regularly until his death in 1861.
Old Stagers Amateur Dramatic Society records, including programmes, newspaper reviews and photographs of productions from 1842 to 2003, are archived at Canterbury Cathedral Library as item U449.