When it came to the performance, the venue was somewhat unusual in that it took place in Maidstone Gaol. The prisoners erected the set whilst the cast were entertained to a meal in which one who was dressed as a vicar was asked to say grace. When it came to the start of the play, being the days of mini skirts, a noisy reaction came from some of the audience who had not been outside for some time. The prison officers ejected anyone making such exclamations which somewhat reduced the size of the audience.

By the time it came to put on the next show, a home for rehearsals and scenery preparation had been established in a building at the back of the White Horse pub on Bearsted Green. Later a home was needed for costumes and these were stored in chicken huts situated in an orchard in Bearsted. At times working parties would gather there on Saturdays to paint scenery. Those premises eventually had to be abandoned when mice moved in and built their nests in the pockets of the costumes.

Around this time the Hall was being built on the new estate at Madginford and the Group was one of the first to move in and adopt it as their rehearsal venue and we have been there ever since. Often additional rehearsals have been required at weekends or for other simultaneous productions for which we have needed to use other locations. Some of these are the Fisherman's Arms, Penenden Heath Hall, Vinters Park Community Centre, Bearsted WI Hall, Boxley Church Hall and St.Paul's Church Hall.

Meanwhile, the scenery and costume store has not been nearly so settled. A highly convenient home was found in Market Street which was where part of Fremlins Walk is now. Not only was it centrally situated but it was almost on the doorstep of the Hazlitt Theatre. On the day a show moved in or out of the theatre, a steady stream of ants could be seen carrying huge chunks of scenery and furniture through the streets between the two locations. With the impending development in the area, an alternative home needed to be found and this was adjacent to a house in Chart Sutton. This necessitated the use of a lorry to transport everything and required a team at each end to load and unload the set. When our tenure at that location came to an end, it was replaced by a similarly remote location with the same problems.

In 2005, we embarked upon the adventure of touring one of our productions around village halls. This necessitated a rethink on how scenery was constructed as it had to be small enough, light enough and adaptable to fit various size stages and needed to be erected and completed within one hour rather than the day or two available at the theatre. The resultant design was so successful that at our first attempt, the set was erected in just six minutes and was fully furnished within half an hour. Unfortunately, it took nearly an hour and a half to erect and wire up all the lighting, the final parts still being completed as the audience arrived. We learnt from that and subsequently have achieved it within the allocated one hour.

Venues that have been used for these travelling shows or for Charity Shows that have been staged for several years include Aylesford Village Hall, Broomfield & Langley Village Hall, Coxheath Village Hall, Harrietsham Community Centre, Lenham Community Centre, Newington Village Hall, Snodland Village Hall, The Avenue Theatre - Sittingbourne and The Sinden Theatre - Tenterden.

Although the Group started by performing plays, within six years a variety show was staged in the form of a Good Old Days. This was successful enough to become an annual event for the next twenty years. After a break of one year a further five were produced. By that time the television show of the same name had been missing from the screens for ten years and variety was becoming less popular. The next year, the group moved to a full musical with their production of Blitz! followed immediately by Cabaret. This show featured two performances on Friday with a late night show at 10:15pm. It was quite a feat getting the first house audience out of the theatre and the new one in within fifteen minutes. The cast were so warmed up having just done one show that the second one fairly whizzed along.

The group was for many years a supporter of the Maidstone Carnival entering a float each year until it became impossible to get the use of a lorry to decorate as insurance companies refused to provide cover to the owners for such use. We were not alone in having that problem which must have contributed to the demise of that great public event. In the early days of the group, it also played a part in the annual river festival. That event also came to an end for a few years until it was resurrected but the group has not been involved since it returned.

Raising money for charity has taken many forms and the group could be regularly found carol singing in various locations particularly West Malling each Christmas. Providing entertainment to other groups such as the Women's Institute or residential homes is another facet that has been well explored.

Some years ago the group ventured into making films, starting with silent black & white sketches, moving on to colour film culminating in video. After a break of nearly twenty years, it has been revived with a murder mystery filmed during 2007 and plans laid for the next one.

Activities within the group have taken many forms over the years, some still form part of the current programme while others have ceased to be popular and are therefore no longer pursued. Whilst some other groups have come and gone, the Chandeliers continue to adapt to give the members a varied choice of activities designed to satisfy all interests as far as is practible. Costs of staging shows are always rising whilst audience numbers are not always sufficient to cover this but the group has been ever more resourceful enabling them to continue balancing the books and raising money for charity each year.