PENARTH Operatic and Dramatic Society (PODS) is back performing at the Paget Rooms this week.

The society will be performing a rendition of The Hound of the Baskervilles - the group's first play at Paget Rooms since October 2019, apart from their Christmas panto performance of Cinderella.

The Hound of the Baskervilles has a 10-strong cast and will be performed on Thursday, March 24, and Friday, March 25, at 7.30pm.

Another performance will take place on Satruday, March 26, at 6pm.

Like many dramatic societies, PODS has endured a difficult time over the past two years.

Publicity officer Peter Knowles said: "The difficulty was that we weren't allowed to mix or get together.

"But I think like lots of people, we discovered the joys of doing things as a group online."

The group hosted multiple quizzes online and also did play readings.

Mr Knowles said the group became "a theatrical book club" during this time.

After some restrictions were lifted, the society started to plan their next performances.

However, with the Omicron variant, their Christmas panto of Cinderella looked to be in jeopardy with the society forced to consider whether or not to cancel.

Rehearsals had to be done with social distancing and face coverings, with the group struggling with knowing how the performance would eventually look.

It turned out to be a remarkable success, with tickets selling out completely.

Praising the "great" public support for PODS, Mr Knowles said: "I think people were genuinely looking forward to being able to come and see something rather than just seeing what we've been doing through social media.

"The response to Cinderella was absolutely amazing, we had so much fantastic feedback from people who were saying 'we waited such a long time for this'.

"It was amazing and I think really heartwarming and made you feel that all those months and months and months of not being able to do anything was finally rewarded by being able to do a production that everybody enjoyed."

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PODS has been around since 1924 after an advert in the Penarth Times brought together a small group  to meet in Penarth Library.

Though the group has used many venues in their long history, they consider Paget Rooms to be their home.

For this performance of The Hound of the Baskervilles, the titular Hound will make an appearance and has been created by Bafta winning puppeteer Andy Bradshaw.

This iteration of the play will be set in the modern day and was chosen by PODS because it is a good mystery with everything you expect from a Sherlock Holmes story.

The group will be performing the Broadway version of The Full Monty later on in the year.

To buy tickets to The Hound of the Baskervilles performance, click here.