So how does it work?
Throughout the year our writer-members are submitting new plays and scripts to the Programme Secretary for inclusion in the programme. He will accept them and find slots for them once some other members have mentored them and certified that they are ready for a reading. Each script will be slotted into the next available programme and we have three programmes a year, corresponding more or less to school terms, with breaks in between. Any member with a script for submission should contact the Programme Secretary, Peter Briffa at progsec@playerplaywrights.co.uk.
A few weeks before the reading date the piece will be cast and scripts will be handed out. The casting is organised by our Casting Secretary, in consultation with the author. Our actors include full time professionals as well as young hopefuls who haven’t quite relinquished the day job yet. There are barely enough parts to go round but our Casting Secretary sees that everyone is cast eventually. In order to have a chance of a part to read actor-members should present their CVs and photos to the Casting Secretary, Anthea Courtenay, contactable at castingsec@playerplaywrights.co.uk.
The evening for the reading arrives. The actors hastily run through their lines together and at 7.45 the performance starts. The audience (of between 30 and 40 members) listen and applaud and fill in marking sheets which are handed to the teller at the end of the reading. Then everyone has a drink and settles down for a chaired discussion of the merits of the piece and scope for improving its chances in the market place.
As well as readings we sometimes have talks; and we hold a Competition evening for short plays on a given theme at the end of each term in which everyone can take part.
There is also at least one Showcase a year, at which our writers and actors put their talents before the general public, including as many members of the Industry as we can squeeze in. We have put on recent Showcases at the Soho Theatre, the Arts and the King’s Head, Upper Street N1.
Do you have to be a brilliant actor or successful writer to take part? Not at all
Absolute beginners are most welcome and we are delighted also to see among our regulars those who have given up any idea of writing or acting professionally but who come along for the excellent entertainment! So don’t be shy: turn up and see whether it’s what you would like to do on Monday nights.
60 Year History!
Player-Playwrights started in 1948. It was formed by a group of actors and writers, who decided to meet once a week to read each others’ plays out loud. The intention was for it to be a co-operative, to which everyone contributed their time and talents for nothing. The stage was the thing in those days, radio drama was coming along well but television was not yet available to the public at large. The members met originally at the City Lit, but later found a small rehearsal theatre in Fitzroy Square where they were able to put on a little show each week for the entertainment of each other and also to help launch the plays on the public in one of the many small theatres dotted around London. The original subscription was 5 shillings (25p) a year and the attendance fee was the equivalent of 7.5p. The Constitution has survived to the present day and the officers and executive committee of the association are elected at our Annual General meeting. All offices are honorary and no one is paid for taking part in our Monday night readings.
Our longest-serving members, John and Audrey Ringrose, joined in the 50s and are still turning in award-winning scripts. Among those who joined in the 70s are Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran who succeeded Jack Rosenthal and Olwen Wymark to become our Presidents five years ago. They brought us the very first Birds of a Feather and continue to try out new scripts at Player-Playwrights before preparing the final drafts for production.