The Leading Man

We have a change of programme for 1st July, since the writer of the scheduled play, Orpheus Rising, is out of the country. It will be rescheduled for the autumn. Instead we have a 60 minute play by Peter McKelvey, entitled The Leading Man. Peter needs no introduction to P-P allumni. He's won virtually every P-P writing prize going, he's even acted on a few memorable occasions, and probably scored pretty highly there as well. Here's his blurb:

"It is Easter and it is snowing. Bellamy's restaurant in the shadow of St Paul's in the City of London is closed to everyone except the leading man. Ask not for whom the bell tolls..."

I trust your appetite is truly whetted. Imbibe some more at 7.30 on Monday at the Three Stags.

In the Middle

Monday 24th June brings us another P-P debut from Chloe Austin, though she has a wealth of experience elsewhere. As well as coming third in our Re-Writing History competition she's had  'Running with Wolves' given professional readings both at The Courtyard Theatre and at Trafalgar 2; 'The Other Day' was produced at The White Bear, and 'Virgins - Sex , God and the 6" Rule' at Intermission Theatre/Hanbury Hall Brick Lane. Chloe also trained as an Actor at Arts Ed. and founded and ran production company Golden Theatre, where she also directed 'Heroine the Musical'.


In the Middle is an hour long drama, and is "set in the luxurious ex-pat community of Doha in the Middle East, and follows the romance between two British workers who are living away from their families. Amongst the luxurious hotels, parties, Souks and deserts, Chris, a TV news anchor and Lizzie, a Teacher and Mother begin to evaluate what a 'high quality of life' really means for a recession hit 2013".


As the nights start to draw in following the longest day of the year, what better place to cuddle up than the Three Stags? 7.30, Monday night.

Cutting The Ties That Bind

Monday June 17th brings us a couple of late entries for the Will You Marry Me? Competition, plus a new play by Nicola Hollinshead, the long-awaited follow up to her debut, Doorway which I remember from over two years ago back at the Phoenix
.
Here's her precis:

'In an attempt to move on from her past, Anna goes on a New Age retreat'.

Succinct and to the point. It's a one woman show and she'll be reading it.

7.30 at the Three Stags.

Junction 26

Monday June 10th brings us a double bill of cinematic experience. First, we have a reading of a script by film critic turned writer, Adam Thursby, who was a finalist in the 2013 BlueCat Cordelia Competition (top 6) awarded to the best screenplay received from the UK and semi-finalist in the overall 2013 BlueCat Screenplay Competition which puts it in the top 60 of 3391.

Adam's script, Junction 26 "is a non-linear ensemble murder thriller set in the urban hinterland of London’s M25 motorway, in which the lives of a group of strangers intersect at key moments, unwittingly connecting them all to a grisly Truckstop murder". 

Adam Has previously written "The Caravan Trilogy” starring Ian-Puleston Davies and David Warner, directed by Andrew Gunn.

Second, once that's done, we can all rush home to catch another showing of "Don't Worry About Me", on BBC1 at midnight, the script that received its world premiere at P-P, all those moons ago.

Flowers of the Field

I remember Kevin Mandry once saying that he refused to allow his work to be read at our last home but one on account of the lousy acoustics. Happily, the Three Stags passes muster on the auditory front, and so, at long last, we can all bear witness to the world premier of Flowers of the Field, which takes place in 1916.

As Kevin puts it: "To a remote farm in rural Sussex, a reluctant soldier comes on a pilgrimage, seeking the music that he believes defines an England threatened by war and worse...and which, he believes, will express both its and his own soul...only to find his belief in home challenged and his search thwarted aside by the urgent needs of another lonely pilgrim".

 

7.30, Monday June 3rd. Be there.

Re-Writing History - the result

Here's the results and report on Monday's competition, as described by Peter Thompson:

"It looked so straightforward: take a celebrated historical event and re-write it to give it dramatic form and moral purpose. But the devious minds of our authors wanted to write about something else and unhappily two of those that came closest to doing what the competition-setter asked had to be disqualified! Peter Skyte’s THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE was a witty little dialogue in a Finchley tea tent in 1964 involving a black parish priest called Desmond and an ambitious grocer’s daughter, Margaret, discussing the ending of apartheid in South Africa. Unfortunately it over-ran. So did Francis Beckett’s play THE HOLY FOX about a broadcast in 1940 by the Earl of Halifax, egged on by Diana Mitford, Lady Mosley, as he prepared the people for surrender to Hitler and moving Parliament to Stoke on Trent. Again well within the spirit of the competition, but well over time. The other over-runner was TIBERIUS HEFT by Kevin Mandry concerning an unmeritorious campaign to have the unpublished and illiterate plays of this ignorant scribbler put on at the National. No celebrated historical event, but some good play-titles of Heft’s like Six Authors In Search of a Toilet.

Michael Barry, winner last time out, came 5th with 201 points for a play about the Battle of Hastings called OUR HISTORY. Only it wasn’t a re-enactment of the battle, just a young couple falling out over little known facts like the name of William the Conqueror’s wife [Matilda of Flanders, since you ask, mother of nine children]. In fourth place was Tim Gambrell who scored 220 points with MONA LISA’S TITS. This was an interview with a Professor Bolocks, a filthologist who contended that all great works of art concealed the artist’s pornographic leanings: the Mona Lisa was a typical cover-up. No celebrated historical events there. Thank goodness then for Chloe Austin who came third, with 231 points for WE ARE ALL BERLINERS. When the wall went up in 1961 it separated a little boy and girl: but when the wall came down 28 years later they were still waiting for each other. Not a dry eye in the house; and well done Chloe for making something romantic out of a world event.

Peter Vincent made second place (237 points) with WE MET NEXT YEAR, a time-travelling love story, beautifully played by Lynne O’Sullivan and Phil Philmar with Caroline Langston as the soon-to-be-cheated wife. Not much about times past, but a tantalising glimpse of the future.

You may wonder that there has been no mention so far of Dr Watson, Mrs Hudson and the Baker Street irregulars. No, Bill Gordon took a rest in order to give more time to his entry for the INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOUR competition, closing date 3rd June. Instead, Debbie Maya gave us ARTHUR LOSES SHIRLEY. What’s that? Arthur must be Arthur Conan Doyle but who on earth is Shirley? Why, Shirley Holmes, of course, the Great Detective, who had to have a change of gender to please the publishers and also Oscar Wilde who happened to be passing: the winner with 271 points. Well, I suppose the incredible truth had to be told. Or is it, like the giant rat of Sumatra, a story for which the world is not yet prepared?

Time now to thank our fearless teller, Giles Armstrong, who has the disagreeable responsibility of disqualifying over-runners and the no less onerous task of adding up the marks of those still in the race. And finally the infinitely serene Natasha Staples, who conjured up eight plays, in perfect order and impeccably cast for our delight. Many, many thanks".

Rewriting History

Back in January we had a reading of a script by Roger Mayhew entitled History. Now, it's competition time with the theme of Rewriting History. Whether anybody has decided to rewrite Roger's unimprovable masterpiece will be discovered on Monday 20th May, when we have the first competition night of the term. And will Sherlock Holmes make an unscheduled, if keenly anticipated, appearance? Come along at 7.30 to the Three Stags to find out.