Tristan Bates Speakers

There's no reading for Monday September 24th. Instead, the evening will be filled by this term's speakers, Ben Monks and Will Young, from the Tristan Bates Theatre.P-P stalwarts will be familiar with the theatre, as last week we read in one of their rooms, and the double bill of Is Anything Broken? and Final Score played there this summer as part of the Camden Fringe.

Ben and Will are the creative producers, and you can read more about them here. So get reading, and get ready with those all important questions so that you can find out more about how exactly you can get your play put on there.

Monday, 7.45.

Theatre of Absolution

Monday 17th brings us a brand new 90 minute stage play by a brand new writer, John Rowe which got a big thumbs up from its mentor. According to Jethro Dykes ( for it is he ):

"a very challenging and exciting work".

But what's it about, Jethro?

"A broken young man arrives at the theatre and a director takes him under his wing. The healing power of drama?"

Never happened to me but I'll take his word for it.  The question is will you?

Come along at 7.45, Monday.

Aberfan & You Can't Kiss Me

New term begins on September 10th with a double bill of scripts developed from the Collaborative Writing process. Both are 25 minutes long. First, by Debbie Maya, is Aberfan, a staged dramatised documentation of the events that occurred early on the morning of Friday 21 October 1966.

"It contains poetry, prose, actual quotes, dramatic scenes and music to remind us of this terrible tragedy which effectively wiped out a generation of children."

After a brief, liquid refreshment, we then have a comedy film treatment by Peter Vincent which he enticingly describes as "a study in masochism". I wonder if any of our lady members can say, after a summer spent lying on sun-loungers reading Fifty Shades of Grey, whether he has caught the tone right. As the great man himself says, he "desperately needs the wise and humorous input of PP to support a habit he is ashamed of... (writing things…)"

Here's a song with the same title. No doubt entirely unrelated.

Getting It Off My Chest

Following the smash hit double bill at the Tristan Bates comes this one woman show, written by and starring Janice Day, based on her highly-acclaimed piece of autobiography. It got a reading at P-P late last year, but here it is, for two nights only at the Etcetera, this time with all the words memorised, so it should be even better! Fun starts at 7.30 on August 19th and 20th.

Final Score & Is Anything Broken?

This time last year we were in the throes of getting Country Life up and running for the Camden Fringe. Well, here we go again, and this time P-P is back with a double bill. First up is Final Score  by Lisa Fulthorpe. Lisa, you may remember, had a big smash with Love and Other Gamesa at the Etcetera and this is the followup. Directed by Emma Blundell, it's about "friendship, parenthood and football collide in this darkly comic drama about failed ambition".

"Meet Keith and Christie – they’ve got it made: their son’s the rising star of the Premiership League. Meet their life-long friends, Eddy and Samantha: their son excels at nicking donuts and smoking dope.

With the kids out on the lash together, celebrating their joint sixteenth birthday, the parents throw a party of their own. But as the drinks flow, friendships fracture, leading to enmity, betrayal and disaster".

It's at the Tristan Bates Theatre from Monday 30th July to Saturday 4th August. (Mon to Wed 7.30pm, Thurs to Fri 9pm, Sat mat 5pm)

Tickets are £8. However, if you'd like to see 'Is Anything Broken?', as well on the same night, also produced by Player-Playwrights, at the same time, it will only cost you £14; only available through the box office on 020 7240 6283 or in person)

The second play, 'Is anything Broken?' is by Dan Davis and is adapted from his BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play. The stage version is directed by Maja Milatovic-Ovadia, and runs on the same dates, (Mon-Wed 9pm, Thu-Sat 7.30pm, Sat mat3.30pm)

This is a real-time comedy drama about the stress of modern life. "Ambitious architect Patrick is about to catch a flight to present a career defining project when his son has an accident at school. Go to him, or get on the plane? This thrilling satire explores the new 10th circle of hell, where the super connected are forced by instant communications to make crucial life-changing decisions at light speed.

How far do you go to get the job done?"

Tickets £8 (book to see 'Final Score', also produced by Player-Playwrights, at the same time and see both for £14, only available at Tristan Bates box office)

Book: 020 7240 6238 or tristanbatestheatre.co.uk

The Actors Centre, 1A Tower St, Covent Garden, WC2H 9NP

UPDATE: Both got fantastic reviews. Here's one, and here's another.

Go West, Young Man

A message comes through from our Presidents:

"Today we were reunited with Don West. We hadn't seen him in twenty years and thought that if we don't hurry along to see him (he is 93) then we probably won't ever see him again. After all, it was Don who approached a very young Laurence and Maurice and said, "I really think you two should try writing together." Prophetic words.

I attach a photograph taken this afternoon, some 38 years after we met Don on our first visit to Player Playwrights. We have all grown older and wiser, and we are all still writing. Don has just completed a new play that we said we would discuss having put on at P-P".

Peter Thompson continues:

Don West joined Player-Playwrights in 1948 and has been writing stage plays ever since. He was the man who, in 1974, persuaded new boys Laurence and Maurice to try their hand at sit-com and told them how to do it. Yesterday they called on him in his country retreat to say thank you and to see if he needed help changing a ribbon on his typewriter. All three went down to the pub, as one does, and reminisced. Those who don't remember Don's early years as chairman and 18 years as secretary may need reminding that, of all our members past and present, he has had the most stage plays published and produced [starting with a P-P production of THIS PASSING NIGHT in 1954] and has won the most prizes and awards. His thrillers, such as VACANT POSSESSION, NO EXIT, THE LAST TEA BREAK and DON'T CALL FIONA are still to be seen on the Am Dram circuit.

We'll see if we can't arrange a reading of your latest play next term, Don: so don't stop writing!

A Father's Love

July 9th brings us the final piece of the term, a sixty minute stage play by Michael Mills with the above title. As Michael asks:

"What is a father's love ? Why and when does it live and die ? A stranger comes and forces a father and son to confront these issues".

Come along to the Phoenix on Monday at 7.45 to see how things work out.

And just because it's the end of the term, doesn't mean that you can all go off the Faliraki until September, as there are three P-P productions at the Camden Fringe in August. More news to follow...