Work In Progress

Monday 22nd February brings us a P-P first. Let Mary Conway explain:

"This is an event for everyone. Whether you are a writer, actor, theatre professional or happy onlooker, you are invited to come along and have fun in this, our first ever, ‘Work In Progress’ session.

The purpose of the evening is to explore the art of playwriting through collaboration with other writers and actors. We would like as many members as possible to join us and give us your views on how we might use similar sessions in the future. We will be sharing with you a few extracts from scripts produced by the PP collaborative group. We will then work in small and larger groups to develop ideas, scripts, characters, scenarios which can be turned into plays or used to stimulate individual creativity. Actors will be most valuable, both to read scripts but also to suggest ideas and possibly to improvise.

We very much look forward to seeing you there and kicking up our heels together".

7.30 at the North London Tavern.

Fakebook

Monday 15 February brings us a 65 minute stageplay entitled Fakebook, by P-P debutant, Glenda Cooper. She may be new to us, but Glenda is a seasoned writer and journalist currently completing a PhD on the influence of social media.  She was part of the Theatre 503 community playwrights scheme in 2015;  recent work infludes TODAY (Royal Court Theatre ‘Grit’ scratch night), KING ATHELSTAN AND CHUMS (co-writer, Rose Theatre Studio, Kingston) and OH YES, SHE DID (RWR, Theatre 5030.  She won the 2014 Poetic Republic and Writers’ Bureau short story prizes.  She tweets at @glendacooper and keeps her Facebook settings on maximum privacy.

 "How much do we rely on social media to form our memories, or define our identities?  Amy Lang thinks she is going mad and her husband Dan sorrowfully agrees; her memory is failing, and if she turns to her email, Facebook and Twitter pages, the information does not add up.  Then a stranger turns up at Amy’s door with a quite different set of memories".

7.30 at the North London Tavern.

Andrew Loudon

February 8th brings us a guest speaker, actor, writer and director, Andrew Loudon. He's got more credits than I've had hot dinners, and no fewer than three of his productions have transferred to the West End. As Tony Diggle explains:

TAKING A SCRIPT FROM THE BOTTOM

DRAWER TO THE WEST END

Andrew Loudon made his directorial debut in 1999, an adaptation by Emma Reeves of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women at the Pleasance, Edinburgh. The success of the show led to a further production at Sadler’s Wells in 2002 and its eventual arrival at the Duchess Theatre in 2004.

He has since directed other shows in the West End, most recently Cool Hand Luke at the Apollo Theatre in 2011 with Marc Warren in the lead. He has also had a long career as an actor appearing on stage and television. 

His regional theatre credits include Charles Ryder in the stage premiere production of Brideshead Revisited, and he has just appeared for a year as the father in the Railway Children at the Kings’ Cross Theatre. His television credits include Peak Practice, Absolutely Fabulous, Doctors and The Bill. He also writes, and has found time to appear in two of his own plays including Dangerous Play at the Arts Theatre. So there will be plenty to talk about during Q & A which might be sub-titled “How to survive in the theatre”!

Find out how he does it, at 7.30 at the North London Tavern.

Foul Deeds

Nothing beats a good old family reunion play ( and if you haven't written at least one, you aren't really trying ), and Monday February 1st brings us a new one by David Conway.

"It’s the day of the funeral of Richard O’Hara’s father.  There is a wake, toasting and dancing but there are also hints of dark secrets from the past. This is a drama about the dysfunctional side of Irish family life, with all its prejudices and inhibitions".

7.30 at the North London Tavern.

WHY DID THEY WRITE IT LIKE THAT? THE WRITER AS PUZZLE-SETTER, THE ACTOR AS DETECTIVE

Monday 18th January brings us a talk by acclaimed acting teacher John Hartoch, who leads an evening exploring how actors interpret the clues in the writer's words. Somewhere between a talk and a workshop (A Talkshop?) the evening will play with the extremes to which creative brains can go when concentrating on possible subtexts, and how easy it is to make inaccurate assumptions about characters we find on the page. Writers will be invited to contribute an instant rewrite of the exposition of a famous text so by all means bring along writing materials. Open to all, but newcomers will be asked for an annual membership fee of £12.

John Hartoch was until 2015 Head of Acting Courses at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he began training actors in 1979. He has a successful record as a theatre director and has written a number of stage adaptations, notably Kipling's Jungle Book, (Samuel French) which he directed at the Adelphi more years ago than he cares to remember.

7.30 at the North London Tavern.

Competition Play-Off

Monday January 18th is the second Monday of the new year, which means it's time for another P-P tradition, the competition play-off. There are three competitions a year, and the top two from each go through.And just because you came second, doesn't mean you can't win. I recall the one year I won a competition, I came last in the play-off. And the one that won had come second. So it isn't just down the writing, the cast and the audience all play their part.

Anyway, it's a good night. In between the counting there will be the added bonus of some words of wisdom from Napoleon Ryan and Sherryll Turnera who both went to Hollywood a few years' back to seek fame and fortune. You'll recognise them from both the photo above and the tan.

Be there at 7.30.

No More Secrets

We kick off the new year on January 11 at 7.30 pm with a strong and highly political 45-minute radio drama from the ever reliable Phil Mison.

Kieran is a heart on sleeve socialist but finding no role for his traditional journalism in the modern era. He remains boyishly enthusiastic but now frustrated as government in the UK has swung dramatically to the right following nuclear conflict in the Middle East and a hardening of attitudes across Europe in defending their traditional values. Kieran's socialism is quite out of step with the 'New Order' as he and his family come under suspicion - seen as enemies of the people. They look to pre-empt things by seeking exit visas from the UK to survive outside the system.

Much of the play deals with an interview before a formidable figure in 'National Security' who also happens to be an old friend from Kieran's past.