Parlour Players
From the Chairman:
Hello, and welcome to the Parlour Players website. We’ve designed it to be easy to use and fun to read. On it you can find out all about the many and varied plays we have staged in the past and the details of our current production.
A little bit of our history …. The Parlour Players was formed in 1980, when a group of people connected to the Sanderstead United Reformed Church wanted to try their hand at presenting drama and, although there were quite a few amateur groups in the area, they were then less inclined to accept people without experience. The only answer was to start up our own group – so we did! The club was formed from people full of enthusiasm led by those few who already had experience of amateur drama. Calling ourselves the Parlour Players, after the name of one of the rooms in the church halls where we first met, our aims were to encourage anyone who wanted to try their hand at any part of a production – acting of course, but also set building, stage management, props, make-up, sound, lighting and front of house. No experience was required, just the willingness to join in and learn.
Learning as we went along, we progressed to costume drama and even a musical. We now present high quality shows that vary from comedy and thrillers to drama and murder mysteries. Our aim, however, has remained the same to this day. We are a very friendly group and everyone is made welcome, regardless of their experience or lack of it!
We still use the Sanderstead United Reformed Church hall as our base and all our shows are presented on the stage there. Our membership has expanded considerably since those far off days and members have never had to be connected to the Church to belong.
We present two plays each year – the first is early in May and the second early in November when we try and avoid competing with the fireworks on the 5th! Our first ever play – Murder in Company– was set on the stage of a church hall so no actual set was required and we could concentrate on learning the ropes.
At rehearsals, we usually have a break of about 10 minutes around 9pm, so that the cast can chat and catch up with each other – sometimes even about the play being rehearsed! Refreshments, which are always welcome, are served.
We celebrated our 30th Anniversary with a large cast production of The Pickwick Papers which meant involvement from almost every member, either on stage or off.
Plans for the celebration of our 40thAnniversary fell victim to Covid-19 but will be a dinner in 2021 to which as many previous members that we can track down will be invited. As well as being a grand occasion, there will be time to reminisce on our many productions and also, I suspect, on a few of the moments when things didn’t go quite according to plan but which, hopefully, the audience didn’t notice!
Take a look at our list of past productions on this website and see for yourself the wide variety of plays which we have presented over the past 40 years.
We have many kind supporters on our mailing list, who come along year after year and, through this, have also gained new members. The social side is important to us too and members get together for a variety of social occasions.
I hope you enjoy exploring this website and please contact the Chairman on chairman@parlourplayers.co.uk if you would like more information or are interested in joining us.
Theo Spring
Chairman