Play Reading 1
Meets: Tuesdays, 2.00pm-4.00pm, weekly
Venue: Echo Centre, behind Emmanuel Church
Group Leader: Sally Melvin
Further Details: Send a message using contact button
The Play Reading 1 group has been meeting –and reading plays – since our U3A began.
Over the years we have read – and enjoyed ! – such a wide variety of plays; from Alan Ayckbourne’s comedies of manners, discovering their darker undersides; to Oscar Wilde and his famous “handbag” in “The Importance of Being Earnest”; from the Jewish suburb of Queens in New York – Ivan Menchells’ “The Cemetery Club” to a small town somewhere in the depths of Russia – Nikolai Gogol’s “The Government Inspector”. We have laughed out loud at comedies such as Bill Naughton’s “Spring and Port Wine” ; but empathised with the characters in tragedies such as Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman”.
We understand more how plays “work”: the importance of such things as a letter, a phone call ,the sudden knock on the door; devices which twist and propel the plot towards its conclusion. We have seen how playwrights influence each other . We have a chance to be someone else whether a scheming murderer as in Patricia Highsmith’s “Strangers on a Train” or a once wealthy Russian landowner as in Anton Chekhov’s “The Cherry Orchard”.
We read reviews from the press when “our” play is being performed . We remember productions we have seen ,or television versions or films. We bring our own personal experiences to the discussions.
How do we choose who reads which part? - we simply choose the names from a pile of name cards; everyone having a turn during the session.
Our thanks go to the library service at Ormesby and Saltburn for supplying us with sets of plays.
At present the group is full—15 members. I keep and use a waiting list. Please contact me using the message box on the top right of this page if you are at all interested.
A SELECTION OF SOME OF THE PLAYS THAT WE HAVE READ AND ENJOYED TOGETHER.
Lady Windermere’s Fan Oscar Wilde
Calendar Girls Tim Firth
Journey’s End R.C.Sheriff
Philadelphia Here We Come Brian Friel
The Wild Duck H. Ibsen
Wait until Dark Frederick Knott
Spring and Port Wine Bill Naughton
The Voysey Inheritance Harley Granville Barker
The Cherry Orchard Anton Chekhov
Flare Path Terence Rattigan
The Reluctant Debutante William Douglas Home
Just between Ourselves Alan Ayckbourn
Time of My Life Alan Ayckbourn
Building Blocks Bob Larbey
The Rivals Sheridan
A Flea in her Ear Feydeau
A Murder Has Been Arranged Emlyn Williams
Dangerous Corner J.B. Priestley
Glass town Noel Robinson
An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestley
The Winslow Boy Terence Rattigan