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Aims
Of The Players' Theatre Club
The
Players’ Theatre club began life almost 70 years ago. Like the
famous ‘Windmill’ shows, it can claim never to have closed
during the war, when it played in the basement of a building in Albemarle
Street. For many years its home was a theatre in Villiers Street,
but since March 2002 it has been homeless.
Over
many years it developed characteristics all of its own, of which the
following are examples:
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A
membership predominantly middle-aged to elderly, with a healthy
influx of younger people, (our Junior membership scheme brought
in 600 members 80% of whom transferred to full membership) who
were introduced to a gentle, witty, courteous, wholesome, participative
and pleasurable entertainment in contrast to the strident, crude
entertainment now so widely on offer. |
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Music Hall – with a largely Victorian flavour, but not averse
to using the best early to mid twentieth century musical compositions
that sit happily with the Victorian style and ambiance. |
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Pantomime – based on original 19th century plots, often
parodying classical and operatic dramas, but with topical inserts.
These invariably received high praise from the critics, and unlike
many modern pantomimes, were suited to audiences of all ages from
six or seven upwards. |
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Children’s
concerts featuring traditional entertainments: enormously popular
at Christmas time. |
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The “Players’ waits”: a carol-singing choir
providing a seasonal addition to Christmas programmes and linked
to a Carol Concert at St. Paul’s Covent Garden. |
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An excellent restaurant enabling theatre-goers to dine before
and after the show. (Solving a constant West-end problem!) The
dishes offered ranged from an inexpensive, hearty ‘Old-time’
club menu (Bangers and mash, followed by Spotted Dick) to more
exotic dishes. It was the perfect prelude to the show for parties
large and small and was licensed for weddings. |
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A
friendly bar for a relaxed drink before or after a show, or as
a rendezvous for club members just meeting sociably and not necessarily
attending a performance. |
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A
popular venue for clubs, societies, alumni groups wanting a special
even – especially favoured for reunions of old comrades
and Service organisations. |
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A strong appeal to overseas visitors, who love the irreverent,
quintessentially English flavour of the shows, and the unusual
welcome of the hoisting of their own flags – when available! |
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Club
rules that control membership admission, and also lay down rules
of behaviour. |
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A
policy of constantly looking for new talent, in particular the
New Faces programme, as well as the extensive auditions that used
to precede the annual Victorian pantomime. Many well-known artistes
have cut their performing teeth at the Players, as old programmes
indicate. |
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A practice of giving a particularly a warm welcome to artistes
appearing for the first time. |
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Close
liaison with schools, arranging visits to and from them. The content
of many Victorian songs and acts provides a fascinating, and often
blunt picture of the social conditions of the time from the point
of view of those experiencing them, whilst material often contains
reminders of the important contribution of the Victorian era to
Britain’s place in the world. |
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Close
liaison with further education colleges for actors, singers and
dancers, offering discounted membership and attendance, and opportunities
to assist in productions. (Young performers comment on the enormous
value of having live, reactive and appreciative audiences to play
to and with whom to develop their presentational skills.) |
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Close
liaison with organisations and associations providing social activities
for the elderly, who particularly appreciate the Players’
style of show, with opportunities for joining in choruses. |
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Occasional launches of new shows – for example “The
Boy Friend”. |
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Reliance
on the strength of individual voices (so important for artistes
learning to project their voices.) There was no amplification
equipment except for that linked to the induction loop for users
of hearing-aids, and also used for incidental music or sound-effects). |
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It is
our aim to reintroduce all these characteristics in a new, purpose-built,
compact theatre. The four elements of our activity will all be under
our control:
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The
landlord of the building will be a limited company “Craven
Players Limited” controlled by Players supporters, who will
ensure security of tenure. |
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The
fitting out and tenancy of the building, and the attainment of
our aims will be carried out by Players’ Joys limited. This
is a not-for-profit company, limited by guarantee and for which
we are seeking charitable status. Directors will be members of
the club. |
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Responsibility
for the day to day theatrical and commercial activities will be
contracted out by the charitable company to a management company
whose key task will be the generation of sufficient revenue to
meet the outgoings of the charitable company, and build up any
necessary reserves. |
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The
club will consist of subscription-paying members whose subscriptions
and any other contributions will be paid to the management company
to provide an assured cash stream. |
Recognizing
that the provision of Music Hall may not, of itself generate sufficient
surplus to meet our financial needs, we are designing the auditorium
so that it may be used for other purposes. We anticipate that its
facilities, convenient size, and central position: (adjacent to Charing
Cross station, near Embankment station, convenient for Waterloo station,
many bus routes within a few yards and literally within 50 yards of
Trafalgar Square), will be attractive to many social and business
organisations, and we shall ensure that, for example projection, computer,
and other presentation equipment is available.
Thus,
in short, we envisage a building which will serve a wide cross-section
of the public:
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People
of all ages seeking entertainment that they can enjoy and participate
in. |
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Parents
who want their children to have fun without innuendo and sleaze. |
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People
looking for a club that they can go to meet others with similar
interests. |
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Young
actors, singers and dancers needing somewhere to develop their
skills. |
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Educationists
looking for practical ways to put across social history. |
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Tourists
wanting a taste of authentic ‘Old England’. |
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Societies and other groups organising outings, or needing a venue
for meetings. |
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Business
people in need of a convenient venue for seminars, conferences,
product launches and the like. |
Appreciating
that the upper floors of 10 Craven Street are in residential use,
it is our aim to be good neighbours, and we are sensitive to the need
to minimise noise, especially in the evening. As stated above, our
audiences are predominantly middle-aged – and, almost by definition,
not rowdy. Also as stated we provide in our rules for withdrawing
membership from any member whose behaviour within the vicinity of
the Club’s premises could cause offence. We would not install
amplification systems other than a loop system for the hard of hearing,
and the minimum required for announcements, to play pre- and post-show
incidental music, create sound effects for pantomimes, or present
educational or other informative material.
We are
seeking consent to a use category that would permit the activities
described above and would accept conditions that did not permit use
for e.g. disco-type or other loud forms of entertainment
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