Ottershaw Players Theatre Company
In common with The National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and London’s West End, OTTERSHAW PLAYERS, one of Runnymede’s longest established and artistically most successful local Community Theatre groups is preparing to “get the show back on the road” after 18 months absence of live performances during the Covid pandemic lock-down.
The Players, a multi award-winning group, will be re-opening on September 24/25th at our “home base” in Ottershaw Village Hall (OVH) with a double- bill evening of one-act comedies:
“Me and You” by Tony Domaille, followed by
“Blind Date” by Peter Quilter. To be directed by Claire White -Aldworth, who also directed our much acclaimed 50th Anniversary production of “Calendar Girls”.
Founded in 1963 as “Ottershaw Christ Church Young Wives Drama group”, the group started performing at “Brook Memorial Hall” (now OVH), establishing a long-standing link with the village and its resident community. Building on their reputation for good entertainment and first-class productions, The Players also began entering competitive local and national Drama Festivals, subsequently collecting numerous awards.
Following the opening in 1976 of the new Rhoda McGaw Theatre (RMT) in Woking, The Players started a series of full length plays and productions, staged to professional standards, at that well-equipped venue. But Green Room productions, plays for and with children, and our famous (infamous!) annual musical revues, “The Farragos”, continued at Brook Hall. By now The Players had gathered a large membership and regular following from around NW Surrey. During this period, we also built our own Scenery Workshop, Storage and Rehearsal space at a site leased from RBC in Hare Hill.
In 1989, the RMT ‘went dark’ while the new Peacock Centre and a major new entertainments complex was built, to include the Ambassador Group’s “New Victoria Theatre”. The “RMT” was also refurbished and improved. In 2003, The Players re-started their bi-annual major productions there, which continued for another decade and more.
During our 58 years existence, The Players have staged and performed approaching 300 productions, with an emphasis on quality drama, classical plays, and premiering new plays written both by our own members and well-known playwrights. Photos from many of our previous productions can be viewed on our Web site (select Gallery).
For details on our forthcoming productions, how to book tickets, and how to join in, go to our Web-site: www.ottershawplayers.co.uk
We look forward to welcoming you back to our future productions, either as participants or as supporting audience members.
As one famous playwright (nearly) said, “All the World’s a Stage, and (all) the Men and Women (performers) are The Players”!
Alan Wakefield, Hon. President, OPs