March 2010 - May 2010 Meeting

May 2010 Club Meeting

by Trevor Harvey

When Autumn Leaves

by Stuart Pursell

Members were pleased to welcome Stuart Pursell who had travelled from London on a cold May evening to hear a reading of his play, which had won the SPC's full-length play competition in 2009.
 
Roy Kendall, a belligerent 71-year-old, is a resident at a nursing home.  When his roommate dies, Ron hopes to be placed in single accommodation but, despite the attempts of his son David to help, the new manager (Meredith) claims there is nothing suitable.  Angela, a young nurse, maintains a good rapport with Ron wheras Meredith seems more concerned with a forthcoming inspection and with balancing the books.
 
Ron's new roommate is 86-year-old Jack, who is dying of cancer and is an unwelcome face from the past.  Both men recognise one another and, through flashbacks, Ron's nightmare memories of childhood sexual assaults by Jack are re-awoken.  Ron is persuaded to confide in Angela who betrays his trust by telling both Meredith and David; however, Meredith doubts Ron's word and only provides him a camp bed in the lounge.  As he is in such pain, Jack asks Ron to help him end his life - but Ron refuses and it is left to Angela to resolve the situation.
 
The first twenty minutes of the play had set the scene and introduced some humour but members felt it could benefit from a little cutting and reworking. Neil McKellar stated that, from the arrival of Jack and with Ron's subsequent nightmare scene, the play told a gripping story that was given a good reading by the cast. Characterisation was clearly established (including that of fellow resident Jim, who takes bets on which of the residents will die next!)
and the dialogue was well written and effective.
 
One possible challenge for staging is that the actor who plays the elderly, bedridden Jack has also to 'appear' as a younger Jack in several scenes. However, the difficulty of portraying a 'memory' on stage could be overcome by changes of lighting.  Once we had discovered the nature of the horror that was troubling Ron, Giles Cole thought the script became a little repetitive and slightly drifted away again as we were back with the younger Ron and Jack. Anita Gilson said the news of David's adoption was a good development in explaining the uneasy relationship between father and son but perhaps needed to come slightly earlier.
 
Stuart Pursell thanked members for their comments and the cast for their reading.  He agreed that the opening might need a little attention and said that he had found the comments about Ron's development particularly helpful.
 
Members agreed that the play was a worthy winner and wished Stuart every success with its future development and placement. We hope he will keep SPC informed of its progress.
 
The readers were Nicholas Quirke, Anita Gilson, Patti Page, Dennis Evans, Mike Rowlands and Giles Cole, with stage directions from Terence Deadman.
 

April 2010 Club Meeting

by Trevor Harvey

I'm On The Bus

by Olive Holman

Following the AGM, there was a reading of a radio play by Olive Holman.  Set on a bus, it introduces a wide range of passengers making a journey on what turns out to be a far from usual day.  These included various young children out with their father and their mothers, two elderly ladies on their way to enjoy a weekly hot lunch at a local Church, and a teenage girl and her mother who have been on a fruitless shopping expedition for shoes.  Suddenly they find themselves caught in a traffic jam in one-way St George's Road and they gradually grow more agitated because of the lengthy delay.  No one knows why the road is blocked, so some of the passengers decide to leave the bus and to make their way on foot. Eventually, the driver and two bus inspectors guide the remaining passengers from the bus and back down the road - at which point an explosion is heard.
 
The play aroused much discussion.  Some felt that the dialogue - although often amusing - was, at present, too everyday and isolated and that there should be more cross-talk between the various groups of passengers.  Others disagreed with this point and said they did not think bus passengers would behave in that way.  A number wished the reading had included some sound effects (traffic, chatter on the bus, footsteps on the stairs, etc.). [I am afraid this was my fault, as I had persuaded Olive it would be difficult to arrange and carry out.]  The production details for much of the current action, however, would make it very difficult to convey the images through sound alone.  For it to become a radio play, some of the visual elements would need to be carefully incorporated into fresh dialogue and sound effects.
 
It was suggested that at least one of the passengers might be given a more dramatic reason for making the journey and that the play would benefit from having fewer characters. One member had found the ending - the explosion - distasteful (remembering the London bombings) but others disagreed.
 
Several said they thought it was an interesting idea for a play.  Olive said she had intended it to be open-ended, for the audience to decide for themselves what may have happened.
 
The readers were Thomas Everchild, Philippa Hammond, Josephine Carter, Denise Boxall, Terence Deadman, Jenny Leworthy, Anita Gilson and Trevor Harvey. Olive said she was pleased with the play's reception and thanked the readers for their presentation.ng at the club on

Annual General Meeting

Twenty-six people attended the AGM and there were four apologies for absence. The Chairman, Nicholas Quirke, thanked members for their support during the year and also thanked the committee - making special mention of Dennis Evans, who has now retired as the Club's Secretary after thirteen years in the post; Jerry Attwood, who took over as Treasurer last year; and Trevor Harvey, who now edits the quarterly newsletter.  Members will be pleased to know that Dennis is remaining as a member of the committee and the Chairman thanked him for all his hard work in making sure that the Club has run so smoothly. The role of Secretary is a time-consuming one and Dennis has always given of his time unstintingly. In appreciation of this, on behalf of SPC members, the Chairman presented Dennis with a card and gift tokens.
 
The minutes of the 74th AGM were then read and approved.  Matters arising included Paul Moriarty's agreement to read the final ten scripts (instead of six) from those submitted for the annual competition.  This received the meeting's approval.  Dennis Evans reported that the request for readings of shorter plays had in part been met with TAKE SIX and three short pieces by Trevor.
 
Dennis Evans then gave the Secretary's report for the past year, which included the number of plays read, the number of entries received for the annual play competition (43), membership (51) and the average attendance (24) at meetings.
 
Jerry Attwood presented the Club's financial report and answered questions. These included a query about the low amount of interest that our investment had received in comparison with 2008. It was explained that this was due to the current financial situation and the fact that, sadly, accounts run by societies do not attract the same rates as personal accounts.  The Club's deficit against income for the year to 31st December 2009 was £921, although the general reserve (£9,874) is still very healthy.  The honorarium (set at £500 by the committee for 2009) will this year be reduced to £100.  Jerry also kindly offered to arrange for someone to officially audit the Club's accounts.
 
As no-one at the meeting was willing to stand as Secretary, the post will be split so that the workload will be less onerous and it will be decided which members of the committee will take on these various duties.  The Chairman and Secretary were re-elected unopposed, as were the remaining committee members (Bea Mitchell Turner, Rex Baker and Dennis Evans). Trevor Harvey  (who had been co-opted onto the committee in September 2009) and two new committee members, Carole Bremson and Patti Page, were proposed and elected.  Jenny Leworthy is standing down, having completed her three-year term of office.
 
Several items were raised under Any Other Business.  The meeting decided that Membership Cards were unnecessary, as detailed records were kept of those who had paid.  Nicholas Quirke felt frustrated that - as Chairman - he was not able to circulate at meetings because, during the interval, he was always serving at the bar.  It was suggested that a rota should be set up - and Rex Baker kindly took over as barman at the meeting.  Trevor Harvey  suggested that we might have a practical writing session sometime, run by a guest tutor, with ideas and starting points for members to try.  The meeting agreed this would be useful.  Giles Cole mentioned the Club's excellent website and the need to keep the placing of monthly reports up-to-date, which was receiving attention. Philippa Hammond asked if some of the Club's reserves could be spent on advertising and trying to attract new members. Thomas Everchild , Anita Gilson and others suggested various publications, including The Argus, and Trevor Harvey said he was contacting BBC Radio Sussex. He has also written a short piece about the Club which had been accepted by WRITERS' NEWS for a future 'Spotlight' feature in the monthly magazine.  Several members felt the Club should participate in next year's Brighton Festival, as had been the case in the past.
 

March 2010 Club Meeting

by Neil Mckeller

Monkey Jungle

by Mike Rowlands

The play reading at the club on Sunday March 7th was Monkey Jungle by Mike Rowlands. Written as a cartoon or animated film the script was slightly amended to accommodate a cast of thousands within the abilities of ten readers and a narrator.

 Bearing more than a passing resemblance to 'Animal Farm' the story described the struggle between a variety of primates within a community, telling how they overcome human-like frailties while learning to live together.

Maybe, some of the audience felt, six groups were too many causing a difficulty in differentiating between them all. The readers did a good job in conveying the tribes by using dialect but I found it acceptable in almost every case. When I closed my eyes I could imagine the boisterous activity of the monkeys as they played with or fought against others in the territory.

The action built up from conflict over pathways, encroaching over each other's land, learning to understand each other and accepting others for what they were. All the while Man is eroding the territory in order to enhance his own agenda by cutting down the forest. As a result of urgent talks between the monkeys they decide that a Forest Council be formed to try and work for the good of the settlements. This should avoid the anticipated bloodbath. However taxes rise with emergence of Satan, the leader of the Colobus Monkeys who usurps power.

 Thus we begin to understand that the play is an allegory for our times, a subtle analogy of civilisation with its political manoeuvring. It is not the survival of the fittest that counts, but the strength and ruthlessness of the Dictator. All is well when the Monkeys realise that what they have created is not the answer. Common sense prevails.

The discussion that followed the reading was spirited. Everyone felt the play was worthwhile and the author should persevere although his seeming reluctance to enthusiastically develop the piece was unfortunate.

With so many cartoons, new film technology dominating our screens and award ceremonies there is every opportunity for such a story to be told. It was inventive enough to become very successful in the commercial sector. Mike Rowlands was encouraged to develop his story still further.

A strong cast of readers were largely excellent with a fine ensemble playing which brought the characters to life. I could see them swinging through the branches with carefree abandon..

The dialogue moved the action along, including such gems as 'you can't have your banana and eat it.' The play's message that 'democracy doesn't always work' was somewhat Brechtian in this truly epic reading.