NEW MEMBERS
NEW MEMBERS
We welcome new members! Ever fancied being someone else? Well, acting is a great way of taking on a new persona. If you've never experienced the buzz of pulling off a dazzling performance and getting acclaim from an appreciative audience, we can give you that opportunity. We like to involve new members as soon as we can, even if that means only a small part at first. If you would rather work behind the scenes, there are plenty of roles for you to make your mark, including set-building and decorating, sound and lighting, props, costumes, make-up, prompt, publicity, front-of-house, refreshments as well as producer, stage manager and director.
We put on two productions a year - in May and November - and occasionally enter drama festivals too. Usually we discuss and select the next play as soon as we can after finishing the last one. After casting, we rehearse on Wednesday evenings for about 3 months, with Mondays added for about 2 months. For the two weekends before performance evenings (usually Wednesday through to Saturday) it's all hands on deck to help build the set, dress and paint it, then do a technical rehearsal.
We welcome new members! Ever fancied being someone else? Well, acting is a great way of taking on a new persona. If you've never experienced the buzz of pulling off a dazzling performance and getting acclaim from an appreciative audience, we can give you that opportunity. We like to involve new members as soon as we can, even if that means only a small part at first. If you would rather work behind the scenes, there are plenty of roles for you to make your mark, including set-building and decorating, sound and lighting, props, costumes, make-up, prompt, publicity, front-of-house, refreshments as well as producer, stage manager and director.
We put on two productions a year - in May and November - and occasionally enter drama festivals too. Usually we discuss and select the next play as soon as we can after finishing the last one. After casting, we rehearse on Wednesday evenings for about 3 months, with Mondays added for about 2 months. For the two weekends before performance evenings (usually Wednesday through to Saturday) it's all hands on deck to help build the set, dress and paint it, then do a technical rehearsal.
OUR PATRONS
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Following our triumphant world amateur premiere production of
we are thrilled that the authors,Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran,
have agreed to be our joint patrons.
Not only did they agree to Bartholomew Players being the first amateur group to put on this play, but also they came to our first reading and attended the Friday evening performance of our show and gave a talk afterwards and answered questions,
much to the delight of the capacity audience.
Lo and Mo have been writing hit comedies & dramas for TV, radio and the stage
for over four decades. Their most well-known works are Shine on Harvey Moon,
The New Statesman, Birds of a Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart.
They have recently written a book, Shooting the Pilot, which includes some of their most famous scripts as well as background accounts of their shows and are also embarking on a theatre tour, Blokes of a Feather, talking about their 40 years in the business. A musical and a film are also in the pipeline.
More details are on their website: www.marksandgran.com
We look forward to a long and rewarding association with Laurence and Maurice.
LAURENCE MARKS
Prior to becoming a sitcom writer, Laurence Marks was a reporter for a local weekly paper, the Tottenham Weekly Herald and he was also briefly a staff writer for The Sunday Times in the 1970s. He also worked as writer/researcher for Thames Television’s current affairs programme, This Week.
Following a chance encounter with comedy writer Barry Took, he and childhood friend Maurice Gran got an opportunity to write a radio show for comedian Frankie Howerd, which led to their becoming full-time comedy writers.
The rest, as they say, is history...
Some of their TV comedy-dramas include Shine on Harvey Moon and the popular sitcoms The New Statesman, Birds of a Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart. Their theatre works include Dreamboats and Petticoats, Von Ribbentrop’s Watch, Love Me Do, Playing God, Save the Last Dance for Me, and Dreamboats and Miniskirts.
Marks is an Arsenal fan and wrote the book A Fan for All Seasons, a diary of his life as a writer and an Arsenal supporter.
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MAURICE GRAN
Gran lived in Finsbury Park Road as a child and his father was the manager of a fabric shop in Soho. Upon leaving grammar school he rose to be the manager of the Job Centre in Tottenham, whilst writing scripts with Laurence Marks which they submitted
to the BBC.
The duo had begun writing together after they met at a discussion group for writers that was held within the British Drama League. They were given the opportunity to write a radio show for Frankie Howerd after a chance meeting with Barry Took.
The rest, as they say, is history...
Some of their TV comedy-dramas include Shine on Harvey Moon and the popular sitcoms The New Statesman, Birds of a Feather and Goodnight Sweetheart. Their theatre works include Dreamboats and Petticoats, Von Ribbentrop’s Watch, Love Me Do, Playing God, Save the Last Dance for Me, and Dreamboats and Miniskirts.
Gran is also the co-author (with Marks) of Prudence at Number 10, a fictional diary supposedly written by Gordon Brown's P.A.