OVER THREE QUARTERS OF A CENTURY IN THE SPOTLIGHT

85 Plus years old and still going strong — The Wanstead Players is probably the oldest amateur drama group in the area.

The Wanstead Players was born in the drawing room of Mr. and Mrs. Alger’s house in Seagry Road, Wanstead. Woodford had successful amateur drama societies so why not Wanstead? In 1923, Edgar Bishop brought together a group of friends to create a band of keen "thespians". The first play, "The Unknown Quantity" was performed in the Drummond Room, Wanstead on April 24 1924. At that time the Drummond Room was lit by gas and the stage had gas floats and gas pendants that were highly inefficient for stage plays. So car headlamps were used for stage lighting. The Company consisted of six members.

The following year, the Company moved to Grove Hall in Wanstead which was to be its home for twenty-three years, and where it performed costume dramas on a large stage specifically designed and erected by its own team. There was no subscription or membership fee in those days. Membership grew by "invitation" at a time when audiences wore formal evening dress to the theatre. In 1927, the run was extended to three nights and the following year it gave its first London performance at the Blackfriars Theatre in New Bridge Street, a delightful bijou theatre that seated 150 people.

A large cable had to be laid in Grove Hall to carry the increased electric lighting now required by these elaborate productions

1929 was a memorable year when the Company first appeared as THE WANSTEAD PLAYERS with "And So To Bed" with the same beautiful costumes and wigs as used at the Savoy Theatre. It was sold out a week before the play opened. .

In 1930, the first of a number of plays was performed at the Wanstead High School, and in 1934 the Wanstead Players made their first appearance at the Central Hall Stansted, where they were entertained in the lovely Stansted Hall before the performance, improvising elaborate productions on a tiny stage, and driving home through the night in a motor coach with the dress baskets, props etc following in a lorry.

At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the gay unreality of the amateur stage gave way to the grim reality of war. It was not until 1947 that the Wanstead Players reappeared at the Grove Hall.

In 1949, the Wanstead Players moved to the Royal Wanstead School. When it closed seven years later, the Sir James Hawkey Hall became home, followed by the in-the-round theatre at Wanstead High School.

Today the Kenneth More theatre in Ilford provides the Wanstead Players with all that a modern day theatre has to offer and since 1976 has given this successful amateur company the opportunity to stage many ambitious plays.

The curtain has gone up on such productions as The Lion in Winter, Canterbury Tales, Woman of No Importance, Plaza Suite, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, Cowardy Custard and Terra Nova, and more recently Teechers, The School Mistress, Educating Rita, The Last Yankee, Taking Sides, Murder In The Cathedral, The Haunting of Hill House, The Rivals, A Man For All Seasons, Month of Sundays, Oh What A Lovely War, Journeys End, The Price and more recently Memory of Water and Major Barbara.

Tragedies, farces, dramas, comedies and musicals by such authors as Shakespeare, Dickens, Ibsen, Priestley, Wilde, Shaw, Orton, Ayckbourn, Godber, Noel Coward, and award-winning Ted Tally have been produced by a talented group of actors and technicians.

The Wanstead Players boasts its own backstage crew of creative set designers, lighting and sound engineers, many of whom also double up and take their part in the spotlight.

Members now come from a wide area including Barking, Buckhurst Hill, Ilford, Leyton, Leytonstone, Loughton, Redbridge, Stratford, Theydon Bois, Woodford, and Wanstead, as well as Bath, Sawbridgeworth, Sidmouth, and Southampton.

To commemorate the Wanstead Players’ 70th anniversary, the Company staged as its 69^th production, a unique production of "A Tale of Two Cities" especially adapted by its then Chairman, utilising every spare member in the crowd scenes that opened the opportunity for many new members too.

Over the years, the Wanstead Players has introduced eager amateurs to tread the boards, fired their enthusiasm and provided the grounding that led some to greater heights - Louise Jameson, Don Henderson, Tony Robinson , and more recently Ricky Davis who is currently in Eastenders as Gary - to name but a few.

Anyone who would like to join the Wanstead Players, or would like to be included on the mailing list, or who is interested in more information, please contact the Wanstead Players’ membership Secretary,

janet.macpherson@wansteadplayers.org.uk

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OVER THREE QUARTERS OF A CENTURY IN THE SPOTLIGHT 85 Plus years old and still going strong — The Wanstead Players is probably the oldest amateur drama group in the area. The Wanstead Players was born in the drawing room of Mr. and Mrs. Alger’s house in Seagry Road, Wanstead. Woodford had successful amateur drama societies so why not Wanstead? In 1923, Edgar Bishop brought together a group of friends to create a band of keen "thespians". The first play, "The Unknown Quantity" was performed in the Drummond Room, Wanstead on April 24 1924. At that time the Drummond Room was lit by gas and the stage had gas floats and gas pendants that were highly inefficient for stage plays. So car headlamps were used for stage lighting. The Company consisted of six members. The following year, the Company moved to Grove Hall in Wanstead which was to be its home for twenty-three years, and where it performed costume dramas on a large stage specifically designed and erected by its own team. There was no subscription or membership fee in those days. Membership grew by "invitation" at a time when audiences wore formal evening dress to the theatre. In 1927, the run was extended to three nights and the following year it gave its first London performance at the Blackfriars Theatre in New Bridge Street, a delightful bijou theatre that seated 150 people. A large cable had to be laid in Grove Hall to carry the increased electric lighting now required by these elaborate productions 1929 was a memorable year when the Company first appeared as THE WANSTEAD PLAYERS with "And So To Bed" with the same beautiful costumes and wigs as used at the Savoy Theatre. It was sold out a week before the play opened. . In 1930, the first of a number of plays was performed at the Wanstead High School, and in 1934 the Wanstead Players made their first appearance at the Central Hall Stansted, where they were entertained in the lovely Stansted Hall before the performance, improvising elaborate productions on a tiny stage, and driving home through the night in a motor coach with the dress baskets, props etc following in a lorry. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, the gay unreality of the amateur stage gave way to the grim reality of war. It was not until 1947 that the Wanstead Players reappeared at the Grove Hall. In 1949, the Wanstead Players moved to the Royal Wanstead School. When it closed seven years later, the Sir James Hawkey Hall became home, followed by the in-the-round theatre at Wanstead High School. Today the Kenneth More theatre in Ilford provides the Wanstead Players with all that a modern day theatre has to offer and since 1976 has given this successful amateur company the opportunity to stage many ambitious plays. The curtain has gone up on such productions as The Lion in Winter, Canterbury Tales, Woman of No Importance, Plaza Suite, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, Cowardy Custard and Terra Nova, and more recently Teechers, The School Mistress, Educating Rita, The Last Yankee, Taking Sides, Murder In The Cathedral, The Haunting of Hill House, The Rivals, A Man For All Seasons, Month of Sundays, Oh What A Lovely War, Journeys End, The Price and more recently Memory of Water and Major Barbara. Tragedies, farces, dramas, comedies and musicals by such authors as Shakespeare, Dickens, Ibsen, Priestley, Wilde, Shaw, Orton, Ayckbourn, Godber, Noel Coward, and award-winning Ted Tally have been produced by a talented group of actors and technicians. The Wanstead Players boasts its own backstage crew of creative set designers, lighting and sound engineers, many of whom also double up and take their part in the spotlight. Members now come from a wide area including Barking, Buckhurst Hill, Ilford, Leyton, Leytonstone, Loughton, Redbridge, Stratford, Theydon Bois, Woodford, and Wanstead, as well as Bath, Sawbridgeworth, Sidmouth, and Southampton. To commemorate the Wanstead Players’ 70th anniversary, the Company staged as its 69^th production, a unique production of "A Tale of Two Cities" especially adapted by its then Chairman, utilising every spare member in the crowd scenes that opened the opportunity for many new members too. Over the years, the Wanstead Players has introduced eager amateurs to tread the boards, fired their enthusiasm and provided the grounding that led some to greater heights - Louise Jameson, Don Henderson, Tony Robinson , and more recently Ricky Davis who is currently in Eastenders as Gary - to name but a few. Anyone who would like to join the Wanstead Players, or would like to be included on the mailing list, or who is interested in more information, please contact the Wanstead Players’ membership Secretary, janet.macpherson@wansteadplayers.org.uk Back to the Foyer