Participatory play readings

The concept is simple: we read a play together out loud in good company. Everyone who wants to gets a chance to read, but it’s perfectly okay just to listen. Copies of the script will be available to participants during the event. Please note that play readings are not performances.

After the reading, we hang around for a bit to chat about the play and other things. Remember to bring your own snacks and refreshments.

We often read plays to see if anyone is interested in putting on a production, or to give actors the chance to familiarise themselves with a play in advance of upcoming auditions. Play readings may also act as script workshops – the playwright wants to hear the play read aloud and get feedback in order to edit the play before the first performance. 

ADMISSION is free, but a small voluntary entrance fee on-location would be greatly appreciated to help cover our venue and printing costs.

New play readings will be added to the “upcoming” list as they are decided upon.

NEXT READING:

More readings TBA…

2024 UPCOMING READINGS

More readings TBA…

2024 PAST READINGS

FRIDAY 1 MARCH at 6:30 PM
The Auctioning of an Angel by Tony Herman

THURS 16 MAY at 6:30 PM
What the meadow whispered to the summer nightingales
by Tony Herman

THURS 19 JUNE at 7 PM
A contemporary satire

WEDS 14 AUGUST at 7-9:30 PM
The Last of the Wild Bees by Vladislav Nenchev

The August reading will be a script workshop and chance to read the play in advance of the auditions on Saturday 31 August. The reading will be led by Vladislav Nenchev, who is looking for both feedback on the script and actors interested in an autumn production.

THE PLAY
This is the not-so-distant future of ours, in which all species of wild bees have gone extinct. The Wild Bees of Ettlingen, often addressed just as “The Bees”, is a small volunteer organization dedicated to taking care of the forests and meadows which have lost their most impactful natural pollinators.

We focus on four of the most pivotal members of The Bees as they prepare for one of their regular “flights”. Even though they have plenty of flights behind their backs, this one is not going that well. In fact, it’s gearing up to be a monumental disaster, as multiple conflicts, rivalries, and personal problems threaten the future of these guardians of the memory of lost species. Will The Bees survive these troubles, or will they ultimately join the actual wild bees in history?

ORGANISED BY: The Finn-Brit Players

SUN 1 SEPTEMBER at 1–4 PM
Purge by Sofi Oksanen

THE PLAY
Purge is a chilling drama of two generations of women. Set in the occupied Estonia of the 1940s and again in the same country fifty years later, the play grapples with the realities of a new Europe.

The September reading will be a chance for actors to familiarise themselves with the play in advance of a preliminary casting session on Sunday 8 September.

ORGANISED BY: The Finn-Brit Players