Category: Meetings

March 5th 2023 meeting

About the March 2023 meeting

All are welcome to attend our March meeting this Sunday 5th.

Advance notice There will shortly be a formal call for entries to Sussex Playwrights 2023 script writing competition.

Last time we had 48 entries. As before, this time we’ll be calling for volunteer readers to help review the entries and establish a long list and short list.

The competition will open for entries very soon. More details on the night.

See www.sussexplaywrights.co.uk and our Sussex Playwrights Facebook Page for news about the competitions as it develops.

Play readings We’re inviting you to bring along your short 10 minute two-hander pieces for reading and discussing on the night. Work in progress, performance-ready pieces, stage, audio, film scripts – everything welcome!

Members’ news Congratulations to Robert Cohen whose new novel Architecture for Beginners has just been published. www.waterstones.com/book/architecture-for-beginners/robert-cohen/9781914322143

Robert will be reading from and discussing his new novel at the April meeting.

Congratulations to Judy Upton whose Sussex set mystery thriller ‘Sniff Them Out, Brownlow!’ www.waterstones.com/book/sniff-them-out-brownlow/judy-upton/9781914322136 has a lovely review in the new issue of Ingenue Magazine p68 www.ingenuemagazine.co.uk/

Meeting details

Sunday March 5th 7-9pm

New Venture Theatre
Bedford Place
Brighton
BN1 2PT

In the bar as usual

Free to Sussex Playwrights members

Guests and friends: £3 on the door – includes wine/juice

February meeting

We read and discussed two extracts from plays in progress:

The Big Interview by John Laurenson

and

Shillingworth by Dave Patchett

Sussex Playwrights 2nd October 2022 meeting

October 2022 meeting news
September 2022 meeting report

October meeting – October 2nd 2022 7-9 pm:

All are welcome to attend our October meeting.

We’re inviting you to bring along your short two-hander pieces for reading on the night. Work in progress, performance-ready pieces, stage, audio, film scripts – everything welcome!

Sunday October 2nd 7-9pm

New Venture Theatre
Bedford Place
Brighton
BN1 2PT

In the bar as usual

Free to Sussex Playwrights members

Guests and friends £3 – includes wine/juice/nibbles

September meeting report – Members’ and visitors’ latest

Adrian Jameson of The Other Realm horror Theatre Company, is appearing in A Triptych of Wrath 22/23 October at Horror Fest, [14th to the 23rd of October], based around the Wellington and the Poets. More at https://www.facebook.com/btnhorrorfest

Robert Cohen, actor and writer of solo shows has his first novel Architecture for Beginners published by Hobart books. Robert is appearing in Sussex Playwrights’ friend Christine Foster’s play Lost in the Willows, on the life of Kenneth Grahame, from the 5th of October at the Rialto Theatre then a short tour. He’s also about to appear at the Rialto in Who Is Number One, a new play on the making of The Prisoner by Brian Mitchell and Joseph Nixon [of The Shark is Broken’], happening from mid October – news to come. https://www.rialtotheatre.co.uk/whats-on

John, a writer who has written his first comedy play, a two hander comedy, is looking for a Captain Mainwaring-esque character actor.

Philippa and Thomas have written and presented drama workshops for the New Venture Theatre and Reigate Theatre

Jenny Rowe, writer, actor and improv tutor presenting improvisation classes for actors in the region [also highly recommended for writers]

Honorary vice-president Judy Upton has a new novel out – Sniff Them Out, Brownlow, the adventures of pet detective Sophie Gorridge and sniffer dog Brownlow

Also welcomed Sophie, a writer from the arts magazine Monk and Bernard, film production director painter and actor

Wide ranging conversation covered:

Discussing venues for presenting new work in Brighton [the Poets venue was recommended], the concept of an experimental free fringe, how established venues are attracting an audience, the business of selling tickets for rehearsed readings and works in progress, frustrations around the Brighton Fringe ticket booking system, attracting donations via PayPal, writing workshops, Sussex Playwrights’ publishing plans, Brighton festival podcasts, taking shows to Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh venues and accommodation [what should one take?!], the heavyweight impression often given that Edinburgh is a comedy festival – is it even worth doing Theatre there, and is the BBC compliant in this image? How writers get discovered by the BBC, the route to stand-up comedians taking shows to Edinburgh, being ‘discovered’ then going on to write and appear in TV sitcoms … A lot covered in a two hour meeting!

October 3rd 2021 meeting report

Sussex Playwrights had a quiet time over lockdown, but on October 3rd 2021 we had our first face to face meeting at the New Venture Theatre Bar in eighteen months.

We might call it a soft re-launch – a careful, quiet coming back together again in a space, over a glass of wine, to chat about how we’ve been, what we’ve done, what we’ve seen.

As theatre gradually came back to life, we began seeing shows again over the summer and you can read some of our reviews over the year at this site.

We’ve met at the NVT bar the first Sunday of the month for decades with lockdown being our only break [we were all there in spirit!].

Our next meeting will be Sunday November 7th 7-9 pm.

Keep an eye on the website and the Facebook Page for the first formal Event notification.

We hope to see you then.

Philippa Hammond, chair

Lockdown January 2021 online meeting report

Sussex Playwrights suspended face to face meetings during the lockdown April 2020 – September 21.

We checked in with a podcast of a previous meeting, and then an online Zoom meeting on January 3rd 2021.

There followed a quiet period where although we did not meet either in person or online, we continued to celebrate Sussex Playwrights’ members’ and friends’ successes via our Facebook Page.

Do check out the Sussex Playwrights Facebook Page to see some of our reports.

 

January 2019 meeting

January report

We kicked off our 2020 with new writing, a glass of wine and great conversation with Sussex Playwrights.


Our guest, actor Heather-Rose Andrews, had just returned from her Christmas in New York where she performed Sam Chittenden’s adaptation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis, to audience and critical acclaim.


Heather was in conversation with Philippa discussing the business of adaptation, re-imagining a classic work for the stage, and performing in an iconic New York venue to great reviews.


And James Alexander Allen presented a reading by Tristan Woolf and Kevin Cherry from his latest script We Can Be Villains for discussion and analysis.


If you’d like to bring a short piece for a scratch reading on a club night, email Philippa Hammond chair@sussexplaywrights.co.uk

Sussex Playwrights April 2020 podcast

April meeting news

Sussex Playwrights announcement

Discussion, Performance, Readings and Networking
For all types of dramatic writing…
Theatre, film, radio, podcast, audiobook…
Sussex Playwrights has been promoting new writing since 1935.

Festivals have been postponed, theatres are closing down and the NVT have cancelled their current production, so in keeping with current advice we won’t be holding a Sussex Playwrights April meeting.

We hope you’ll understand that we’re being careful.

Sussex Playwrights goes temporarily virtual

For April, we’ll be launching our occasional podcast series, so you can enjoy an online ‘meeting’ with us at the usual time. Just click the arrow at the top of the post to listen.

Hear the conversations we held in February with Sussex Playwrights writer/actor members who produce, create and perform their own work on stage, on screen and online.

Featuring Janet Behan, Eddie Alford, Tristan Woolf, James Alexander Allen, Thomas Everchild and Philippa Hammond

April meeting details

Date: Sunday April 5th

Time: from 19.00 onwards

Place: your laptop, pad or phone at www.sussexplaywrights.co.uk

We hope to see you at the May meeting – we’ll keep you posted.

All welcome

Announcing the Podcast One Minute Fiction Challenge

Short writing challenges – flash fiction, writing prompts, etc – are very popular. We’ve been exploring some short fiction challenges recently with some success, and we’re going to introduce them to Sussex Playwrights online. News about how it works and how you can play coming soon.

Announcing the 2020-2021 Constance Cox Prize Playwriting Competition

With the rise and rise of Print On Demand publishing, we’re planning to promote writers and writing by publishing the first collection of plays for stage under the Sussex Playwrights brand. We touched on the theme of self publishing at the February meeting and we’ll be discussing the ins and outs of publishing your own work in more depth here soon, with insights from our Secretary Thomas Everchild.

Our next Constance Cox Prize Playwriting Competition will also be a call for entries for this collection.

Details will be published here soon.

2020 for your diary

TBA AGM – Please do attend the Sussex Playwrights AGM for your chance to stand for election in a committee post, vote for candidates and have a say in how the Club is run. Posts:
Chair
Vice Chair
Secretary
Treasurer
Committee members
If you would like to stand for one of these posts, or if you would like any motion discussed at the AGM, please email Philippa Hammond chair@sussexplaywrights.co.uk

Virtual meeting dates May 3 Jun 7 Jul 5 Aug 2 – news as we get it

If you’d like to discuss recording a short piece of your writing for inclusion in a future podcast, please email Philippa Hammond chair@sussexplaywrights.co.uk

See you soon.

 

September 2019

Kick off a dramatic autumn with Sussex Playwrights

Kick off a dramatic autumn with the next Sussex Playwrights meeting this Sunday September 1st – all welcome.

Our special guests had all just returned from the Edinburgh experience, with audience and critical acclaim to their credit!

We discussed their work producing, writing and performing new drama at the Fringe.

Magician, comedian, actor, writer, corporate presenter, paranormal sceptic, bon viveur Paul Zenon discussing

Trust Me!

‘The master at work …’ Must See Show [Fringe Review]
Review

Different Theatre – Writer, producer, director, actor Sam Chittenden discussing

Sary

‘a beautiful piece of theatre, crafted with elegance and passion …’ [Fringe Review]
Review

Metamorphosis

‘Assiduously constructed and impressively acted, Different Theatre’s female-oriented Metamorphosis rings with a new voice …’ [A Younger Theatre]
Review

Bite-Size Plays – Producer and driving force behind this Brighton and Edinburgh phenomenon, Nicolas Brice discussing and performing with Philippa a short play from the menu; ‘Vintage’, by Lucy Kaufman.

The Big Bite Size Breakfast Show

‘a winning formula for good plays … guaranteed good theatre.’ [The British Theatre Guide], shortlisted for the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award

Review