Against a background of early One Act Play festivals and a previous small compilation show called Ages and Stages, the idea of having a travelling show came to our minds back in 2017. Our initial concept was two fold: to have a little fun by providing something different for our members, and to bring live theatre out to people who may not have come in to see some of our shows before.

We had come across some great little One Act plays through an English play writing competition called Pintsized Plays, which we realised were perfect to quickly put together to form a full evening’s entertainment. Even better - no set, minimal props and low productions costs meant we could do this on a shoe-string budget. All we needed then was a group of us who could tackle all the jobs normally required to bring a show to stage, but in miniature.... and so Playing Around was born.

Once underway, it didn’t take long for us to realise that in doing this we were actually achieving more than we had initially envisaged. Playing Around was offering:

• short involvement, small commitment, bite sized theatre experiences

• mentoring for newer members by more experienced Society members

• the chance for people to try their hand at all different aspects of theatre productions, thus strengthening the Society’s skill base

• the challenge of moving to different venues with a range of different stage areas, which fostered adaptability and creativeness.

Starting with Pintsized Plays, we have since expanded out to Lazy Bee Scripts, and to plays written by our very own Denise Dent. In this 2023 iteration, we have a first – a play workshopped and written at a local playwriting day.

Playing Around is one of those gifts that keeps on giving!

Ngaire Taylor