About Us

St Lawrence Players is a group of people from the Eastcote, Middlesex area, who produce three productions a year just for the fun of it! We are based at St Lawrence Church.

Since our first production in 1935, The Players have produced over 200 productions - repeating a couple of favourite plays and musicals!

Exact details from that time have been lost to history. However, from time to time, we unearth old records and information.

Our first production in 1935 was Epiphiany Mystery Play on June 9 and 10, was followed by Holy Nativity on 15 & 16 June 1936, items at a Parish Social on 6 June 1937 and The Wrong Flat, a short play at a Parish Social on 5 January 1938.

This led to the formation of St Lawrence "Mummers" who produced:

The Man on the Sofa and The Old Geyser on 27 April 1938,
Pearly Pearls on 10 December 1937 and
Too Many Brides and Matrimonial Agent on 15 April 1939

In 1940, activities were suspended.

St Lawrence Juvenile Players formed after success of Christmas Play, January 1945.

1945 saw a production of scenes from Alice in Wonderland on 23 June (Summer Fete - Miss Angell),
two scenes from Alice and concert items July ? - Miss Angell
Hansel and Gretel and Darkie Lord 3 November (afternoon & evening).

1946 - Nativity Play (series tableaux) - 26 January (afternoon & evening),
A Show (no title) 25 May,
Mystery Play 22 December - Miss Angell

1947 The Butler's Dream and Gypsies O May 10 (Sat afternoon & evening)
Mystery Play Dec ?
The Sleeping Beauty Dec ? / Jan 1948

In 1948 (or possibly earlier), in the days of Father Godwin, Miss Angell organised a dramatic group for young people.

With the success of this junior group, a senior group was formed and soon the two merged to form what has become today's St Lawrence Players. In these early days, subscription to The Players was 3d, there were four productions a year, including entertainment after the Summer Fete, and scenery was made from kitchen linoleum! Recently some earlier details have come to light.

Founder members of The Players remember Fr. Godwin helping them in any way he could. Not only did rehearsals sometimes last until four in the morning but also stagehands, on one occasion, borrowed the carpet from Fr. Godwin's bedroom while he was sick in bed!

Father Hitchinson came to St Lawrence Church in 1956 and with him came stricter rules. Membership to The Players was open only to communicants. In one performance when a stage bird failed to appear, the actor was heard to mutter "where's the bloody robin?" As they left, Father Hitchinson apologised to every member of the audience. Had this occurred at the October 1978 production of A Voyage Round My Father he would only have had to apologise to twelve people!

At the beginning of 1959, St. Laurence became St. Lawrence.

A few years ago, The Players almost took their last curtain call. Legislation and public safety rules nearly caused the end of the group. Having made considerable changes to the scenery, back stage area, hall and working procedures, The Players will continue to delight audiences and add to its ever-growing anthology of past productions.

The Players two year interegnum without hall lights came to an end for the October 2017 production. Sound facilities are still very primitive but it will be some time befiore that is tackled.

2017 marked the fiftieth year in which Dorothy and Malcolm Bentote have been members of Players. In the programme for the May production that year, they wrote an interesting, brief rememberance of those years. You can read it in Fifty years on ...

Thanks to Jean Gibson who unearthed some early information previous to the originally believed 1948 starting date of the current St. Lawrence Players and kindly passed it along to us.