Hope Mill Theatre’s Play Reading Club has celebrated its third birthday, with the event thriving during the pandemic.
Established in early 2017 the drop-in group, which meets from 11am to 1pm on the last Friday of every month, now has over 40 participants, who enjoy reading aloud a play together.
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During the pandemic the Play Reading Club has provided a way for theatre-lovers to connect, reading a variety of different plays by different playwrights. Events have including works from William Shakespeare to Arthur Miller and anything from adaptions to new plays by Manchester-based writers.
The Play Reading Club is open to professional and non-professional performers, meeting monthly via Zoom, facilitated by Manchester-based actress Janelle Thompson.
In 2020 the Ancoats venue also took their Play Reading Club out into the wider community and hosted a session with charities Mood Swings and Mary and Joseph House allowing their users to participate in, in a safe and fun way – something the venue plans to repeat in the future with other local charities.
Originally the venue charged a small fee for the session, but thanks to a grant from I Love Manchester as well as funding from the Culture Recovery Fund, the group is now free of charge with participants invited to make a voluntary donation if they wish.
Speaking about the project, Janelle Thompson said, “I am absolutely delighted to be joining the team and facilitating this wonderful, long standing project. I’m really looking forward to reading new works and seeing old favourites in a different light.”
Joseph Houston, Artistic Director, of Hope Mill Theatre, said: “It has been incredible to see how our Play Reading Club has grown since opening Hope Mill. It has always been, and continues to be, a great asset to our organisation and our charitable aims to inspire, connect and challenge the local community. I am glad that we have managed to maintain the group though the pandemic and have received much-needed funding to make it free for participants.
“Of course there are challenges, and not all of our users are able to access the group online. As soon as it is possible and safe to do so we will be hosting our Play Reading Group live again from the venue.
“It’s amazing to see such an amazing group of people from a range of different backgrounds, ages, races, genders and localities coming together to read a range of works from the world of plays – it is truly inspiring. You don’t have to be a professional actor to attend, although some participants are. It’s about the reading and listening and exploring plays, rather than the performance.”
Play Reading Club next runs at 11am on Friday 26 February via Zoom. For more information visit the Hope Mill Theatre website.