Hammersmith, and an interesting introduction to Actors and Writers London - London’s longest-running professional play-reading forum for actors and writers.

Invited along by Viv Lake, a writer I met at the Riverside Youth Theatre, I left home at 5pm and drove to her house in Ashford. The plan was to catch a train from Feltham to Richmond, then go four stops along the District Line to Ravenscourt Park. Simple. We’d be in Hammersmith by about seven for a drink in the bar before the rehearsed reading of a new play started at 7.30pm. Viv had been doing this journey every other Monday evening for a couple of years. Easy.

Well maybe not - the ticket man said our end of District Line was still closed for maintenance that had over-run from the day before. He helpfully suggested we go up to Clapham then get the Circle Line to Victoria and change there for the District Line back to Ravenscourt Park. If only it had been that simple.

Various trains had been delayed; some didn’t even arrive; one of our tube trains had the wrong destination on the front (the information system was off-line), which meant we were on our way to Wimbledon before we realised we were on the wrong track and had to go back to Earls Court; there was a security problem on a station further along the line which meant a half hour wait… I could go on.

In fact there was a problem with every train and every connection we made and to cut an incredibly long and totally useless journey (the ticket man had neglected to tell us about the replacement bus service!) short we made it to the 4th floor of the Polish Centre in Hammersmith at 9pm just in time for the second act, and then had to leave again 45 minutes later to be sure of getting home!

Anyway, having said all that, I’m glad I went. In the large room were about 70 professional actors, directors and writers and we all watched a rehearsed reading* of a new play written by one of the members. Brilliant.

After the performance there was a chaired forum where audience members were invited to offer constructive criticism for the playwright.

I didn’t say anything, but I was really pleased that I had picked up on a few things that other people mentioned.

It was a great (though sadly short) evening, and I eagerly joined the group knowing this was the next stage for me and my work. I’ll be going up with Viv every other Monday evening to mix with actors and writers and watch the beginnings of new plays.

*For those that don’t know, a ‘rehearsed reading’ is the next step on from a general reading of a new play after it’s been written. A director will spend a day with the cast and the writer and put together a production of the play. The actors (script in hand) then use minimal props and costume to perform the play to an invited audience. Generally the comments from the director, the actors and the audience are then taken on board by the playwright who (along with their own observations) will then re-write all or parts of the play with the intention of making it better.