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THE SOUTHWICK PLAYERS

Registered Charity No 227937

President: Nigel Bubloz

Emergency Exit’ was the Players’ first production in March 1936, written by Gordon Brice-White. Gordon was a member of the Sussex Playwrights Club, with which the Players had strong links at the time.

‘Emergency Exit’ was performed over 2 nights at Southwick & Shoreham Senior Girls School.  Among the cast was Gordon’s sister Venetia, who later married another cast member, George Baker, with the couple continuing life long membership of the Players.  Also in the cast incidentally was George’s brother Stanley, who after the War was the main driving force behind the setting up of Southwick Community Association.  In 1945, Southwick was one of the very first Community Centres to be set up in the country, and Stanley Baker MBE remained at the helm as Hon. Sec until his retirement in the 1990’s.

The company itself had been formed some months earlier…

On Friday, 25^th July 1935 a meeting, under the chairmanship of Charles Walker, was held at Southwick Town Hall.  As a result of this meeting Southwick Amateur Players came into being.  At the meeting it was asked if the Players would have their own theatre, and Mr Walker replied that “I hope that Southwick will be able to provide a ‘barn’ as a permanent home”.

The following Thursday a meeting was held to discuss preliminaries at the Barn, Southwick Green.  This is the flint building, now converted to houses, immediately north of King Charles cottage on the west side of the Green.  That is where the Barn Theatre was earmarked to be, until the intervention of the War.

The Players’ first officers were elected at another meeting a week later.

Following ‘Emergency Exit’, regular Southwick Players productions took place in a number of halls in the area.

In the autumn of 1936 4 One Act Plays were presented.  These were ‘The Colour Question’, ‘Tennis Party’; ‘Rizzio’s Boots’ and ‘The Gardener’.  The latter was entered into the British Drama League Festival and received the award for best play written & performed.

In October 1937 the company staged ‘Young Soldiers’, again written by Gordon Brice-White.  However, owing to the nature and tone of the piece Mr Kenneth Loader, the President, resigned in objection to the production.  ‘Young Soldiers’ though, was well received by audiences and gained 2^nd place in the Sussex Rural Drama Festival.

There followed another series of One Acts in 1938 but then came the War, and the Players, like the majority of drama companies, closed down.  This remained so until the company was reformed on 1^st Feb 1946.