Studio Theatre Club

General information

WHAT IS THE S.T.C.?

The Studio Theatre Club is a small, friendly, amateur drama club, with about 45 members. We've been around, under our current name, since 1969 and we are entirely self-financing. We enjoy staging plays and we want our audiences to see the best shows possible.

We have a strong social side which extends to informal parties and meals, pub nights/pub crawls, country walks, girls' nights, lads' nights, overnight trips, cinema & theatre visits and yes, even evenings of pizza and movies.

HOW CAN YOU JOIN?
We operate an 'open door' membership policy. You don't have to audition to join us, and play casting is done on the basis of informal group readings. Just come along for an evening and watch us rehearse or read for a part if you want: if, after that trauma, you still want to join, you're in.

WILL YOU BE FORCED INTO THE LIMELIGHT?
No. You'll move at your own pace. If you'd prefer to play minor rôles until you've built up confidence, that's OK. On the other hand, the STC doesn't believe that you have to have put in five years as a spear-carrier before you can be cast in principal rôles.

There's no discrimination between 'principals & chorus' at the STC: all rôles are equally important to a show - "There are no small parts, only small actors". Everyone is expected to chip in as needed: playing minor rôles, doing ticket sales/the bar on the performances, helping backstage and, if they want, running the lights/sound FX.

WHAT IF YOU WANT TO BE IN THE LIMELIGHT?
Well, we'll try and accommodate you. Bear in mind, though, that if you join us once rehearsals for a play have already started, you might have to be prepared to take whatever's going.

SO - WHAT ATTRIBUTES SHOULD YOU HAVE?
A SENSE OF HUMOUR. If you can act a bit and/or hammer a nail in straight, that would be a bonus.

DO YOU NEED TO BE A 'LUVVY'?
Most definitely NOT. In fact, if you are, then the STC is probably not for you. We're a pretty down to earth group. We want to stage our shows as well as we can - our paying audiences deserve that - but we don't lose sight of the fact that we all joined an amdram group to enjoy ourselves.

HOW MUCH?
Membership is currently £20 a year.

AGE RANGE
Will you be too young/too old? Unlikely. Nominally our age range is 15+, but most members are in their 20s, 30s, 40s & 50s, and from a wide variety of backgrounds. We're not ageist, sexist, racialist, heightist or any other kind of ist!

PAST PRODUCTIONS
We try to present as wide a variety as possible of scripted drama. We have gained a reputation for innovation by aiming to stage shows that are new to Oxford audiences. We have also had success with our own stage adaptations of Monty Python's Life of Brian and Holy Grail and of Tom Sharpe's Porterhouse Blue and Blott on the Landscape. The Best-selling author or the Discworld series, Sir Terry Pratchett, has attended our world première, sell-out adaptations of twenty of his novels. Most of these have now been published and have been staged by amateur groups in over twenty countries.

Other plays new at the time to audiences in Oxford and Abingdon have included Racing Demon, Our Country's Good and An Evening with Gary Lineker. It's not all new stuff, though, and we've also staged more traditional fare, such as The Recruting Officer, When We Are Married and Lady Windermere's Fan. We also finally got around to Shakespeare in recent years. There are some photos from past productions at the 'gallery' page.

STAGING PLAYS
We usually stage our plays at Abingdon's Unicorn Theatre. This is a picturesque, 90-seater theatre within the Old Abbey buildings. The medieval, oak-beamed hall, which has been converted into the Unicorn Theatre, has in its history also served as a grain store and as the Town Gaol. There are some directions to the theatre on our 'current plans' page.

REHEARSALS
Our play season runs from September to June and we try to stage three productions each season. Occasionally, we also stage a summer production (usually with a smaller cast); if there's no summer production to worry about, then we continue to meet socially at pub nights during the summer break. We rehearse twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. Rehearsals usually run from 19.30 to 21.30 after which we can usually be found in the local pub. Nearer to each production the number of rehearsals steps up slightly and in the week of a show they would be every night, including the afternoon and early evening of the previous Sunday. Rehearsals are relatively informal (to say the least).

WHERE DO WE MEET?
Well the Council has just (14/7) closed our rehearsal venue over structural concerns, so we are looking for a new home. For the first few weeks in August, we'll be at the Rose Hill Community Centre, off Ahhurst Way in Oxford. Best to email us first, to check where we'll be.

CONTACT
If you would like any further information before coming along, please contact:
Stephen Briggs, PO Box 1486, Oxford, OX4 9DQ or email: info@studiotheatreclub.com