A friendly group of people mostly from East London and Essex, The Woodhouse Players produce the kind of shows that they like, including quite a bit of new work. They meet most Wednesdays, quite a few Fridays and some Saturdays at The Welsh Church Hall, Leytonstone to rehearse 6 major productions a year, as well as one-offs like readings and cabaret.

There is also a lively social atmosphere, giving rise to many friendships and even romances (two marriages so far!).

Current active membership is around 45, the majority being actors, but with specialists too in directing, writing, lighting, sound, music, graphic design and costume.

History
 
The Woodhouse Players made their debut in the Autumn of 1983 at St Margaret’s Church, Woodhouse Road, Leytonstone, taking the name of a long defunct drama group that had previously performed there in the 1950s.  The driving force behind the formation of the Players was Friar Ivor Moody, then curate at St Margaret’s. He was keen that the group be part of the local community, and not just a church based group, and twenty years later he would be pleased to see that the Players have a wide membership and audience from across the whole of East London, and Essex. Waltham Forest Arts Council, and in particular its long serving Chair, Vi Gosling actively supported the establishment of an amateur drama group in Leytonstone and offered generous financial assistance for its first production, “Once in a Blue Moon”.

The Woodhouse Players first decade saw remarkable development – it became the only group performing regularly in the Leytonstone area, with single Autumn productions at St Margaret’s, including such classics of the British Theatre as “Murder at the Vicarage” by Agatha Christie and “Blithe Spirit” by Noel Coward. The second decade built on this, with a substantial increase in the number and quality of plays performed, both for the Leytonstone audience and in competition with other groups from the area in drama festivals. Increasingly, these have been original plays specifically written for
 or by the group.

In 1988 the Players decided to enter the Waltham Forest Drama Festival for the first time. The play was called “Festival Nightmare”, aptly, as the group came last! However, the same year saw the one-play a year pattern abandoned as one act and full length plays were added into the schedule. This increased activity meant that they had to move from
 St Margaret’s, and were fortunate enough to able to move into their current venue, the Welsh Church, in time for their first Christmas pantomime in 1989. In the last few years, the Players have flourished, winning many awards at festivals, and performing an increasingly wide variety of plays.

In 2003, their twentieth anniversary year, the players won the best original play award at both local festivals. They also introduced another innovation for the group – two shows produced in one month, with October’s “Woman In Mind” by Alan Ayckbourn and “Dracula – The Vampire Strikes Back”, which transformed the Welsh Church Hall into a studio space for the first time. 2004 and 2005 also saw a set of awards picked up in Waltham Forest and Havering festivals, their first full-length Shakespeare, and the first production at a professional external venue: “Jekyll and Hyde – Make Mine A Double”, their most ambitious and technically challenging show so far.

In 2006 they’re picking up the pace even more, moving to a calendar of 6 productions a year.