St Andrews Play Club

About Us

The St Andrews Play Club was founded by A B Paterson and a group of theatre enthusiasts in 1933.

Humble Beginnings

The St Andrews Play Club was founded by A B Paterson and a group of theatre enthusiasts in 1933. They adapted the old cow byre on Abbey Street into a theatre and from 1933 to 1970 the St Andrews Play Club ran the Byre Theatre 1. They not only mounted their own productions but also hired professional staff to produce plays from Easter till Christmas.

New Theatre

When the new theatre was opened in 1970 the St Andrews Play Club ceased to exist and the new Byre Theatre Company Ltd took over the running of Byre Theatre 2. The amateur company attached to Byre 2 for the first few years was the Andrew Soutar Company, comprising members of the old Play Club. This Club mounted an annual production immediately before the professional season to raise funds for the theatre.

Merger

The Play Club was reconstituted in 1977. At that time A B Paterson directed the plays, and the finishing touches were added by whoever was the professional Director of Productions for the year. Stage One was the youth section of the Play Club that operated from 1982-1990. In 1990 it was merged with other youth theatre groups in the town (Crawford and Cosmos) to become StAYT, the forerunner of Byre Youth Theatre (BYT).

Joining the Play Club

Joining couldn't be simpler! Just contact one of our members on the Contacts list, and make a date to come along. You can be sure that we'll be pleased to see you!

Who Can Join?

As an amateur group, we don't expect any training or previous experience. If you have either of those, so much the better. If not, you'll find that natural talent and enthusiasm will take you a long way. St Andrews Play Club is an adult group, generally we welcome anyone of 16 upwards*.

Getting on Stage

Of course we can't guarantee that you will be on stage at the Byre Theatre straightaway. Naturally that depends on what production we are planning at the time. But we do make it our policy to run large cast plays, so as many members as possible get a chance. If you have what it takes, we'll get you on stage as soon as we can.

Not Everyone Wants to Act

We are always on the lookout for directors, stage managers, stage crew, technicians and the rest. If you come along hoping to act and don't get a part immediately, come backstage with us, help to run the show, and find out how the Byre Theatre works - that's an experience in itself.

Because we are lucky in having the Fisherman's Gym rehearsal room, there are always things going on outside the main production. You might make a start by taking part in a rehearsed reading or workshop.

Subscriptions only £10 per year.

*Membership is at the discretion of the committee

Byre Stage Door

Our Productions

A sample of some of our previous productions.

November 2017

Neil Gwynn by Jessica Swale

Nell Gwynn is a play by the British playwright Jessica Swale, begun in 2013 and premiering at Shakespeare's Globe from 19 September to 17 October 2015.
November 2017

Travels With My Aunt by Graham Green

Travels with My Aunt is a 1989 comedy adapted by Scottish dramatist by Giles Havergal from the Graham Greene novel of the same title.
November 2016

The Ladykillers by Graham Linehan

The Ladykillers is a 2011 stage adaptation written by Graham Linehan based on the Ealing comedy film of the same name.
May 2016

Shakespeare's Greatest Hits

The production features extracts from some of Shakespeare's best known plays as well as songs and sketches, with a Shakespearean theme, drawn from a variety of sources.
November 2014

Blithe Spirit by Noel Coward

Blithe Spirit is a comic play by Noël Coward. The play concerns the socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to gather material for his next book. The scheme backfires when he is haunted by the ghost of his annoying and temperamental first wife, Elvira, after the séance. Elvira makes continual attempts to disrupt Charles's marriage to his second wife, Ruth, who cannot see or hear the ghost.
November 2015

Dad's Army by Jimmy Perry and David Croft

The play club performed two episodes that they did not do in the previous production. These are The Godiva Affair and The Floral Dance. The latter was only ever performed by the original cast as part of a theatre tour; in this show it provides a rousing end to the first act. The Deadly Attachment was the second act. It is one of the classic Dad’s Army episodes – the one with the German U Boat sailors. One of our members, Carole Tricker, has written a new piece entitled All Together Now.
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