Why is there a Quaker Theatre Company?

Like any theatre company we have two aims. One is to entertain and the other is to challenge. If a member of the audience leaves the theatre or Meeting House feeling he was bored then we have failed on one count. And if he has not been challenged to think about his own life and his relationships with those around him then we have failed on the second count.

So we are not a propaganda arm of the Society of Friends. We do not put on bonnets and top hats and show prospective Quakers what wonderful people we were and still are, so come and join us. We are not here to congratulate Friends on the achievements of the Society. 

Our aim is to challenge Friends in their beliefs. We are humanitarians and so our plays challenge those who believe in God.

We maintain that no element of our belief system is sacrosanct and cannot be held up to examination. This does not always lead to easy watching and we know some Friends have been upset by what they see. Good. It means we have made the audience think about what they believe, be it the divinity of Jesus, (The Word) the peace testimony, (George Fox and Margaret Fell Get Stuck in a Lift) getting old (Now We Are Sixty) or the depth of our faith. which forms the basis of our 2012 play, 'One of that Despised People'.

Every performance is followed by a discussion when what we have performed and said can be challenged and some remarkably stimulating discussions have taken place.

We look forward to entertaining and challenging you at your Meeting House.

Alan Avery