The St Peter's Players was inaugurated as a religious drama group within the church in 1974 at the suggestion of the late and much loved Fred Archer and was enthusiastically supported by Canon Brewin. Several enthusiastic members, led by Fred, Phil Brooker and Peter Jackson, encouraged and cajoled other people to become involved. One or two people had no previous acting experience but several others had been involved with the Leckhampton Players and the Cheltenham Operatic and Dramatic Society.

The first play to be performed in church was 'For Our Salvation', a serious Easter play with a strong, dramatic theme and, according to Fred Archer's meticulous minutes, was very well received by a congregation of over 100. Buoyed by the success of this play, it was decided to adapt ‘The Man Born to be King' (a radio play by Dorothy L Sayers). Adapting a radio play for the stage proved quite demanding: for instance, following the sound effect of a loud crash by the line 'Now you've broken my Etruscan vase' was totally unnecessary, but should we include the sounds of camels' feet when the Three Kings arrived at Herod's palace?!!!

From 1974 onwards the group successfully performed plays at Easter and Christmas, becoming more accomplished with the recruitment of Priscilla Lansdown and Dick Wilkinson. Occasionally it was possible to present 'out of season' plays like 'Come fly With Me', a modem morality play set in an airport departure lounge, and 'Three Men', a traditional play with a biblical setting about three completely different men whose lives were touched and changed by Jesus. At various times the Players presented informal Cottage Evenings on various themes like 'Our Village', 'Food for Thought' and 'Creation'. The proceeds went to charities like Jordanian refugees during the Gulf War and Bangladesh flood victims.

But we lost Peter Jackson when he moved to Sandhurst, one or two other men decided it was 'time to hang up their sandals' and with the sad death of Dick Wilkinson, who had proved such a stalwart over the years, the membership was down to 7 women and 2 men. No play has been presented since Christmas 1997 – when I wrote a 'tailor-made' play called ‘The Return' – but we have continued to contribute to the spiritual life of St Peter's by performing programmes of poetry, prose and readings at Christmas and Easter, as well as one, 'A Quiet Pilgrimage', to celebrate the life of Dick Wilkinson. This last raised over £300 for the Cobalt Unit at Cheltenham General Hospital.

The unwritten aims of St. Peter's Players are to serve and worship through drama and to offer our talents (such as they are) to God. It would be wonderful to be able to present dramatic offerings once again as part of the great Christian festivals, but we do need new members – particularly MEN! No experience necessary – all that is required is the willingness and commitment to rehearse for an hour or so once a week for a few weeks of the year. So how about giving acting a try? You may find that you enjoy it! Contact me for details.