Linton reading group playing around

FIVE years ago, semi-retired Linton resident David Clarke decided his rural community needed more opportunities to be involved in the arts.

So, with a background in film and television, he launched the Linton Play Reading Group.

“I started the group for people who might be too shy to perform, but not too shy to read in front of a small group of other people,” he said.

“It’s also for those with an interest in words, literature and plays.”

Normally meeting every Wednesday evening at 7pm, the ever-changing ensemble of roughly eight people is based in the old Shire offices’ council chamber.

Each piece explored is chosen by Clarke from the Victorian Drama League’s library of 10,000 plays of varying genres, and has equal reading parts for all participants.

“It takes us two to three weeks to read a play. They’re usually a thriller, whodunnit, a drama, or comedy, because we love to have a laugh. That’s quite important these days,” he said.

“People come and go. Some are really better suited to amateur dramatics because they want to perform on-stage, but most people don’t want to do that.”

Although not the main purpose of the group, they do sometimes perform some live readings to audiences, with their books in-hand.

The Importance of Being Earnest was read by the group in the Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary. They also read Grave Humour at the pub, and A Town Like Linton in the old CFA building, written especially for the Linton on Literary Arts festival.

Contact 0447 310 565 with any inquiries.