ABERYSTWYTH theatre company Scriptography Productions have begun the mammoth task of presenting seven new plays across eight months as part of its PlayPen: Get to the End project

Some of those taking part - Roger Boyle, Lynne Baker, Catrin Fflur Huws and Patrick Kavanagh - have been speaking about the project.

What is interesting about being involved as an actor in PlayPen?

Patrick: As an actor the joy of PlayPen is that one gets to carve out that first interpretation of a role. So often a part is well-known and one has the other challenge of wilfully avoiding imitation. With PlayPen there is also the thrill of working on a new play, and of helping the author shape and evolve their work. Lastly, actors who are willing to do this kind of exploratory work tend to be flexible and creative and generous of spirit...

Roger: Usually one receives a script as a fait accompli - having the opportunity to [try to] influence the script (hopefully for the better) is very interesting. It also permits an insight into others’ writing processes that would not otherwise be available.

Catrin: This is a good project for actors because community theatre companies tend know their retinue of actors and they know their audiences. They know the sort of plays they can put on, and the expectations audiences will have of the type of person who plays a particular role - elder statesman, frightened young child, mother, cockney villain etc. The PlayPen project is completely different.

You’ve got writers who’ve got into writing through acting, and who therefore write the characters that they’d like to play, you’ve got new directors who have got the freedom to experiment with casting, you’ve got new types of roles, and Dr No in Space Oddity is a good example of that.

There are surprisingly few roles for women who are neither maiden nor mother nor crone, but rather, an adult woman-person who doesn’t need to be looked after or somehow get divested of her clothes and ends up on the floor and crying a lot, so that’s very refreshing.

The title PlayPen is very apt because there is an opportunity to experiment with different actors, putting actors who are familiar on the Aberystwyth scene into different roles, and challenging expectations.

It gives actors who can do a particular type of role very successfully a chance to do something different. I think the magnitude of the project helps too - the fact that there are seven plays means that you can’t just rely on the same people to do a particular type of role, because they’ve already committed to another play.

You have to cast the net wider, use people who’ve perhaps never had the chance to do the bigger, meatier roles, and I think actors appreciate that chance, that challenge.

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