Halloween Bonus - London table read

London Sitcom Trials meeting Oct 21 2012, including directors Sarit Wilson Chen (left), Nick Ewans (2nd left), and Louisa Gummer (out of shot).

Having showcased 10 Halloween-themed sitcoms in the Sitcom Trials in Manchester & Bristol this weekend, it was frustrating that for various reasons we were unable to hold a matching show in London. We did however hold a small meeting in Greenwich on Sunday at which, as well as discussing future shows, we gave a table reading to four sitcoms that had been entered in the Halloween Sitcom Trials. They were:

13 Gormley Street by Chris Dennis
Country Rock by Neil Tollfree
Separate Parents by Dan Sweryt & Jim Spiers
Three In Tow by Eoin Carney

Having read these, we discussed them and voted on which were our favourites. Given that there were only eight of us, this is slightly less an example of representative democracy, however it was unanimous that the script we liked the best was.

Country Rock by Neil Tollfree.

This script, which didn't make the cut for either the Bristol or Manchester shows, having lurked just inside the Top Ten in the online voting, impressed us with its clear characterisation and well-written fast-moving storyline which made near-perfect use of its ten minutes of performance time. I would like to suggest that that script be re-entered into the Sci-Fi Sitcom Trials, into which category it does also fit, and that Neil could take the advantage of this to tweak or rewrite it if he saw fit. Certainly the actors gave it a big thumbs up, and I'd like to give it another chance with the online voters.

The London team's second favourite was Three In Tow by Eoin Carney, which had strong characters and some very good dialogue. Criticism from the group included the suggestion that, by the halfway point, this script runs out of steam and that its over-long second half doesn't deliver on the promise of the first half. It is still a good premise, with very good dialogue that we could see actors getting good mileage from (as was obviously demonstrated in Friday's Bristol Trials where it won the day).

So we now all look forward to the Sci Fi Sitcom Trials in November. After the script deadline on Nov 4th and the voting deadline on Nov 17th, we will be having a team meeting and table reading on Nov 18th at which we will choose the sitcoms that get performed on Nov 28th. Get those entries in now, we can't wait.