The Players’ origins lie in the impetus to restoration, renewal and recollection which followed the end of the Second World War. In January 1947 a group of players put on in the church of St Peter-upon-Cornhill a specially written play in the form of a historical pageant with dialogue, focusing the history of St Peter’s by introducing famous figures who had been associated with that neighbourhood of the City of London over the centuries, and with a Christmas theme wound in..

The success of this production led to the formation of a drama society, to be called The Players of St Peter-upon-Cornhill, inaugurated at a meeting in March 1947, with the object of presenting a religious play annually in St Peter’s, ideally in December. For the first five years the group put on plays specially written by members of the group. Then in 1952 the Players performed scenes from the Chester Cycle of Mystery Plays, and started a tradition which we believe makes this group unique in presenting an annual selection from all the main English medieval mystery play cycles.

After 40 years at St Peter-upon-Cornhill the group moved to Holy Trinity, Sloane Street. Ten years later we were back in the City at St Clement, Eastcheap. Then followed four years in East London at St George in the East. We relocated to St Saviour Eton road in North-West London in 2016.

Members of the group come to rehearse and perform from all over the London area. We take pride in continuing to offer an entertainment that existed before Shakespeare but largely died out following the Reformation and has only come back into performance since the middle of the 20th century. We celebrate the joy, the spectacle, the vigour, the verse, the music, the humour and the moral message which exist in the medieval plays, and which we aim to portray in a way as stimulating to our century as it was to our ancestors.

The group is entirely non-profitmaking. Members give time and skills freely and with the proceeds from ticket sales we are able to make a valued contribution to church funds. We enjoy presenting these plays; we hope our audiences will enjoy watching them.