Rehearsals between now and mid October will be a little off the usual routine as we will also have some rehearsals and performances for Macbeth, so the first Gale rehearsal (table-based script reading, sorting out the performers contracts, etc) on Wednesday Sept 25th - rehearsals start at 7pm, which is our "curtain up" time, though we encourage people to arrive early (doors open by 6pm). I hope that we will be back at our usual rehearsal base (Chestnut Community Centre, 1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham, TQ5 0SA) after the flood, but if not it may be at Brixham Theatre instead if the community centre is still unusable.
Please let me know if you have any questions. It is going to be wonderful to get working with you all!
I will bring printed scripts and contracts on the 25th. - Laura

Dorothy Laity - Maria Sheppeard

Aaron Dorey - Bob Sheppeard
Megan Stander - Ruth
Peter Carey - James Milton
Rich Sandford - Samuel Crocker
Alicja Bagier - Elizabeth Crocker
Alexander Slade - Rob Green
Christophe Lombardi - Mr Skivell
Laura Jury - Martha Dugdale
Pieterjan Eyckmans - rescued French sailor



Still to cast:  (Please contact us to arrange an audition).
MRS BUCKNELL (flexible age but looking late twenties through to forties).
The wife of a local fisherman, and one of the poorest characters in the show, Mrs Bucknell is a capable woman who can turn her hand to most jobs, including that traditionally done by men.
AGATHA BUCKNELL
Mrs Bucknells daughter, aged around 10 - 14. Hard working, capable, doesn't go to school as she, like the rest of her family work to survive. She is about to take on a job working at the Sheppeards inn.

Another great show at Ivybridge, and a lovely visit from Ann Laity the Mayor. The Watermark at Brixham is a fantastic space for performing, with a lot of versatility in the space. We had a great night, with a fantastic cast- it was a bit too busy an evening to get lots of photographs but we are planning a big photoshoot at Bristol. A huge thank you to the venue and the lovely audience at the Watermark. :)

The clearup at our rehearsal venue of Chestnut Community Centre began yesterday, after the boiler flood. Some of our team came together with Brixham United Spiritualist Church who also use the building, came together to repair. We found that the damage was worse than we thought - we had to strip the walls  right back to concrete, and bring the dehumidifier back in for a few days, as lots more water was trapped behind the paintwork.
Structurally, the building is fine, and the electrics are fine, but just about everything else is ruined, so, we are allowing the building to dry further, and then there will be a big call out to both the theatre company and the church-goers, to come together to re-plaster and repaint the building, and repair a few holes and other discovered damage.

REHEARSAL & AUDITION VENUE EMERGENCY CHANGE
Very important message. (feel free to share as needed). 
Yesterday two of our team arrivinig to prepare for rehearsals, discovered a huge flood at our usual rehearsal base at Chestnut Community Centre.
(we are talking several inches of water on the floor and water pouring through the ceiling) . After alerting the Centre committee, and moving our costumes and tech equipment to safety (we think most of our gear is unscathed or repairable other than two lights. Wet costumes are being dried.), we can now report that the Centre is structurally okay but cannot be used for activities for some time while the building is dried with industrial dehumidifiers and the building electrics checked/ repaired as needed.

Therefore, for the interim, all our rehearsals, and auditions will take place at the The Edge Bolton St, Brixham TQ5 9DH
Please note that the timings will remain the same (wednesdays 6.30pm for 7 start to 9.30pm; Sundays 12pm for 1pm start to 4/ 5pm)

We are in the upstairs room and this will be signposted from the front gate.
Please note: The room has toilet and kitchenette similar to Chestnut but no storage, so things will have to be lugged up and down each rehearsal. It is up stairs, sadly there is no wheelchair access. We could not obtain a venue that has the kind of accessibility we can offer at Chestnut. 
Also unlike Chestnut, we have no parking at the Edge. The nearest bus is the Number 12 coming into Brixham town centre about 5 mins away (or the 18 has a stop right outside the door) . 
The nearest long stay carpark is at Freshwater Cove, about 10 mins walk away, or with pre-planning Laura Jury one of our admins can offer a parking place outside her house about 10 mins walk up the hill from the Edge.
We will of course be returning to our home at Chestnut Community Centre absolutely as soon it is feasible, and we will be assisting with the redecoration there as well. This could be in a fortnight, or a month, or longer.
For the sake of simplicity, the auditions for The Great Gale of Brixham, that we are holding on Sept 15th, will move to the Edge.
We would also like to thank two awesome people for making it possible to be able to afford to move to the Edge, and to the Edge for being able to host us. while it is going to be a very "hand to mouth" time to keep rehearsal space funded, as it does cost more than Chestnut, we are safe for a couple of weeks, while our team work on raising enough to keep us going.
For anyone needing to find us and not knowing what the Edge looks like, here it is. :

We are delighted, and excited, to announce our Friends scheme.
With times for the arts being tough, especially finding the funds to survive, we are hugely grateful to a number of Southwest people who have come together to form the South Devon Players Supporters Trust who will be assisting the Players with fundraising and help like "front of house" etc when needed, to help us keep running. Funds raised will support the costs of rehearsal space, materials for props/ costumes, critical techincal equipment, through grant applications as well as our traditional fundraising through table top sales & raffles, sponsored activities, etc. 

As we get the Players onto a safe steady finanical footing, we hope that this will also extend into being able to provide busfares for those performers on low incomes who cannot afford the bus to rehearsals, and the provision of formal performance and career training for local performers; something that is now completely lacking outside of youth theatre, in Torbay after the closure of the drama courses at the local college.

It is a huge change for us, and so incredibly welcomed to have the support of this amazing Supporters team. There are many things being ironed out still, and we will soon be announcing a membership scheme for people wishing to join the Supporters.

The trustees of the Supporters are people who are not formally connected to the South Devon Players, or the company directors, in any way, as cast, crew, or administration of The South Devon Players; but who simply wish to see the Players survive, continue our work, and grow, after themselves experiencing our shows, and work, as audience.
We also wish to make it clear right from the outset, that membership of the Supporters has no bearing on any selection for involvement in shows or projects; and that The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, and The South Devon Players Supporters Trust, are both strictly against "pay to play" situations.  Becoming a member of the Supporters Trust will not gain anyone preferential treatment in being cast. 

The start of August was incredibly busy. We had a lot of catching up to do with rehearsals, alongside our Macbeth having an entire week free for rehearsals, and a couple of cast who needed extra help - so we took advantage of it! Rehearsing daily all week, sometimes at the community centre where we normally meet, and sometimes taking advantage of the beautiful summer weather at the beach combining rehearsal with beach party, with whichever cast members were available, we perfected the fight scenes, helped the cast who needed extra help, and fine-tuned our own performances.  
We are back to our usual schedule of Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoons now, with things really on track to be absolutely incredible, with a team who are second to none!

We are just checking in to update you on the shows. Tickets are now on sale for our performaces in Brixham, Ivybridge, Bristol and Exeter - and we would llove to see you there. We are working on booking more venues around the UK, so there may be more to come.

You can find the booking links at https://www.southdevonplayers.com/box-office.htmlwww.southdevonplayers.com/box-office.html

Well, we had a very successful run of Les Miserables at Brixham Theatre, and cant wait to take it to Exeter on Friday (Tickets for Exeter here). Two days, three shows resulted in an exhausted by triumphant cast!
On Thursday's final dress rehearsal, with a few tweaks underway , local photographer Andrew Barnes came along to get some photos. On Friday, after final tweaks to set and costumes, we opened! It went great!