The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company News

The Return to Chestnut Community Center

25/9/2019

In fantastic news we are back at our main rehearsal venue of Chestnut Community Centre tonight! After the building flooded with the boiler upstairs that burst, we have been rehearsing at Brixham Theatre who very kindly saved us from some major problems, by allowing us to rehearse at the theatre instead, to keep our tour of Macbeth running (without finding somewhere for the final dress/ tech rehearsals, we could not have run the major part of our tour). A HUGE thank you to Brixham Theatre.
Tonight, the centre walls are still in need of repainting, but the building is now dry. clean and safe (including the electrics) so we are very excited to be returning to our home tonight for our first rehearsal of The Great Gale of Brixham 1866.

Macbeth at Ivybridge

17/9/2019

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. :)

Clearing up after the flood....

11/9/2019

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.

Macbeth rehearsals and recovery from the flood

2/9/2019

Despite being flooded out at our home rehearsal venue due to a boiler fault, and having to move to another venue in town, in our final dress/techs for Macbeth (arrrrggghh!!) we had a cracking rehearsal with most of the cast yesterday, even though we were down to bare bones on tech and gear.
Cant wait to get on tour at the end of the week. (we will also be back at our home rehearsal venue in a few days, as the building and electrics have been checked and are all OK. For anyone coming to our next auditions on Sept 15, they will still be as moved to the emergency temporary venue for clarity to new people joining us, instead of moving venues across town again )

Announcing our Friends Scheme:

19/8/2019

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.

Intensive rehearsal week to open August

19/8/2019

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!

The South Devon Players win theatre award in New York

11/6/2019

Brixham-based South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company were thrilled to find out, in the early hours of June 11th 2019, (late evening June 10th New York time) that they had won a theatre award in the Long Island Theatre Awards ceremony for their production of Shakespeare's classic drama of ambition, power and fate; Macbeth.
The show, first performed by the Players in January and February 2019, was not without its own share of drama, when the title role for the show needed to be recast ten days before the first performances.

Christophe Lombardi, a friend of the Players, took up the mantle, learning the role and arriving from Ireland, in Devon for the final two rehearsals, to star alongside Ryanna-Mae Lloyd as Lady Macbeth and a team of dedicated local actors.
The show, performed at Brixham Theatre, the South Devon Players home performance venue, and then at Torquay Museum, attracted record positive feedback from audience and critics, with feedback such as that it surpassed productions by the Globe in London, and the RSC.
Hot on the heels of this success, came requests for a second larger show tour, including from Ireland and the USA, and a request from the Long Island Theatre Awards to enter the production for their 2019 awards. They were happy to accept a video submission of the show filmed at Brixham Theatre.
Months later came the news, that the Players were among the award nominees, and a request from the Theatre Awards administrators to send a representative to New York. The Players were by this time working hard on their scheduled production of Les Miserables, with the plans underway for an autumn tour reprising Macbeth. Laura Jury, the South Devon Players founder and director of both Macbeth and Les Miserables, was unable to attend, but Christophe once more took up the mantle and travelled to New York, collecting the award on behalf of the Players, which will be brought back to Devon during the next week or so, as he travels back from the USA.
Brixham Theatre was saved from closure in 2018 by a team of local volunteers, and it provides a critical base for local creativity, without which, successes like this, would not be possible for local people in their hometown. The Players owe this success to the continued existence of Brixham Theatre.
The Players are now also beginning rehearsals for the second tour of Macbeth; keeping most of the original cast, including Ryanna-Mae Lloyd and Christophe Lombardi as the Macbeths; although also excited to welcome new performers as well. The tour is currently booked into Brixham, Ivybridge, Exeter and Bristol, with discussions underway to bring the show to London, and further venues, during the autumn of 2019. While plans for touring abroad had to be put on hold due to being unable to find funding to do so, this has no way dampened the team's desire to bring the show to regular and new venues here in the UK, and to revisit attempts to tour abroad in the future.
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's best known dramas, alongside King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, and Romeo & Juliet. It tells the tale of a Scottish war hero, who, tempted by ambition, power, and supernatural whisperings, begins a series of murders, to take and hold the throne. Returning home from war, Macbeth encounters three mysterious women, whose prophecy of kingship, sets in motion his ambition, and ultimately his fall into madness and blood...
The Players perform the original, uncut Shakespearian text, set in the dark aftermath of a nuclear WW3, in a post-apocalyptic design, with the exotic of the supernatural, and immersive soundscapes, to create Macbeths world in a new vision of the drama.
The South Devon Players, founded in 2005/6 on the proceeds of a carboot sale, and still funded in much the same way, are winners of the national Epic Award 2017 for England, a national arts award celebrating creativity and innovation in grassroots arts, and international nominations for past productions. Based in Brixham, the Players primarily specialise in researched historical theatre productions and old “Classics”.

Les Miserables at Brixham Theatre

3/6/2019

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!

The Les Miserables character photoshoots!

30/4/2019

On Saturday and Sunday we had the cast photoshoot for the vast majority of the cast, and these photos will be going out this week (some already have) attached to press releases marketing the show!
Many thanks to Brixham Theatre , one of our show venues, for letting us shoot on the stage in the morning!
Photos by Andrew Barnes and Laura Jury.

Shows are Friday May 31st, and June 1st at Brixham Theatre, and then June 7th at the Barnfield Theatre in Exeter. Our box office page HERE has links to all the relevant tickets! Book today!

The South Devon Players Shakespeare production nominated for theatre award in New York.

24/4/2019

Brixham based theatre company's Shakespeare production nominated for theatre award in New York.
Following a hugely successful production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth this winter, the South Devon Players have been nominated for a theatre award in New York, specifically the Long Island Lighthouse Theatre Awards, in the Theatre Partner Award category, specifically for productions outside the Long Island Nassau County area. As a company who (by force of circumstance, with the difficulty of finding funding in the local theatre sector) work on profit share from ticket sales to our cast and crew, we fall somewhere between the voluntary and full salary sectors, and therefore are eligible for this award. The VTAA , who sponsor this award are mainly US based (but open internationally) and are the "Equity for voluntary and low paid theatre" of which we have been an organisational member for several years.
During January and February 2019, the South Devon Players performed a post-apocalyptic set production of William Shakespeare's Macbeth. Completely unabridged and unchanged from the original text, other than being set in a post World War 3 near-future, this production attracted such audience feedback as

“The power of the final scene was such that the audience sat transfixed in silence, barely able to comprehend the beauty of what they’d just witnessed. “

“Easily on a par with the production of Macbeth we saw at the Globe”
The show was almost called off, after the lead role needed to be recast with less than 10 days before opening night. French/Irish actor Christophe Lombardi stepped in, learned the role in a matter of days and travelled to the UK to take the role, alongside Ryanna-Mae Lloyd as Lady Macbeth, with a powerful team of actors; and techs.

Despite this crisis, the show attracted fantastic audience feedback, from the shows at both Brixham Theatre & Torquay Museum, swiftly followed by invitations for more shows in the UK, and abroad. While work continues to get the team out to the venues abroad, the team are taking up the show invitations in the UK, at Ivybridge's Watermark theatre, and Exeter's Barnfield Theatre and are also booking additional dates at the end of the summer and during the autumn of 2019.

At Brixham Theatre, the show was filmed by a local filmmaker, and the resultant film was submitted to the 2019 Long Island Community Theatre Awards. The South Devon Players were informed on April 24th 2014, that the production of Macbeth was nominated for; the outcome of the awards will be finally known on June 10th in the evening, New York time.

The South Devon Players, founded in 2005/6 on the proceeds of a carboot sale, and funded in much the same way, are already winners of the national Epic Award 2017 for England, a national arts award celebrating creativity and innovation in grassroots arts, and international nominations for past productions. Based in Brixham, the Players pride themselves on supportive, friendly, and ambitious grassroots team of professional and aspiring professional actors at all stages of their careers, who primarily specialise in researched historical theatre productions and Classics, to provide an opportunity for local people to develop their skills in creating shows to a national standard, in order to develop internationally recognised professional skills, portfolios and credits.

They always welcome new performers and creatives who would like to get involved. The Players are working hard to be able to offer more education, steady employment, and more regular shows at an international standard.
Laura Jury (Director) studied performing arts at South Devon College, then a Bachelors degree in film & TV production from the University of Plymouth, before progressing to a Masters in teaching theatre from Exeter University With a history of performing since 1996, and directing since 2000, in between her training she has also pursued a career as a professional performer, and in 2006 founded the now multi award-winning South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company with three others, to create new projects in Torbay.