| It's been 7 years in the making but we finally did it. I learned about Laura Jury and the The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, Brixham shortly after I arrived in the UK. I was instantly impressed by the drive, tenacity, and sheer determination of this female theatrical powerhouse. Laura has made a way out of literally no way to build and brand her theatre company. As a mixed-race, woman of colour, she has beaten back the odds of owning a theatre company in an area of England that is certainly not known for it's diversity, inclusion, or tolerance of "others". With little to no money, and very little public funds, Laura has raised money for her company in creative ways like having car boot sales, selling on Ebay, sweets sales, and anything her creative mind can think of to finance her projects. I have sat back and watched and admired her progression, her work, her work ethic over the years, in awe of all that she has been able to accomplish. It is definitely a labour of love, but by no means should one mistake this for being a low-rent production company. The costumes alone will show you that. The talented performers in her group will show you that too. Many members of the company are neurodivergent, autistic, and other challenges, which none of it deflects from their incredible on-stage performances. So, after 7 years, Laura and I combined forces as I was able to host her latest production, "A Midsummer Night's Dream" at The Birmingham Black Box. She and her company drove 3.5 hours to get to Birmingham, ran a full tech/dress rehearsal, set the stage, and then performed the 3 hour show before driving the 3.5 hour return journey! The synergy was palpable as these performers gave it their absolute all in front of a delightfully enthusiastic audience. There are already talks about our next collaborative effort and I'm very excited about the prospects. Let me tell you all, it's not easy being a Black woman/woman of colour in business, especially in theatre. But somehow, we're doing it and we're making lots of progress in the area of inclusion for all people to participate in the arts. I feel so privileged to call Laura my friend, she has helped me in ways I can't disclose here, but she's been a rock in my life's progression. Stay tuned to see what we come up with next! Sending lots of love to this outstanding group. |  |
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We have had an absolutely incredible day today at Brixham Theatre bringing a full uncut performance to TSAT - Brixham College students, of our production of Macbeth, this concluding our show tour since November; Hearing from one of the teachers that this is the first ever experience of live theatre for many of the students, and then seeing (and hearing from the school staff) that the students really engaged with and enjoyed the show was one of the best things in the world. Also, a huge thank you to the Brixham Theatre staff for making it run smoothly and welcoming the students and teachers- and also to the students for being so lovely! It’s been a huge success for everyone and an absolute joy for our team <3    Last Friday we were one of three Torbay organisations pitching at Local Spark: Torbay Community Supported Enterprise’s Dragons Den event - with Lisa Highton, Laura Jury and Rich Sandford, for help with new portable lights , marketing & outreach with our shows and education work, networking, touring transport etc. Many many thanks to all those who offered consultancy, introductions to places & people who may be able to help us grow, and all sorts of useful help. They will all get followed up with alacrity over the next two or three weeks. Also a huge thank you to Helen Ambler, Community Builder for Brixham for the photo of Laura pitching - and to everyone there for making it a truly excellent, positive, supportive space. Thank you again to everyone
  A big challenge which we have had since the day we started is support accessing writing grant applications and networking etc.
With being one person doing all that, and the theatre company admin, while also being autistic and of a minority, Laura has found it largely inaccessible both in terms of time and in terms of people/ organizations/ funders making negative judgements on “someone different from them”, and her own social anxiety and c-ptsd. This has of course had a huge knock on to what we have been able to achieve for the amazing local people we work with. Appeals for reliable help on this, for 17 years, fell on deaf ears. Now the lovely Sue Slade from Paignton, also mother to two autistic teenagers who often become involved in our shows, has come on board as Laura’s access support for applying to grants, networking and building up those things, and being that contact whom outside bodies for funding, networking and the arts, may feel more comfortable accepting.. Already on Day 1; two applications have gone off with another two in the drafting stage. Offer to schools: Key Stage 3 materials and activities based around theatre production of Beowulf.27/6/2022 We are currently embarking on our next theatre production, a dramatisation of the Anglo-saxon epic poem, Beowulf, which will be performed around the South Devon area and Torbay in November/ December 2022.
We always create educational materials around each of our productions, and would like very much to hear from any schools or homeschoolers teaching this poem as to what materials they might especially find at use - created for free or "at -cost" which we can make available online. We would also very much like to hear from any schools in the area, or homeschooling groups who would be interested in arranging either a trip to one of our performances in November/ December, or to recieve the theatre show streamed online (available from the end of November). Please do get in touch at any time to discuss, we would love to hear from you. Our direct email is [email protected] Our education side is led by our founder Laura Jury, who has a masters degree in education, focussing on the teaching of theatre, from the University of Exeter The South Devon Players offers a new approach to theatre-making of world-class standard. Involving people of all levels of experience, from beginners to seasoned professionals, we create full scale dramatic productions primarily focusing on historical events, literature, and classical texts. We perform in our home-town of Brixham then tour around the Devon area, as well as streaming our shows online to global audiences. We were founded during the winter of 2005/6 to create inclusive opportunities for people in the Torbay area (and some from the wider Devon area) to get involved in creating high-quality theatre and thereby develop / further professional skills, careers and portfolios towards, and as part of, professionally working in the entertainment industry, led by three volunteer company directors. People starting out with us have also gone on to work in large scale film & TV productions, to further training inclusive of RADA and Bristol Old Vic, working with us helps them obtain the credits needed for professional registration with the professional actors Spotlight directory, and Equity (the actors and entertainment creatives trade union) which in turns allows them to be able to apply to register with larger actors agencies. We also attract established professional actors seeking to expand and grow their portfolios. Audience feedback is also very positive from our shows and projects, frequently likening the quality of our shows to rival that of the Globe, and other famous theatre production companies. Our work, over the past few years, has won several awards including on a national and international scale; we are the All-England winner of the "Epic Award" 2017 (now rebranded as the Creative Lives Award) and the Theatre Partner Award in the Long Island Theatre Awards 2019 (New York), putting theatre from Brixham squarely on a national and international map. You can read more about us at www.southdevonplayers.com, or www.facebook.com/sdevonplayers Part of our show education packs for students traditionally, is a video showing ten words from the show in BSL (British Sign Language.) Sarah Gregori has kindly created this video for our Ben Hur education pack, and also added in the full alphabet in BSL as well. This video is subtitled as well. Feel free to share to anyone who may find it useful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B9URt2-OlrE Another look behind the scenes of rehearsals for Ben Hur. The cast and crew are doing fantastically. It is wonderful to see the characters and emotions coming through. We may not be costumed yet, and we may not have the set up, but the power of the acting is already so clear in the photos. Absolutely wonderful work. It is also beautiful how all the cast and crew are so friendly, kind & supportive to one another - it lets a production absolutely blossom. Photos by Jenny Abrahall We are delighted to announce that we will have a stall at this event organised by Brixham Town Council on Saturday. If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in theatre and creativity; do come along and have a chat with us to find out more. We welcome anyone aged 16-116, regardless of age, gender, experience, background, disability, who seriously wants to get involved in creating theatre and in futhering a career as a creative #Brixham #theatre #devon #torbay #regionaltheatre #britishtheatre #actors #supportarts  We had a brilliant meeting with our volunteer Vikki, to discuss the launch of the test phase of our free inclusion project, Theatre Buddies, helping local people struggling with isolation and loneliness to access and enjoy theatre- and make friends.
The draft ideas are at https://www.southdevonplayers.com/buddies.html Due to autumn availabilities for Vikki, and Laura (group founder) being seriously ill and currently unable to take on extra things, Vikki and Laura sadly agreed that Theatre Buddies will publicly launch in Spring 2022. This allows more time for preparing the project. This is later than we would have liked but with illness and life commitments eating time this autumn, there has been no choice but to push it to Spring 2022. It will center around a befriender being available to meet with people who would like to attend our shows at the theatre but have nobody to go with and are anxious about going on their own. The befriender, Vikki, will provide that welcoming, friendly face at our shows. We are also considering having social meetups, maybe once every three months or so, where local people struggling with isolation, depression and loneliness, can meet up with others who have the shared interest of theatre. A wonderful play about autism is coming to Exeter, featuring two of the actors from Ben Hur10/10/2021 Two of our lovely actors from our production of Ben Hur, are involved in this production by Ugly Duck Theatre Company, bringing to life the experiences of an autistic student at college, performing soon at Exeter Phoenix. As a theatre company founded and adminned by an autistic creative, ourselves, and with several creatives working with us who have similar conditions, this is a theme we can fully appreciate. Wishing the two gentlemen involved a fabulous performance! Screenshots below have more information about the show Blurb online about the show from the theatre Facebook page: “We are incredibly excited to announce that we are involved in the Exeter Fringe Festival this year We will be bringing a newly updated "Mental" to STUDIO 1, EXETER PHOENIX 16th of October 2021. 8:30pm Tickets are £12 full price/£10.50 concessions "A behind-the-scenes look at Autism. We follow a day in the life of Jake, an autistic teenager trying to navigate the trials and tribulations of a day at college." Follow the link below to book tickets https://exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/mental/“     |
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