Hello everyone! 
This is our big update on our projects and what we are doing while this Covid situation continues around the world. Please read on to find out the latest on our online shows, offline shows, and other activities. 

As things stand, the UK goverment have just brought in what is commonly known as the Rule of Six (meaning that only six people can meet up in a space), as infections nationally are on the rise. 

--- Returning to live shows
For now, our first returning shows are being booked for Jan/ Feb 2021, with our production of Jack The Ripper. That is hoping that it will be safe for theatres to reopen by then. If there are delays on this, we will postpone. In the meantime, our cast are busily rehearsing and fine-tuning the show. We are currently rehearsing soley on Zoom. As things stand, physical rehearsals are not viable. We would need to be 2metres apart at all times, facing forward away from one another, which is impossible to create a natural show between different characters. While we will return once it is safe to do so (and viable to rehearse in a suitable way), at the moment it is all over Zoom. 

---Online shows
We have a great autumn season of four shows, Tickets on sale via our box office HERE for all of the shows, with synopses, and breakdowns, with brilliant transatlantic casts. Every penny from ticket sales will be shared equally among the cast and crew of the show - after all, this is all about creating work for actors and creatives during these tough times. 

Should the covid crisis run into the New Year, any delays in returning to the physical stage, will lead to a winter/ spring Online Season. 

---The Spooky Tales of Brixham
With Arts Council funding, from Torbay Culture, our team are creating a video of local spooky ghost stories. With a Halloween broadcast, tickets will be on sale from the beginning of October, and all funds raised will go to our friends at Brixham Theatre. 

---Professional actors available
We have a fantastic team of actors who are available for (paid) voiceover work, home-recording for zoom projects. If you have a casting call, please email us on southdevonplayers@gmail.com. We are committed to doing our best to create work for our actors and crew. 

--Other activities
We are using the time as usefully as possible. Studying and developing new trends in marketing theatre, creating new technology for our live shows, developing new resources to assist new actors joining the 

Hello all! 
This is just an update with news all in one place! 

Overall, the news on theatres reopening remains the same. While some theatres are able to put on subsidised performances, it is impossible for most of us, sadly as outlined in our update on the subject, to return to distanced physical shows, for us and very many theatre companies. Most of the UK theatre industry is awaiting the announcements due in November from the UK government's Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, as to when theatres can re-open. With vastly reduced audiences due to (the very sensible!) distancing, it is impossible to run shows viably, and make enough from sales to pay for a venue and also to pay cast/ crew. 

Jack the Ripper
We are now rehearsing over Zoom each Sunday afternoon for this show, with plans for an online performance if the physical shows end up delayed. Jack The Ripper will return to the physical stage as soon as theatres are able to reopen (all being well, our bookings are for the end of January and early Febuary, with ticket sales going live once we know more from Mr Dowdens announcements in September. 
The production team are really pleased with how the rehearsals are progressing, with this Sunday being a characterisation workshop session. Our return to the physical stage, in 2021, will also mean that at least one performance of each show run, will be livestreamed to audiences who either are unable to access the venue, or who may still not wish to attend theatre in person after the pandemic. 

Shakespeare in 2021
Our 2021 Shakespeare show will be Henry V, as is already being booked for summer 2021. We are also hoping to finally get to tour our production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was postponed due to the pandemic, subject to cast and venue availibility, as it now appears highly unlikely that we will be able to tour the show this year. 

Virtual Season
Casting announcements will go out within a few days for the first of our Virtual Season, the dark adaptation of Snow White, by Ashley Griffin. There have been a few delays while the cast are being selected, but we will have that sorted out by the end of this coming weekend. Tickets have already begun to sell, and as soon as the casting announcement goes live, we will be able to send out press releases, distribute posters and online events listiings to really push for the ticket sales.  The ensuing plays, The Lost Girl and Sir Walter's Women, will be cast during the later part of September. 

Spooky Tales of Brixham
This project telling of our local town's folklore, is well on track, with a release date of Halloween. 
We have acquired a wonderful collection of Victorian images of Brixham, for some backdrops and intro cards, and are currently in talks with local filming locations. All filming will be socially distanced, and outdoors in a Covid-secure envriroment. 

This evening launches the first of our projects to try to generate remote online work for at least some of our wonderful self-employed actors and creatives, who have lost their usual work in theatre, film, and TV during the corona-virus crisis. 
We are a nationally, and internationally, awardwinning team, now making our expertise available to help those who are now studying from home. Our members who have current DBS clearance, are available to teach both adults and children, while the rest of us are available to teach adults. This can be done via Zoom, Skype, Messenger or email. 
There is a fee for this service, because this is an attempt to generate work for actors and creatives who, as self-employed, have lost part or all of their incomes but not been eligible for some of the government bailouts for those who have been in regular employment.
EVERY PENNY they earn is directly forwarded to them - this is helping real, dedicated people pay their bills and buy food at these times. 

We have a wide variety of subjects, from basic to degree level: 
- Drama/ theatre
- Media
- English (including English as a foreign language)
- French
- Physics
- Teaching (teacher training - may be of use to homeschooling parents) 
- Mathematics
- Expressive arts
- History

We may take on some more tutors with additonal subjects/ agegroups  - if seeking a tutor for a subject/ level that is not listed on our Online Tutoring Service, please contact us and enquire.
southdevonplayers@gmail.com southdevonplayers@gmail.com

DISCOVER OUR ONLINE TUTORING SERVICE HERE

So, the last few days have been spent at Brixham theatre, setting up for, and performing, our production about the 1866 Great Gale of Brixham with an amazing cast. We now break for Christmas, although we are back in January for another performance at Ivybridge! (Box office details here)   Our retiring collection raised approximately £95 for Brixham Fishermans Mission. 

Show photos by Laura Jury and Gemma Burford. 

These wonderful cast appear as the team on stage in our production of The Great Gale of Brixham 1866. 

MALE ACTOR REQUIRED FOR LEAD ROLE IN LOCAL BRIXHAM HISTORICAL (TRUE LIFE) THEATRE PRODUCTION. - PAID - IN BRIXHAM (SOUTH DEVON) - ESTABLISHED & INTERNATIONALLY AWARDWINNING THEATRE COMPANY.

The show is set just before and during the 1866 Great Gale of Brixham, which largely wiped out the local fishing fleet and as a result led to Brixham having her first RNLI lifeboat, which was donated to the town by the people of Exeter later that year.

The character we are looking to cast is the lead male role: Bob is aged 35 - 50, owner of a local trawler and inn. His personality is roguish and intelligent.

Due to personal reasons an actor had to drop out, and we are looking to recast as soon as possible.
Show dates are Dec 13 and 14 at Brixham Theatre and Jan 18 at Ivybridge), We are also running a commemoration event in conjunction with Brixham Museum and the local RNLI on Jan 10th (the historical anniversary of the event)

Rehearsals are running now, wednesdays 6.30pm for 7 start to about 9 / 9/30ish, and Sundays 12.30 for 1pm start to about 3 or 4pm, at Chestnut Community Centre, 1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham TQ5 0SA
The show is set in 1866 when historically winter a massive storm that wiped out most of the town fishing fleet, (lots of awesome stories of community spirit and kindness on shore amidst the tragedy) which led to Torbay getting its first RNLI lifeboat. The show is researched from newspaper articles of the time, and peoples local stories.

This is an internationally awardwinning, Brixham-based theatre company which prides itself on excellent shows, and is an ambitious, but friendly, hardworking team. Our facebook is The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, Brixham​; our Twitter is @sdevonplayers, and our website is www.southdevonplayers.com
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As with all our shows, this project is paid in full equal profit share from ticket sales (less venue hire, but all other show costs are fund-raised for with our market book-stall etc), PLUS portfolio character photos, production videos, and any/ all press articles featuring the actor.
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Please visit our AUDITIONS page, and see the right hand column for all information on how we operate. 

Our website has, on the audition tab, sample contracts, and information about how we pay our cast; for total openness. We are proud to say that while we are stuck under the glass ceiling of not being able to raise enough funds for hourly salaries at the moment, we have never once run a show in our 12 years, where we have not made back enough to pay our cast their profit-shares, from the show ticket sales.
To arrange an audition, please drop us a line on any of our social media, or email direct on southdevonplayers@gmail.com

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.

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. :

This was a recording done for Brixham's 75th Anniversary D-Day commemorations in conjunction with Brixham Futures. Brixham has an especial claim to fame, as it is from here that the first troops landed in Normandy at Utah Beach.

This video, made in April 2019, records the memories of Brixham residents who were children in the town during the war.  We were going to inclide recreations and cutaways, but in the end, the magic of these wondeful memories, needed to be shown uncut regardless of glitches - with nothing taken away from the history that can be learned from these eyewitness stories. It was truly an honour to be able to record such wonderful stories and meet such wonderful resilient people.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2019 The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company. Reproduction without written permission strictly prohibited.