Fabulous early call for photoshoot at Chestnut Community Centre with the two lead actors in our stage production of Ben Hur. By this time next week the posters will be ready.
A huge thank you to Jenny for doing the photos and to Carol for sorting Judah Ben Hur’s outfit. Third photo is Spirit- a large and beautiful elderly stray dog who joined us for a little while (now reunited with his humans) #theatre #benhur #brixham #actor #actorslife #regionaltheatre #britishtheatre #torbay #acting #photoshoot #modellife #stage #performingarts #creative #dog #doggie
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To get an idea of getting our shows advertising again after the pandemic, we ran a small survey about theatre-going. It wasn't enormous, we had 16 replies so far (it is stilopen) and we need to thank everyone who filled this out as it has revealed some very useful trends and information which we will be taking into account. For anyone wishing to still do the survey, it is online HERE For theatre practitioners elsewhere, putting this into context, this survey was mainly shared around local discussion groups and forums in the rural southwest of England, aiming at reaching "the ordinary person in the street" to capture their views and feelings. If you wish to share this information in a publication etc, please credit The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, 2021. We have been very pleased to hear of the UK governments move towards allowing limited indoor performances from August 15th 2020, and the associated guidance on the uk.gov website.
Having reviewed the information as updated, we wanted to set out, for clarity, how this will affect us. For the time being, we will not be returning to live shows in physical spaces (though once it is safe and possible, we will be back with bells on!) and will be continuing to focus on our Autumn “Virtual season” and while we will regularly review the situation whenever new information and guidance comes out, we are not expecting a return to live physical performances until at least the awaited announcements from the British Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, expected in November 2020. This decision is for a number of reasons.
In the meantime therefore, we have our Virtual Season, which is allowing for some incredible collaborations to form, and some super broadcast theatre with new and established creatives to our team, working almost entirely online. We are also working with the Arts Council and Torbay Culture, to create a filmed performance piece about local Brixham ghosts and spooky tales, which creates some brilliant fully paid work for some of our actors; and we are in rehearsals for physical shows, to return to the physical stage once it is safe, and cost effective. We are also planning further ahead with writing for new shows, and working with more theatre shows through 2021 and 2022. When we are able to return to the physical stage, our cast, crew and audiences should be aware that there will likely still be some level of restrictions, or additional guidance still in place, and to work with us on those. We also recognise that there may still be a number of people, who may feel unsure about attending the theatre in person. We are working to run livestreams of our performances (at least one per production) from the venues, so that for those who would rather attend the theatre from the safety of their own home, they are able to, for the same ticket cost. Early equipment tests are proving very positive, and we are now working on linking the systems to high-quality cameras to provide the best audience experience. There are also a number of other creative plans, the viability of which, will be looked into through the autumn, and developed from this work. (Some will succeed and others not be deemed as likely to work) so we are using this time as usefully as is humanly possible. We fully realise that some of these “realities” of why we are not doing the “distanced indoor shows”, are hugely disappointing to many, both our audiences and our creatives, however, we feel that it is very important that we do everything in our power to ensure the wellbeing of our cast, crew and audiences, while also continuing to create work and . It is much better to come back to physical shows, a bit later with everyone well and happy, than to have had some avoidable disaster. With the understandable confusion already appearing in some articles circulating online, regarding the August 13th announcement, we wanted to take the time to explain in detail, where we stand, and the reasons for our decisions. Laura Jury The Show Will Go On. A new design designed for the Covid-19 pandemic, keeping the lights on for theatre, fundraising for the ongoing survival of The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, an internationally awardwinning team based in the Southwest of England, with performing members in several countries. During the pandemic, we are creating new shows streaming online from home, and making lots of plans for when we can return to live touring. Every penny raised from each sale of this design, goes directly into our Covid-recovery programme.
Internationally award-winning Brixham theatre company brings Shakespeare's classic Midsummer Night's Dream to life, defying lockdown in an international, online performance, with actors performing from their homes.
“The course of true love never did run smooth ” A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act 1 scene 1 Shakespeare's classic comedy, is brought to life in a lockdown production, by a theatre company based in Brixham, South Devon. Already in rehearsals for the live shows, with a national tour being booked for the live shows, when the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, caused postponement and cancellation of live shows for several months, for every theatre in the UK. Of course, many theatres, both venues and production companies had no choice but to close, and work for professional actors temporarily collapsed. The South Devon Players decided to resist the trend, and as well as postponing (not cancelling!) the usual shows to such time as when it is safe for theatre venues to reopen, the Players decided to create online performances, in which the actors come together to perform online from the safety of their own homes. This in itself has not been easy, as many people in the team, have had to learn new technology & software, and find ways to make it work on household electronics, with the cast and crew working from their lockdown locations mainly in south Devon but also sheltering in place spread across the UK, as well as the Republic of Ireland, and Los Angeles in California. The first of these online performances, is a full length, costumed production of William Shakespeare's classic romantic comedy; A Midsummer Night's Dream. Keeping as close as is possible to the originally planned steampunk styling of the live shows, the members of the team are dilligently rehearsing and learning software online, creating costumes and makeup styles, to create this show, and develop an entirely new way to present theatre using modern technology during this time. Following this first performance, the Players are also planning further online shows, performing Shakspeare and other classic dramas, in the same way. The South Devon Players Theatre and Film Company, are developing a proud history of Shakespeare productions, as part of their focus on historical and classical dramas. In 2019, their production of Macbeth, was booked for a second tour and won an international theatre award in New York for its professionalism and creativity. Laura Jury, the director of that production of Macbeth, & many of the Player's shows, and founder of the theatre company, has returned to lead this new project. Laura has also recently been selected to appear in an online Shakespeare project by the Globe Theatre in London. The South Devon Players were founded in the winter of 2005-6, on the proceeds of a carboot sale, to create professional opportunities for local actors, and has flourished ever since; previously winning national and regional arts awards, including the national Epic Award 2017 for England, a national arts award celebrating creativity and innovation in grassroots arts. Based in Brixham, the Players primarily specialise in researched historical theatre productions and old “Classics”. William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream will be broadcast on the evening of May 30th 2020, as a ticketed event online, with tickets costing £5 each. All details on how to book tickets, and receive the online viewing links, are available at the company's website www.southdevonplayers.com. __________________________________________
The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is currently in the process of talking to leadership figures from across the nation in an attempt to understand this universal trait and what it means in Britain and Northern Ireland today.
Laura from The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company was invited onto an episode of the podcast, which also included an interview with Geoff Hurst. Host Matthew O'Neill asked both guests a series of questions about leadership and the role it has played in their careers to date. Matthew O'Neill commented, ‘Hosting a show like this, where you speak to genuine leaders who have been there and done it, either on a national stage or within a crucial industry sector, is an absolute honour.’ Lord Blunkett, chairman of The Leaders Council of Great Britain and Northern Ireland said, ‘I think the most informative element of each episode is the first part, where Matthew O'Neill is able to sit down with someone who really gets how their industry works and knows how to make their organisation tick. Someone who’s there day in day out working hard and inspiring others. That’s what leadership is all about.’ You can listen to the podcast in full here: https://youtu.be/LIZ9du16ot0 You can also discover more about both Laura Jury and Geoff Hurst here: http://www.leaderscouncil.co.uk/members/laura-jay In these times, with budgets stretched, and marketing of shows always being a challenge for any theatre company, we are proposing this new initiative, where theatre companies exchange advertising. A text page of line adverts in a programme, where we list each others productions in the same region, means that we all reach more audiences, encourage theatre-going, and grow together. This isn't intended to exchange money, just help one another with a few lines of text.
Since it is based on an exchange, (just with the provision of a checking copy to the companies involved, to prove openly that agreements are honoured), it should hopefully be something that is accessible to all companies. We are based in the Southwest (Southwest UK), and that is the area that we would cover, but if people in other areas of the country want to initiate the same kind of idea - that would be awesome :) Please get in touch if you would like to exchange with us, and get involved in this new idea. Laura (company director) - email [email protected] ![]()
The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, in conjunction with the South Devon Players Supporters Trust are launching the next part of our fundraising drive, with the corporate sponsorship pack. This is to raise funds for ongoing productions; expenditure includes rehearsal hall hire, costumes, props, printing of scripts & publicity materials, insurances, wages to cast & crew, provision of educational workshops & training. This supports the cultural work of our company, leading to the creation of educational experiences in theatre, literature and history, for our audiences & cast, as well as the development of both theatre-industry specific skills, and wider transferable skills for general employment and day-to-day life, for those working with us. For more information; or to chat about this project, please contact [email protected], or call Laura on 07855 090589
Our wonderful Supporters Trust, formed of long-standing friends and fans of our work, are busy creating ways for members of the public to help support the work of our company. As a result, we are launching public memberships, where for a small annual fee, every penny of which is used to directly fund production costs (rehearsal space, costumes, props, show posters, etc). members of the public can gain exclusive benefits. We should be be very clear here. Buying a "Friends of" membership does not confer any preferential treatment should the member wish to apply to join our cast or crew (we are strictly against pay-to-play) and make this statement to avoid any misunderstandings. Friends of the South Devon Players memberships are available at £10 for 1 year & can be purchased, or gifted.
Memberships purchased in November and December 2019 will arrive presented in a South Devon Players Christmas Card. Benefits include: - Concession rate on a ticket for each show (please contact for online code for each show) - Tickets available to members one week before they go on general sale. - Show posters signed by the cast. - Membership card. - Text thank you in programme. - Access to social events at least twice a year. To purchase, contact us on [email protected] with "Friends of South Devon Players" in the title line. |
This is our new format news page. To read all our news between 2010 and Jan 2015, please see our old format news page HERE The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, is the trading name of The South Devon Players Limited;
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