The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company News

Meet the amazing cast of The Great Gale of Brixham 1866

18/11/2019

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

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A casting call for The Great Gale of Brixham 1866

27/10/2019

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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

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.

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

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£3 ticket offer to schools - Macbeth at Brixham Theatre

14/5/2019

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Read more about the show with links to photos and videos: HERE

After being contacted by a school from Newton Abbott, for a special weekday matinee performance for thier students, and the education working group within the Brixham Theatre trustees, agreeing to provide the theatre venue for free for this event, we are able to provide cheap £3 tickets for school trips to see this production. This is a full performance of the unabridged original text followed by a Q&A.

We have 100 seats filled thus far, and have another 140 seats available. After discussions with both the existant school attending, and the theatre trustees, we would like to offer these other seats, at the same price to other schools - or homeschool groups - who would also like to attend and take advantage of this offer. These may be booked in total, or in part.

This event is not open to the public.

In order to book some, or all of the remaining seats, please contact our company directly on southdevonplayers@gmail.com, for full information and to book.

We can also provide photos, scripts etc if required, as well as accessiblity information for the show and the venue.

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Tickets on sale for Macbeth in Ivybridge

10/5/2019

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Great news!

TICKET LINK: https://ivybridgewatermark.ticketsolve.com/shows/1173593965

Performing William Shakespeare's original unabridged text, the award-winning South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, homegrown in Brixham, bring this drama to life in an all-new production. This classic tale of ambition, destiny and murder takes place in the near future, dramatized across a post-WW3 landscape, performed by a strong team of local professional actors.

This show was performed in Jan/ Feb 2019 around Devon, to five star reviews and is currently nominated for a theatre award in New York.

Winners of the 2017 Epic Award for England, an annual national award for groundbreaking innovation and creativity in the arts, the South Devon Players specialise in high-quality productions based on classical texts, and researched history, developing and showcasing the talent of actors and other creatives from around South Devon.

Ivybridge performance will take place on
Friday September 13th 2019 - 7.30pm, at
The Watermark,
Leonards Road,
Ivybridge,
Devon PL21 0SZ
TEL: 01752 892220

Tickets £10 (£8 child/ concession)

CONTENT
- Moderate bloodshed
- No strong sexual content
- No strong language

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Great news for Macbeth

16/4/2019

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Fantastic news - by audience request, and word of mouth, we have been asked to reprise our post-apocalyptic, original uncut text production of William Shakespeares Macbeth. While contracts are still being sorted out, tickets will be on sale soon.
We have been invited to venues in Europe as well, for this show, and it is all depending on Brexit and funding to try and get out to those venues as well, but the UK shows are being booked up like crazy.
This is such a fantastic piece of recognition for all our amazing team members.
Watch this space for announcements soon, on upcoming ticket sales!
www.southdevonplayers.com

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Collaboration with the Friends of Brixham Library

27/2/2019

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Cow Town in Words & Music

In olden times, our home town of Brixham was very much divided into two halves. The area around the harbour was known as "Fishtown" and was the area of our trawler fleet, and the fishing families. "Higher Brixham" up the hill, known as "Cowtown" was more the domain of the farming and agricultrual industry of the town. At times there could be a lot of rivalry between the two parts of the town.

The Friends of Brixham Library, have been conducting extensive historical research, centering on the records, graveyard, and stories around St Marys Church in Higher Brixham, and are presenting some of the research as an evening of entertainment, music, and spoken word on March 23rd 2019.

The South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, as a local organisation based in the town, are delighted to have a number of our team (Allison, Sarah, Laura, Wayne) involved in the performances.

The event is open to the public at 'St Mary's Church' in Brixham on March 23rd - doors open 7pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets are £5 adults children free.

Refreshments will be served with a glass of wine included in ticket price available on the door. See Harpingmad, Folk Inspired, Missin' Tackle and Friends and hear words from Victorian Brixham spoken by members of the South Devon Players. All proceeds to the church restoration fund. (if you want to book to come, please see the event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/2010596719037195/

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Macbeth tickets now on sale!

2/10/2018

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We are delighted to announce that the tickets are on sale earlier than expected, for our winter production of Macbeth!
"Performing William Shakespeare's original unabridged text, the award-winning South Devon Players Theatre & Film Company, homegrown in Brixham, bring this drama to life in an all-new production. This classic tale of ambition, destiny and murder takes place in the near future, dramatized across a post-WW3 Scottish landscape, performed by a strong team of local professional and semi-professional actors.

Winners of the 2017 Epic Award for England, an annual national award for groundbreaking innovation and creativity in the arts, the South Devon Players specialise in high-quality productions based on classical texts, and researched history, developing and showcasing the talent of actors and other creatives from around South Devon.

You can get your tickets for Brixham Theatre, for performances January 18th - 19th,
from their ticketing section
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/devon/brixham-theatre/macbeth

And you can get your tickets for Torquay Museum, from our ticketing platform
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/southdevonplayers

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Macbeth show dates thus far announced

18/9/2018

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Performing Shakspeares original text, this production will be on at Brixham Theatre with public performances
Friday January 18th 2019 (evening)
Saturday January 19th 2019 (matinee and evening)

then at Torquay Museum
Friday February 1st 2019 (evening)
Saturday February 2nd 2019 (matinee & evening)

Tickets will go on sale during October 2018, along with an exciting video trailer and cast photos.

And, just because the team are doing so well, here are some more behind the scenes photos from rehearsals

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Introducing Some of the characters in 1307

19/6/2018

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This is an overview of some of the characters who appear in 1307. Some of our cast play more than one character and therefore the character cards focus on just one of those characters.

A historical personage, De Nogaret was Keeper of the Seal to King Phillip IV of France.

A cunning and astute statesman, De Nogaret was involved in a number of medieval conspiracies, including a conspiracy against Pope Boniface VIII by King Phillip and his succession by Pope Clement V.
He was also instrumental in the conspiracies against the Knights Templar, between 1307 and his death in 1313, and is credited with launching many of the investigations into their alleged "heresy".
De Nogaret died in 1313 in mysterious circumstances.

Roger Flors is a historical personage with a controversial past. Originally a Templar knight in Acre, in 1291, Roger Flors was in command of the Templars flagship, the Falcon, and during the siege of Acre, he is said to broken ranks with the Order, and to have charged the wealthy citizens seeking escape, huge amounts of money, in order to take them from the city by sea, leaving the poorer citizens, and indeed his own fellow Templars, behind.

Following this action, he was expelled from the Knights Templar, and following further intrigues, he was excommunicated and denounced as an apostate. He went on to command a fleet for Charles of Naples, and later appeared in Genoa as a pirate.
He clearly did quite well for himself as he eventually married a Byzantine princess - but success did not last forever.
Roger Flors was assassinated in Adraianople (modern day Edirne in East Thrace), in 1305.

Isolda is a fictional character, who is representative of what would have been the life of many more well-to-do unmarried medieval women. As the crusades failed, Isolda's father was a secular knight killed in the battle to take the island of Ruad. She therefore became the ward of those entrusted by her father, until such time as she find a suitable husband of similar status, to marry, with her inheritance held in trust to be made over when she marries.
In Isoldas case this means she is a ward of John Conningham at the Bristol Temple. When news of the arrests in France comes, and then the threat of the arrests spreading to England, the pragmatic Isolda is naturally extremely worried. Without her inheritance, she loses much of her eligibility for a wealthy marriage, and with the fact that the holdings and properties of those convicted of heresy - like the Templars, would legally either be taken by the Church or the King, the loss of her inheritance, held in trust by the Templars, is a very real threat.
Eventually, she has to make a choice....

Introducing Rich Sandford as John Conningham and Guillaume de Beaujeu - a versatile actor, Rich portrays both historical personages, at different points in the show.
Guillaume de Beaujeu was the 21st Grand Master of the Knights Templar. Having joined the Order at the age of 20, he became Grandmaster in 1273, an office he retained until his death in 1291. Related to both King Louis IX of France and Charles of Anjou, king of Sicily, he was a leader who was not afraid to make decisions unpopular with his peers; in order to preserve what remained of the Crusader kingdom in the East, he sought to maintain diplomatic relations with the Mamluks in the south and the Mongols in the north. Following the death of the Mamluk Sultan Kalawun, and attacks on Muslim traders in Acre by crusaders newly arrived from the west, served to finally break the fragile truce, leading to the final attack on the crusader port city of Acre in 1291. Guillaume de Beaujeu was killed during the siege.
John Conningham is a much less known character, appearing listed in inquisition documents simply as a senior Templar who had spent over 30 years in the Order, arrested at a Somerset preceptory in 1308, as the Papal suppression of the order across Europe spread to England.
The Templars holdings in Somerset, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall, related to farming, although the Templars had extensive holdings in Bristol (remains of their church, and echos of their presence in numerous place and street names, can be explored now) and had contributed to the building of the docks, as a major trading port. The more rural farm holdings most commonly related to sheep farming, the funds raised serving, in the Templars heyday, to contribute to maintaining the costs of the fighters in the East.
As he is listed as the longest serving Templar of those arrested in Somerset, we have made a leap of assumption and in our production his character becomes Preceptor of Bristol and Templecombe

Valentina is a fictional character, but representative of personages of the time. A wealthy Venetian merchant in Acre, she flees the city with Roger Flors when the attack on the city comes. In Acre, a crusader port city, the Venetians were one faction of powerful merchants within the city.
After a historically documented incident where western crusaders, newly arrived in Acre attacked Muslim residents, some of whom were only saved from the rioting by the intervention of the Templars, Valentina is among those who blocks the surrender of the guilty parties to the Muslim sultan for punishment, as counselled by the Templars in order to preserve a shaky truce protecting the city from attack
At odds with the Templars after this, Valentina begins to suspect that the Templars may have thier own secrets, and begins to search for more information, hoping to at the very minimum increase her own wealth and influence.

King Philip IV is a pivotal historical personage in the production - and indeed in the history of the demise of the Templars.
King of France from the age of 17, King Philip incurred huge debts for France with wars against England, and Flanders, as well as inheriting a large national debt from his father. In his own right, he also became deeply embroiled in Papal intrigues and plots surrounding the Catholic Church, forcing Pope Clement V to reside in France rather than in Rome.
King Phillips plots, and debts, finally led him to target the Knights Templar, who although a monastic order of warrior monks individually sworn to poverty, were enormously rich as an organisation. In conjunction with Pope Clement and his own advisor's such as Guillaume de Nogaret , he set in motion the demise of the Templars, ordering their arrests on accusations of heresy against the Church.
It is said that even as he was present at the execution of the Templar Grandmaster Jacques de Molay, the doomed Grandmaster cursed him; and King Philip died the following year.

Jacques De Molay, is probably the most famous historical character in the production. The son of a noble family in Burgandy, France. Little is known of his early career as a Templar; he is believed to have joined the Order at the age of 21. Debates rage for and against as to whether he was present at the fall of Acre in 1291, although he was believed to have been in the East from around 1270 onwards for at least 20 years, before being elected as Grand Master of the Order in around 1293.
In 1306, De Molay travelled to France for a meeting with King Philip, the Pope, the Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller, and other dignitaries, but plots within the French court framed both De Molay, and the entire order of the Knights Templar for heresy, and on Friday October 13th 1307, secret orders were opened across France, seeing the arrests of the Templars at all locations.
Under torture, confessions were extracted in the ensuing inquisition. and following many other executions and plots, On March 18th 1317, Jacques de Molay, and two other members of the Order were burned at the stake in Paris as unrepentant heretics, by the orders of King Philip "the Fair".
The conspiracies between, and within, both Church and State, that led to the demise of the Templars have given rise to myriads of theories. Were the Templars really heretics, or guardians of suppressed knowledge not in line with the teachings of the Catholic Church? Or was their demise simply engineered by those who were deeply in financial debt to the Order? Theories and legends abound.
Our theatre production can only explore some of those theories

Ann Martel is a fictional character. Originally from Bristol, and widowed at the 1291 siege of Acre, Ann is a tough independent woman who returns to Britain, running her own tavern at the Bristol docks.
In a society where women were traditionally often seen as second-class citizens, Ann does not re-marry, but carves out her own life through thick and thin.
Having been rescued from Acre by the Templars, among those surviving citizens rescued as the city fell, in the last ship, Ann is grateful to, and has a sort sport for the secretive knights, and as the dangers increase to the Templars, she comes to do what she can to help them escape the inquisitors.

Hughes is a fictional character. Dedicated to the Temple, and taciturn, having spent his whole life in the Order, Hughes is a a trusted member of the Grand Masters council, and privy to many of the Orders deepest secrets. One of the few survivors among the Templars from Acre, and following the arrests at the Paris Temple, one of only two members of the Grand Masters council still free, Hughes is one of those charged with concealing artefacts and secrets belonging to the Temple.
His character is almost broken by this charge, as he learns more about the inner knoweldge of the Temple, while also having to keep it safe, and seeing the Order, to which he had sworn his life, collapse around him.

Arthur is a fictional character, a young knight, newly initiated and still settling within the Order, but already well trusted by his more senior peers, at the Bristol preceptory.
He is a local boy from a wealthy family, who joined the Temple, and from his life in the countryside is as skilled in working with horses, as he is as a warrior. When tested by the most unexpected and difficult circumstances, Arthur proves equal to the task, standing staunchly alongside the Templars still free as they race ahead of the Inquisitors, and with the appearance of youthful inexperience, has a greater chance of getting past the inquisitors than the older members of the Order.

A fictional character, Margery is a young girl growing up in Bristol. She is friends with, possibly a little more than friends, with the young Templar knight Arthur. While both she and Arthur know that with his monastic vows, nothing can come of thier relationship, they are young, enthusiastic, and prone to getting into trouble.
Unfortunately, as the inquisitors close in, more dangerous and manipulative people have already noticed and see to take any advantage to bring the Temple into further disrepute

A fictional character.
The common belief and indeed stated modus-operandi, of the Templars is that women were not permitted in the Order. However, there is research in existence which controversially suggest this may not have always been the case.
Angelo has lived with the Order since childhood, and has always appeared to the others as a man, Angelo. Angelo has become a member of the Grand Masters council, and alongside Hughes is sent from the Paris Temple when the arrests come, to conceal the Orders secrets.

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Announcing our next auditions; Macbeth!

9/6/2018

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macbeth_audition_pack.pdf
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William Shakespeare's Macbeth (Theatre)
Open auditions : Sunday July 22nd 2018, 1pm
at Chestnut Community Centre
1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham,
Devon, TQ5 0SA

You can download and read the script from Project Gutenberg HERE
Please contact us to request the audition sides for specific characters.
southdevonplayers@gmail.com/ Facebook

As with many modern productions of Shakespeare’s texts, the drama is transplanted from medieval times. Our adaptation is set in a post- apocalyptic future, combining a post-apocalyptic style with steampunk styles to create a unique world in the future.
The text remains unchanged.

The play focuses on Macbeth, a Scottish general, and his wife, Lady Macbeth. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is loyal to the Scottish king, Duncan. However, three witches prophesize he will be king; once he learns of that prophecy, his loyalty wanes.

A Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that one day he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia. Forced to commit more and more murders to protect himself from enmity and suspicion, he soon becomes a tyrannical ruler. The bloodbath and consequent civil war swiftly take Macbeth and Lady Macbeth into the realms of madness and death.
This show is perf0ormed using Shakespeares original text, and will be set in a post-apocalyptic steampunk world,

* Nb, we do require that the successful performers are based in the South Devon area, because of the logistics of attending rehearsals and performances.

REHEARSALS____________
Wednesdays 6.30pm - 9.30PM & Sundays 12.30pm - 4.30/5pm in Brixham, South Devon. Good attendance is required.

THEATRE SHOWS___________
Fridays-Sundays (currently being booked) Mid June- Mid July, around South Devon at various venues. Photoshoot and location based video trailer to promote the theatre show taking place at the end of April, in Torbay. One of these will also be filmed as an entry to a theatre festival competition in New York, USA.

REMUNERATION_____________
- Equal share of profits; that is ticket sales less venue hire, alongside the other cast and crew. The film, as a short, will be equal profit share from any festival prize money or any distribution. We do not have funding in order to manage more, sorry.
- Character and promo photographs
- Copies of any and all publicity featuring your character
- film footage from video trailer plus film footage of theatre production, and film footage from short film.
- Lots of free teas and coffees in rehearsals and shows

REHEARSALS
Rehearsal dates: Wednesday evenings 7pm - 9.30pm, Sundays 12.30pm - 5pm.
at Chestnut Community Centre, 1-3 Poplar Close, Brixham, Devon, TQ5 0SA, the same as the auditions. For this reason, priority will be given to performers who live in the South Devon region. Please note that you will be expected to attend regular rehearsals.

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Meet the amazing cast of The Great Gale of Brixham 1866

A casting call for The Great Gale of Brixham 1866

£3 ticket offer to schools - Macbeth at Brixham Theatre

Tickets on sale for Macbeth in Ivybridge

Great news for Macbeth

Collaboration with the Friends of Brixham Library

Macbeth tickets now on sale!

Macbeth show dates thus far announced

Introducing Some of the characters in 1307

Announcing our next auditions; Macbeth!

Updated by our managing director,
Laura Jury

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Updated by our managing director, ​Laura Jury

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Updated by our managing director,
Laura Jury