*) The Record Shop has re-opened, and is once again selling tickets for many Arts Centre events.
TICKETS and OPENING HOURS
Unless otherwise stated alongside an event, tickets and further details are available from the Centre - details above. If you wish to pop in, our new Administrator, Rosemary Stephenson, is usually onsite on Monday, Tuesday and Friday mornings, 9am-1pm.
For some events, as marked, tickets are available from the Centre AND from the Record Shop, 99 High St, Crediton, 01363 774299
HIRE
The Arts Centre is available for hire - for details contact the Administrator.
Programme - Summer 2010
Welcome to our brochure of theatre, music, dance and visual arts. Crediton Arts Centre exists for you and we hope you will join us at our events and classes. Come along ... you'll be very welcome.
EAST STREET FILMS PRESENTS A CLASSIC DOUBLE BILL OVER TWO NIGHTS :-
Friday 7th May 6pm for 6:30pm start -
‘The Seven Samurai’ (1954)
Director: Akira Kurosawa. 3 hrs 27 mins.
An epic masterpiece, set in 16th century Japan, by
one of the world’s greatest film makers. Farmers in
a small village face the prospect of again losing their
crops to a band of roving thieves. Their solution is to
go to the nearest city and see if they can hire samurai
to protect them. The farmers are poor and can only
offer food and lodging but they soon recruit Kambei
Shimada who determines that they will need a total of
seven samurai to properly guard the village. Slowly,
he recruits other samurai for their task and once
complete, moves to the village. There they teach the
farmers basic self defence, fortify the village itself
and await the inevitable coming of the bandits and
the battle that will determine the villagers’ future.
Tickets: £5 (£8 for both films) (Record shop)
BAR.
There will be two intervals when food - snacks
rather than a feast - will be on sale
Saturday 8th May 7pm for 7:30pm start
- ‘The Magnificent Seven’ (1960)
Director: John Sturges. 2 hrs 18 mins.
One of the most popular Westerns of all time.
Sturges based his film on ‘The Seven Samurai’,
swapping 16th century Japan for the dusty American
plains. A small Mexican village, harassed by a gang
of bandits led by Calvera (Eli Wallach), decides to
hire a group of professional gunmen, headed by
Chris (Yul Brynner), to protect them. As he rides
to the village, Chris picks up some other gunmen,
including Bernardo (Charles Bronson), Lee (Robert
Vaughn), Britt (James Coburn), Harry (Brad Dexter),
Vin (Steve McQueen) and aspiring gunslinger Chico
(Horst Buchholz). The Mexicans, who are at first
ambivalent about having gunmen hanging around
their village, finally let down their guard and allow
their visitors to teach them how to shoot and how to
reconfigure the village to defend it against Calvera.
When the bandits return, they find stealing the crops
a little more challenging. This rousing, perfectly
cast action film launched the careers of Bronson,
McQueen, and Coburn. It also benefits from the
unforgettable score by Elmer Bernstein, among the
most famous in film history.
Tickets: £5 (£8 for both films) (Record shop)
BAR.
There will be one interval when food - snacks
rather than a feast - will be on sale
Weds 12th to Sat 15th May 8pm
- The Brown Paper Bag Theatre Company
‘The Thousand and One Nights, The Mirror
and the Thirty Nine Steps’
What was a Baghdad brick maker’s dream? How did
a young woman use her seductive charms to obtain
the release of her lover? What happened when a
traveller returned with a present for his wife? How
did Richard Hannay escape the clutches of a sinister
gang? An invitation to join us and let the Company
reveal the answers in an evening of dramatised tales
from the Middle East, Korea and England.
Tickets: £6/£4 (conc) (Record shop)
Friday 11th June 7:30pm
- Abantu Arts presents
‘Africa Odyssey 2010’
A dynamic evening of African music, dancing and
storytelling aimed at all the family. Fusing traditional
music with modern styles and arrangements, this
impressive group of Ugandan musicians uses
a wide selection of African percussion, wind and
string instruments. Hugely popular when they last
appeared at the Arts Centre in 2008, we are delighted
to welcome back to Crediton Denis Kigongo and his fellow artists Sarah Ndagire, Ouma Michael and Kasume Pedison on their 2010 Devon tour.
Tickets £7/£5 (conc.) (Record Shop)
Sat 19th and Sun 20th June -
The 2nd Crediton Food Festival
Following the success of last year’s food festival,
the Arts Centre is sponsoring another weekend
celebration of local food and its producers. Heralded
by the Farmers’ Market on June 5th, there will be
cooking demonstrations, stalls and an evening
cabaret on Saturday 19th June, followed by the Big
Sunday Lunch on 20th June. Local restaurants and
cafes will offer special menus. A 2D art competition
on the theme of ‘Our Food’ will culminate in an
exhibition of prize winners in three age groups (up to
7, 7-16, adult). Entry forms available in local shops
and from the Crediton Arts Centre.
The food festival is
sponsored by
Ashgrove Kitchens
CRAMP Open Mic Night -
Last Friday of every month @ The Lamb Inn, Sandford 8pm-11pm
Whether it's music, poetry or comedy you love to perform / observe, there is something for everyone at these popular events ! Free entry. More details: www.crampdevon.org .
Crediton Rural Arts & Music Project (CRAMP) is a voluntary, not-for-profit community organisation, set up to nurture, support and promote the creative works of local people.
Sun 24th - Sat 30th October 2010 - Arts Centre Trip to Berlin
Following the success of our trip to Madrid, we are organising a cultural visit to Berlin.
A deposit of £35 made payable to Friends of Crediton Arts Centre will need to be paid to secure a place on this exciting trip. The trip will cost just £330 per person for 6 nights B&B in twin bed rooms at Park Inn, Alexanderplatz, Berlin excluding travel costs
Details Paul Cartwright, tel: 01363 774115
Email: pfc_art@lineone.net
Saturday 12th June 10am-3pm - Printmaking Workshop for Adults (age 15+). £30
Sunday 13th June 10am-1pm - Printmaking Workshop for Children (age 7-14). £15
Exploring colour, composition, pattern and texture through printmaking. A chance to make collographs, drypoints and monoprints at Crediton Arts Centre. Using your ideas you will learn how to make unique images you can be proud of.
No experience is necessary - just enthusiasm to have a go and get your fingers inky. If you have drawings, photographs or ideas bring them along and turn them into prints. A great opportunity to support school art projects too.
To reserve a place, please contact Simon Ripley on :
Tel : 01363 776773
Mobile : 07857 036 433
Web :
www.simonripley.co.uk
Email: simon@simonripley.co.uk
10 weeks from 19th April. £70.
This informal friendly class is individually taught and
is suitable for both the beginner and the more experienced. A wide variety of media is encouraged
to explore the basis of composition, tone, form etc., as well as work to develop the imagination. Daphne Cartwright 01363 774115
Mondays 1:30-3:30pm - Painting for All
10 weeks from 19th April. £60.
As above with the emphasis on the use of colour. Daphne will also help to prepare portfolios for entry to further or higher education if required.
Details: Daphne Cartwright 01363 774115
Mondays 7-8pm - Traditional Kung Fu
14 weeks from 19th April. £5 per session.
Praying Mantis Kung Fu taught in a traditional
manner. Learn elegant and graceful routines
that unleash a devastating power in you. Develop
power, strength, flexibility, skill and will. Classes led
by instructor Robert Byrnes of 8 years experience.
Details: Robert Byrnes 07973 263049
www.3madschools.co.uk
Mondays 7:30-9:30pm - Watercolour
10 weeks from 12th April. £60.
Create successful paintings using watercolour. Course emphasis is on values, edges, colour and light over a range of subject matter. Suitable for all abilities.
Places limited to 10.
Details: Richard Teasdale 07985 314008
Tuesdays 9:30am-12:30pm - Life Drawing
10 Weeks from 20th April. £80.
Working from the nude model. Suitable for beginners to professional. In addition to fees, cost of model is shared between students.
Details: Daphne Cartwright 01363 774115
Tuesdays 1:30-3:30pm - Watercolour
10 Weeks from 13th April. £60.
Create successful paintings using watercolour. Course emphasis is on values, edges, colour and light over a range of subject matter. Suitable for all abilities.
Places limited to 10.
Details : Richard Teasdale 07985 314008
From 20th April. £18 per half-term.
Activities include games, warm-ups, drama
exercises, song writing and improvisation. Our aim
is to create a original musical theatre. We do not
hold auditions and all members get a speaking and
singing part in our productions. You can join at any
time, subject to available places - do come along as
you’ll be very welcome. Early booking is advised!
To book
your place, please call Jez Taylor on 01363 773337 (leave
a message) or email: cyt@waxroom.co.uk We are currently looking for volunteers to assist in
sessions. If you are interested, please get in touch!
Wednesdays 9:30-11:30am - Portrait Club
From 14th April. £2 per session including coffee, tea & biscuits.
A friendly group that meets in the art room on Wednesday or Friday mornings. Bring own materials and take a turn at modelling.
Further details: Sandra Chalton 01363 773518, or Hilary Hamilton 01363 772365.
Wednesdays 5:15-6:45pm - Spanish
5 weeks from 28th April. £30.
Spanish for keen beginners or improvers. A relaxed
class with emphasis on speaking, listening, and
culture and with just the right amount of grammar.
Course book: Take Off in Spanish (Oxford)
Details: Nancy Dowling 01363 775656
Wednesdays 7:30-9:30pm - Life Drawing
10 weeks from 21st April. £60.
Details the same as Tuesday's session.
Thursdays 10:30-11:30am - Chi Kung and Meditation
14 weeks from 22nd April. £5 per session.
Chi Kung or ‘energy exercise’ gently stimulates
the mind and body, increasing wellbeing. Robert
will guide you through these exercises and flowing
movements incorporating meditation techniques
to promote relaxation and increase your sense of
peace.
Details: Robert Byrnes 07973 263049
www.3madschools.co.uk
Fridays 9:30-11:30am - Portrait Club
From 9th April. £2 per session including coffee, tea & biscuits.
A friendly group that meets in the art room on Wednesday or Friday mornings. Bring own materials and take a turn at modelling.
Further details: Sandra Chalton 01363 773518, or Hilary Hamilton 01363 772365.
Fridays 10am-10:45am - Bonjour Tonton!
- French classes for kids
12 weeks from 23rd April
(no session 4th June). Parent + one child £30 per half term
(£15 for each additional child).
Bonjour Tonton! classes are designed to introduce
parents and children aged 1-5 to the French
language in a fun and relaxed setting. We offer all the
things you might expect of a preschool group: music,
movement and games all entirely in French! Tonton is our cheeky tortoise puppet
who, along with many of his friends, keeps the little
ones laughing. Classes
are led by an experienced language teacher. Come
along and experience
the joy of speaking a new language. It is never too
early or late to start ! Booking is essential.
Details: Heidi Rivolta 07929 419798
email bonjourtonton@hotmail.co.uk
web www.bonjourtonton.co.uk
Book Club
The Arts Centre hosts 2 book clubs. One meets in members homes around the district, and the other at the Lamb Inn in Sandford. Meetings are held throughout the year, roughly every 6 weeks. For information about both groups, contact Pam Barnard (01363 772357).
The Friends of the Arts Centre support its programme through taking part in activities, attending performances, giving time as volunteers and through a modest subscription. Current membership is around 160. An elected committee of The Friends meets about 10 times a year with various sub-groups taking responsibility for different areas of our activities. Annual subscriptions at present are £14 for an individual and £24 for family membership, though many Friends choose to give more than these basic sums. The money goes towards the running costs of the Centre, but Friends also receive the three termly brochures with information about forthcoming activities along with, where possible, regular email updates about future shows, classes etc. The Friends are the core audience and the most frequent participants in those activities. However, the last thing the Friends want to be is some sort of exclusive 'club', so we always try to offer the warmest of welcomes to newcomers - the Centre is there for the community. Further information is available from Rosemary Stephenson, the Centre's Administrator (contact details at top of page).
The building which now houses the Arts Centre was previously part of Hayward's School. When new buildings for the school were constructed elsewhere on the site in the early 1960s, the enterprising Drama Adviser for Devon, Derek Bowskill, transformed the building into a well equipped drama studio, painting the space as a 'black box' and installing modern lighting equipment which students themselves could learn to use. These were exciting times in educational drama, with an emphasis upon improvisation and evolved performances developing alongside continuing, but more imaginative, work on scripted plays. For several years, the Devon Drama advisory team - in those halcyon times consisting of seven or eight members distributed around the regions of the county - used the Centre, meeting weekly to plan their work and testing out their ideas through practical dramatic explorations. The space was also used by other organisations - for example, local schools developed drama projects and education students from Exeter University came out each week to learn about teaching workshop drama.
The impetus for what now makes up the life of the Centre began in the mid 1970s when Peter Hamilton was appointed by Devon County Council as Community Drama Tutor. In 1983, things took a huge step forward when a community play, Today of All Days, with a cast of 120, was produced under the guidance of the Colway Theatre Trust. A series of productions followed that event as a group of people came together to develop a range of artistic ventures. In 1992, the Crediton Drama Centre was formally instituted.
Over the years, the Centre has provided a home for many initiatives. The Brown Paper Bag Theatre Company actually pre-dates the Drama Centre, and continues to thrive, most recently producing a version of The Canterbury Tales in which the Centre became the interior of The Tabard Inn, with the pilgrims just back from their journey into Kent. There have always been classes in the visual arts - at present some six groups meet every week. The Centre has hosted a regular Street Jazz Dance group, a Photography group, two Reading groups, a Creative Writing class and Drama Clubs for younger children. In recent years, there have been projects in which nine new stage plays have been written, directed and performed, largely by new writers, directors and actors. In 2007, a dozen new radio plays were created and performed. Both these projects were taught by artists with national reputations. Various other groups hire space at the Centre, including Queen Elizabeth's Community College and the Woodcraft Folk.
The town is probably most aware of the Centre through its major outdoor productions of Shakespeare, begun in 1995 with Henry IV Part 2, and the annual festivals in Shobrooke Park. Four of the Shakespeares took place in specially erected arenas on the council carpark down Market Street - and those productions were a major influence in the town deciding to build a new piazza-style square on that site. In 2007, a 400 seat theatre was built in the new town square for the production of Measure for Measure. All of this work has been on a grand scale with budgets in excess of £25,000 secured from funding from well-wishers in the town community and other funding agencies such as Arts Council England South West and Mid Devon District Council. Before the Fire Station was razed to the ground to make space for the new square, the Centre performed a specially written play about firefighters in the station itself (and outside, for that matter, ignoring the November chill and rains); a handsomely illustrated book, Fire! Fire!, was produced to chronicle the work and lives of Crediton's retained firefighters. The project photographer was so impressed by what she was photographing that she has become a retained firefighter herself.
The Shobrooke Festival (with bands, artistic work by and for children, outdoor films et al) arose from a project funded by the Millennium Festival Fund. An amphitheatre, with power and water supplies, was sculpted from a gentle hillside leading down to the lake in Shobrooke Park, a beautiful landscaped estate about a mile from the town centre; the Shelley family, the owners of the Park, were willing and enthusiastic collaborators in the project. On the day of the amphitheatre's opening, over 1000 people visited the park to attend and take part in a daylong series of arts events mounted by local groups. Subsequently, the amphitheatre has seen schools productions, touring Shakespeare, and plays from the Brown Paper Bag Company.
Outstanding among our other activities has been a series of overseas trips led by Paul and Daphne Cartwright, both artists and teachers. Groups have visited Florence (twice), Barcelona and Venice. Plans are already made for a trip to Madrid in 2008.
A glance at past brochures would show how the activities and entertainment offered at the Centre have broadened in their appeal. We have had dance events, music, juggling, stand up comedy and a variety of self-help funding events, some of which beggar description.
In 2004, we took the decision to acknowledge the broadening of our base by translating ourselves from a Drama Centre to an Arts Centre.
Peter Hamilton retired as Artistic Director in 2004 and was replaced by printmaker Simon Ripley - though Simon's tenure was short-lived as running the Centre left too little space and energy for his own work. Both Peter and Simon remain very active members of the committee. Our Administrator is now Rosemary Stephenson, supported by our Caretaker John Downes, who doubles as a County Councillor as well as serving on the Management Committee of the Centre.
