The Inn Theatre Company

And that, as far as we are concerned, says it all. Theatre should be fun, not only for those watching but for those who are performing, making the costumes, building the sets, changing the light bulbs and clearing up after the event!

It all started some years ago, 2002, if we're being precise, when a group of friends thought it would be a great idea to put on an open-air Shakespearean production, and Dartmouth Castle seemed to be the ideal setting.
Of course, one of the most important decisions that had to be made was: What would they call themselves? So they ordered another round of drinks at the bar of The Cherub Inn (can you see where this is going?) and put their not inconsiderably endowed heads together. Thus was born The Inn Theatre Company.
Little did they know!

Living and working in the South Hams, as the majority of the Company do, we feel it only right that we should try to put back a little of that which has been afforded us by the people who support us; whether that be audience or sponsors or volunteers.
To that end, we decided to take a percentage of our ticket sales and make a donation to a specific charity every year. The donation in 2008 was sent to Dartmouth Caring.
We have also made donations to other local bodies, amongst them The Dartmouth Film Society and St.Petrox Church.

But we're branching out in other directions too. Some of our friends who live in a nearby village, were dismayed to discover that the young people's arm of their local dramatic society was going to disband; primarily due to lack of funds and the departure of the couple who had run the venture.
The Inn Theatre Company stepped up to the oche - is that right? - and made a donation to pay for rehearsal space and volunteered some of their members' services to get their 2008 February production up and running.
'Olivia' was a wonderful experience, for everyone involved, not least, of course, for the youngsters. We're doing it all again in 2009.

And that experience got us thinking...and we now have our own Education Officer looking after that side of things. We're always on the look-out for new projects...

Busy, busy, busy. We will be adding more pages to the website when time, and the rehearsal schedule, allow, but if you want to get involved, in any capacity, please, get in touch!

The Inn Theatre Company are probably best known for their work in presenting Dartmouth Shakespeare Week, but we're not a company for standing still, as you will see further down the page! Our first production was
in 2003, with Twelfth Night, gathering together some of the brightest and best acting and technical talent in the South Hams. It was, to say the least, a brave move and some might have said, a dangerous one. There was much to be lost but a huge amount to be gained. Thankfully, it all came together and what might have been a one off event, planted roots and began to grow in to something even more adventurous and ambitious.

As has been said previously, it is '...the theatre's business to entertain the people...' so we try to choose plays that are known, popular and that also stretch us as performers, technicians, producers and directors. 2004 saw 'The Taming of the Shrew' at Dartmouth Castle. Although successful, this was the one that very nearly

company, both on the stage and behind the scenes, many of whom are still with us now. This is one of the exciting aspects of The Inn Theatre Company, we have a quorum of people who organise and generally move and shake, but the company as whole is very fluid and we are lucky enough to be able to draw on as many or as few local actors as we need; and they, it seems, are only too happy to be involved with us...which is a very great compliment!

a guest director for Romeo & Juliet. An accomplished actress herself, and deeply involved with Dartington Shakespeare, Sarah Welsh had played Portia in the previous years production.
We had music, we had dance, we had spectacle and we also had a group of young actors in the lead roles that would have lit up any stage. Several of them have gone on to perform professionally or study with some of the most illustrious theatre schools in the land.
It was this production that inspired Malcolm, and made us all realise that our potential was absolutely incredible; so we really started thinking about other projects and the next Shakespearean production.

very successful with Dartmouth Shakespeare Week complacency was something we could not afford; it's something that no company can allow themselves to fall prey to.
'Revealing Briefs' was, at the time, the most fun we had had as company; it was something so completely different for us and, thankfully, the theatre-going public seemed to agree and gave their generous support to the project.
We took one of the plays, 'Ritual for Dolls', to the Teignmouth One Act Play Festival and garnered a nomination for Best Actor.

And whilst all this was happening, we were busy planning, casting and rehearsing for the 2007 Dartmouth Shakespeare Week production. This was going to be our most amibitious production to date which would include a ballet within the play and some of the most sumptious costumes ever seen in any of our shows.

'A Midsummer Nights Dream', beyond any shadow of a doubt, was our most accomplished and visually stunning show to date. And the number of people who came to see it was proof enough; we ran at 110% capacity over the course of the week we were at the Castle.
Because of the sheer scale of this production
we had a massive team on both sides of the footlights:
Linda Goss, who choreographed the ballet sequence;
Kelly & Jacqui from Ethera, who desigend and made all the faerie costumes and those of Puck, Oberon & Titania;

all the lighting and sound crews; the set designers, builders and artists and, of course, all the parents who made sure the faeries got to rehearsals and who were backstage during all the performances!

We allowed ourselves a moment or two bask in the plaudits - and there were many, I feel we can say without any false modesty - but then the reaalisation hit us: what on earth were we going to do in 2008? Could we equal, let alone surpass, the undoubted triumph that had been 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'?
Malcolm decided to have a year off after The Dream, so we also needed another Director.
Step up to plate Jane Windsor-Smith, who had so entertained everybody as Snug in 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'. She had directed one of the plays in 'Revealing Briefs', acted in many of our productions but this was first time at the helm of anything remotely Shakespearean.
It was a big ask, but boy! What a treat there was in store for everybody!

2008 and 'The Tempest' was the play of choice. The same team from 2007 was on-board and we thought we'd build a ship on stage, just for a change.
Andrew Hollet designed the ship and it was built by the very clever guys at Tower Scaffold. Andrew also designed and built the sound effect machines that were used on the ship during the opening storm sequence. Based on the same machines that would have been used in Shakespeare's day, they were attched to the deck of the ship and opeated by the mariners.
Another group of new and talented actors joined us for this production, as did a new, young and inventive team of technicians, who really pulled out the stops in the sound and effects department.

Linda Goss designed the dance sequence; Lynne Deller, the assistant director, also choreographed the dogs and spirits and, another first, we commissioned three specially written pieces of music for the songs that Ariel sings.

While 'The Tempest' equaled and, in some respects, surpassed The Dream, unfortunately the weather was not on our side in 2008. We had to use our wet weather back-up venue on the Saturday night.

To read more about the various productions, please visit the other pages on The Inn Theatre Company site.

There is just so much happening over the next year or so and some of it starts on 29th October 2008 with the
Dart Drama Festival.
This year, there are five local companies taking part and, unlike some Festivals, this is not a competition, but a celebration of local theatre.
We are putting on a one act comedy by that excellent writer David Tristram, called 'What's for Pudding?'
Not the first time that we've presented one of his plays and hopefully, not the last.

November 12th sees the first read through, and auditions for, our production that will go under the collective title of
'THREESOME'.

The Inn Theatre Company, we believe, are one of the very few amateur companies with the talent resources to do what we are doing next year.
And that is?
Three brand new plays, never performed before, and written by one of the members of the company.
'Hacks', 'Buying Back The Past' and 'Clowns' were all written by
Max Brandt and will be performed at The Guildhall, Dartmouth, on
26th, 27th & 28th March, 2009.
If you would like to get involved, please, go to the contact link on the Getting Involved page (funnily enough!) and drop us a line.
'Hacks': A dark comedy set in the offices of a women's magazine and looking at the consequences of secrets!
'Buying Back The Past': A old tramp; and what happens when you can't help but keep the truth to yourself.
'Clowns': A comedy, set at the 32nd Grimsby Clown Convention, and why it's, perhaps, not so funny to make fun of someone...particularly when you don't know what heck is going on!!