The
War Prison at Princetown Project
All
That Was Left Behind
In
partnership with Dartmoor Prison Museum and the Princetown History
Society, young people from Moretonhampstead, Princetown and surrounding
villages performed All That Was Left Behind at Dartmoor
Prison Museum on Saturday 14th November as part of MED Theatre's
The War Prison at Princetown Project. The site-specific nature
of the performance (using the Prison Museum barn on a wet, windy
and cold day in November) gave both the audience and the participants
an atmospheric experience in conditions that were close to those
that might have been endured in Dartmoor Prison 200 years ago.
The
performance looked at the building of the iconic war prison, originally
designed to house French and American prisoners from the war with
Napoleon in 1815. Opening with a dramatic war dance, the intricate
plot of the play goes on to unravel a tragic love story between
two captured brothers and two Dartmoor sisters, against the backdrop
of a society trying to survive through times of war. A large part
of the action is based on the true story of convicts escaping
from the prison dressed as the Prison Commissioner and his wife,
after putting on a play where they played these parts. Posing
as these figures of authority, the prisoners were able to walk
straight out of the prison's front doors, in disguise.
The
young participants - mostly from Moretonhampstead and Princetown
- were responsible for all parts of the project, such as coming
up with the original idea, researching the history of the prison
in the early 1800s, designing costumes, making props, composing
music, shooting and editing the film, writing and directing the
play, and choreographing the dance. Some of the participants wanted
to acquire the skills needed to lead a workshop for primary school
children, so under the mentorship of MED Theatre's education officer
they worked with children from Princetown and Tavistock Primary
as well as from the Moretonhampstead area on material exploring
their local heritage in drama and puppet making workshops.
The
presence of the Honorary French Consul at the final performance
in Princetown gave an added meaning to, and his reaction highlighted
both the quality and the cultural achievement of the young people's
performance as heritage. He said "I would like to congratulate
the cast for this very vivid performance. You could close your
eyes and picture yourself two hundred years ago... a great great
performance."
A
second performance of the play and the film took place at Moretonhampstead
Parish Hall on Wednesday 9th December, symbolic of the link between
the young people of two communities, and appropriate in that the
play explores the life of a French officer on parole in Moretonhampstead
at the same time as examining what life was like inside the prison
walls in Princetown's prison.
The
young people recorded and edited a documentary about the process
of the project which serves as a fitting reminder of their achievement.
The
project was supported by a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Young Roots programme, and by smaller grants from Tavistock and
Villages Forum and West Devon Borough Council.
PERFORMANCES
WERE HELD:
14th
November - 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Dartmoor
Prison Museum
9th
December - 7.30pm
Moretonhampstead
Parish Hall
Article
about All That Was Left Behind on BBC Devon website
The
War Prison Project Photo Gallery
click
here to enlarge
Diary
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