MED Theatre is a community organisation that creates work with and for the rurally isolated residents of Dartmoor National Park and surrounding Devon, and although the COVID-19 pandemic means that we cannot be with you all in person, we are still very much there in spirit.
With little idea of how long the country will need to be in lockdown it is an uncertain and difficult time for many people, but it is MED Theatre’s intention to ensure that we continue to be present in the rural Dartmoor and Devon community (albeit via digital platforms).
Please see below to find out how all of our current projects are being affected by the lockdown and our intentions for continuing despite the challenges being faced.
If you or a family member would like any more information about how you can get involved in one of these projects from your own home, please contact MED Theatre’s Education Officer, Helen, via email at helengilbert@medtheatre.co.uk.
‘Moor Voices’, supported by Arts Council England, will culminate in outdoor performances on both Dartmoor and Exmoor of a play which deals with the possibility of matriarchal societies in the Bronze Age, suggested by the mythology associated with marine mammals.
The project will involve community cast members, emerging artists and professional practitioners who will help to deliver the project alongside the MED Theatre team.
Prior to the lockdown, MED Theatre were fortunate enough to have visited many schools across Exmoor and Dartmoor with the ‘Moor Voices’ Bronze Age workshops, reaching over 600 young people in total.
Despite the current situation, MED Theatre’s Moor Voices Project Coordinator, Florrie Taylor, and Artistic Director, Mark Beeson, continue to work on plans and the script for the final production. Further to this, they are keeping communication going with the emerging artists and all of the professional artists who are contributors to the project.
For more information regarding Moor Voices click the link below or contact Project Coordinator Florrie Taylor at florrietaylor@medtheatre.co.uk.
Here’s something new!
Inspired By… is a new online arts platform created especially for our current climate that seeks to keep creativity alive and accessible to those feeling isolated.
MED Theatre will be releasing a range of Dartmoor and Devon themed stories, images, music and film to kickstart your own creativity and be Inspired By…
Have a watch of our promotional video for Inspired By… or click the link below to see what we have shared so far!
In an effort to preserve precious heritage, in the form of the memories and first-hand experiences of the local wartime generation, this project will offer the opportunity for younger members of the rural Devon communities to carry out research and oral history interviews that can be used in the creation of various creative outputs.
In order to keep the project going during this period, the MED Theatre education team and Artistic Director will continue to meet, via online chat, with our young company members. The members will also carry out research and writing elements of the project from their homes.
Meanwhile, the MED Theatre team will be working from home on their own research, on gathering oral histories where possible and on the creation of a short play which is intended to be toured around Devon education and care centres later in the year.
For more than 35 years, MED Theatre have been producing original drama to be performed by community members and toured around Dartmoor and Devon.
MED Theatre’s 2020 community play ‘The Murder of Nicholas Radford’ explored the motivations behind one of the most notorious private murders of the 15th century, which contributed to the start of the Wars of the Roses, and may have had its origins in a Dartmoor tin-mining dispute.
Due to the global pandemic of COVID-19, MED Theatre was sadly given no choice but to cancel three out of the five performances of this community play.
HOWEVER, a video version of the play will soon be available to watch on YouTube. Please keep checking back on the project page, through the link below, for when this is available!
We would like to thank our Members and Friends during this time, and Arts Council England, The National Lottery and their players and Dartmoor National Park for their extra support.
