Wild Nights Young Company is MED Theatre’s young people’s company for 13-19 year olds. The group meets on Tuesday evenings during term-time at the MED Theatre Studio in Moretonhampstead, 7.00-9.00pm, and creates and manages its own projects. For further information and to join contact Mark or Abby by email or ring 01647 441356. Scroll down for the story behind Wild Nights Young Company…
What became Wild Nights Young Company began in 2004 as a camping trip for teenagers to Brimpts Farm above Dartmeet. The group then received funding from Heritage Lottery Fund Young Roots for an 18 month project – called Wild Nights Young Company – to create two new plays, based on research into Dartmoor’s ecology and led by young people. These plays were Roots (2005) and Loricum (2006). The history of how it all came about is told in the documentary Roots Network (2008)
The first play, ‘Roots’, took an ecological theme; alongside partners English Nature and Dartmoor National Park, MED Theatre introduced its young participants to Dartmoor’s geology and wildlife. In December 2004 the group went on a residential weekend, led by Tom Wigston and Mark Beeson, to Pixies Holt Centre at Dartmeet for a mixture of walks and storytelling sessions. This was followed in April 2005 by a visit to Yarner Wood Nature Reserve for a talk by Phil Page of English Nature. Meanwhile, regular Tuesday workshops were held at the MED Theatre studio to devise the play and the final performance of ‘Roots’ took place in July 2005. Visit the Roots page to read more about the production.
The second play, ‘Loricum’, was a collaboration between young writers and MED Theatre’s playwright Mark Beeson. ‘Loricum’ explored the theme of growing up on Dartmoor and toured round village halls in March 2006. Visit the Loricum page for more information.
Click the button below to read about the very beginnings of Wild Nights Young Company.