Dartmoor Rivers
Performances of young people’s plays and music
December 8th 2018 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Moretonhampstead Village Hall
Dartfest 2018 is MED Theatre’s celebration of new writing and composition by young people, inspired by the rivers of Dartmoor. The production consists of a series of plays and music pieces all written and performed by members of our young company, Wild Nights. They have undergone a process of idea generating, draft writing and script editing under the supervision of our expert playwright Mark Beeson before moving on to a developmental rehearsal process undertaking roles such as directing and stage design in addition to performing. The performances explore life on Dartmoor combining the imaginary with themes of loneliness, friendship, betrayal and suspicion.
The music part of this project has taken inspiration from Dartmoor Rivers and has included a session recording underwater sounds of streams and waterfalls, alongside a number of workshops when the young people learned about various composing techniques, notably one from Gerard McBurney (former Artistic Programming Advisor for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra), Trefor Farrow, conductor of the Collati Singers and the Damerel Belles, and Gillian Webster, MED Theatre’s music mentor. The music strand is supported by a grant from the Michael Tippett Musical Foundation.
