A Devon-based theatre company has high hopes for the future, after winning the chance to perform at the Glastonbury Festival next year. The Heart's Tongue Theatre Company features writers and performers living in Devon, centred around the Exeter and Dartington areas of the county. The company also likes to work with the community, including local schools.
 | | Heart's Tongue Theatre Company logo |
This year, Heart's Tongue won the South West Street Performers Competition with a piece called 'Who Killed Stan Laurel.' Their prize is to perform in the circus tent and on the theatre stage at Glastonbury 2007. The company was set up in 2002, with the aim of producing progressive theatre outside London. The plays usually feature dance and original music. The core members have been professionally trained and now all live in Devon. Resident playwright Peter Oswald is one of just a few verse-playwrights in England and is also resident playwright at the Globe in London. The company is currently working on two new plays: A Little Down in the Mouth, to be performed at Christmas 2006; and The Brothers Grimm, planned for a mini-tour in 2007.
 | | Belinda Harris-Reid playing one of her roles |
As well as street theatre, the company also performs at venues across the county, including the Phoenix and Barnfield in Exeter, the Ariel Centre in Totnes, the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth and at Dartington. One of the company directors, Belinda Harris-Reid, says their work mixes professionals and members of the community. "The members of the company are all professional performers. "But we try and use local talent. With The Brothers Grimm, the idea is to workshop in schools. It's a fantastic, crazy piece of theatre written by Peter Oswald.
 | | One of the company, Paul Ecker |
"And we're looking to get local schoolchildren involved in A Little Down in the Mouth. It's also written by Peter and it is about a depressed village. "A minstrel come across this village and tells everyone there's another way of living - you can be happy! So the village goes barmy." The company is hoping to receive match funding for the production from the South West Arts Council. And there is a fund-raising event at the Phoenix in Exeter, featuring The Grandmaster of Reggae, DJ Derek, and DJ Oilz. The gig is on Sunday 19th November 2006 and tickets are £6.50. For the members of Heart's Tongue (named after the Devon fern, Hart's Tongue), this is just the start of what they hope will be a long and successful journey. "It would be nice to be another Kneehigh," said Belinda, referring to Cornwall-based Kneehigh Theatre, which has achieved an internationally acclaimed reputation. "It's early days yet, but that's what we're aiming for." | 
