Archived press release

Date Published: 19/09/07

Residents living in the rural parts of Aylesbury Vale who enjoy the arts are in for a real treat. The annual Theatre in the Villages tour is coming to village venues across the district with some wonderful entertaining performances to suit all ta...

Residents living in the rural parts of Aylesbury Vale who enjoy the arts are in for a real treat.

The annual Theatre in the Villages tour is coming to village venues across the district with some wonderful entertaining performances to suit all tastes.

Organised by Aylesbury Vale District Council, the popular event provides rural residents with access to a variety of professional events, usually using village halls as venues. This year’s programme is a diverse mix of comedy, fairytale adventures, drama, music, cabaret, dance and puppetry.

The season kicks off in Aylesbury Vale with the family comedy Coast to Coast, performed by the Hard Graft Theatre Company. Last year, members of the theatre company walked 216 miles across the country from Bangor to Boston with no money, no food and no accommodation. They paid their way with a 90-minute comedy/storytelling show that they had to perform or go hungry.

Coast to Coast tells how they managed to survive and talks about the lively and sometimes eccentric characters they met. The performance takes place at Chearsley Village Hall on 24 September and at John Bridle’s Hall, Hardwick, on 25 September. 

Beverley Davison, a gifted musician and entertainer, brings Classical Cabaret to Akeley Village Hall on 1 October and Grendon Underwood Village Hall on 23 November. She will perform a diverse programme of classical, jazz, folk and film music.

The Oxfordshire Touring Theatre Company will be bringing their performance of Dylan Thomas’ classic tale Under Milk Wood to rural villages this autumn. The poetic, humorous and heart-warming text will be communicated through both a deaf actor and a blind actor and three further actors who can use sign language. The show will be held at Wingrave Community Centre on 3 October and East and Botolph Claydon Village Hall on 14 November.

Boka Halat – a glorious English-Gambian fusion – will perform a concert at Mursley Village Hall on 13 October. With their “English moves and global grooves”, residents will enjoy one of the most infectious Ceilidh bands around.

West End veterans Susan Flannery and Michael Lunts will be bringing their ‘Home Service’ show to Aylesbury Vale this autumn. Using authentic broadcasts, songs and comic verse from the Second World War, along with first-hand accounts of life in wartime Britain, Susan and Michael bring to life the ’40s in all its grit and grandeur. The performance takes place at Bishopstone Village Hall on 15 October and at Turweston Village Hall on 19 October.

Families with children over five years old can enjoy an enchanting show called 'Rags to Witches' by Josh Elwell, based on the magical folklore of the New Forest. Live music, puppetry, projected animation and a riveting narrative combine in a show that is sure to entertain. The performance takes place at The Bernard Hall, Cuddington, on 20 November and at Steeple Claydon Village Hall on 24 November.

Ray Sargent will be visiting Aylesbury Vale in November to present ‘The Warrior and the Poet’, his one-man drama of the last years in the life of Lawrence of Arabia, including his time in Dorset and his friendship with Thomas Hardy. The show will be held at Whaddon Jubilee Hall on 29 November and at Buckland Village Church on 30 November.

International performance storyteller, Cat Weatherill, will be appearing at Claydon House in Middle Claydon on 8 December. The storytelling show will focus on ‘Barkbelly’ – a magical, fast-moving adventure story for children – and will be performed with music, lots of fairy lights and plenty of audience interaction.

Councillor David Thompson, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: “It’s great that people have the chance to see professional performances in their own villages. Usually, a lot of arts events tend to be centred around the town centres, so this is a perfect opportunity for rural communities to experience the joys of live theatre without the inconvenience of having to travel too far afield.”

For further information on the performances in Aylesbury Vale, visit the council’s website www.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk under Your Leisure or call 01296 585310.