The Lifeboat Theatre

01/09/2019

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20/08/2019

Finally we’re launched into the river Axe and planning some pilot shows in early September in Axmouth.

Hurrah!

Want to hear more about The Lifeboat Theatre project and our pilot shows? Sign up to our mailing list link here: http://eepurl.com/dG5bCD

11/10/2018

We're preparing to launch The Lifeboat Theatre in Spring 2019. This wouldn't be possible without the kind support from Arts Council England and Devon County Council’s LEADER: Making It Local initiative. Sign up to our mailchimp newsletter for further updates http://eepurl.com/dG5bCD

28/09/2018

The team are busy working behind the scenes converting our little lifeboat into a touring venue. Here are a few images of them in action, adding the sails to The Gryphon. She's starting to take shape!

13/09/2018

Want to hear more about The Lifeboat Theatre project? Sign up to our mailing list link here:

LifeboatTheatre@Common-Players Email Forms

13/09/2018

We love this illustration of The Gryphon created by Mary Elliott.

07/08/2018

Common Players Theatre Company has spent many years since 1989 touring community venues inland in the Westcountry. (www.common-players.org.uk)

In 2018 they got a boat, to create theatre on the coast. It’s called The Gryphon. It can hold 25 people. The boat used to be part of a massive North Sea Oil tanker/boat/drill, called Gryphon A. In a 2011 hurricane off Scotland there was a near disaster. After that the big boat was refurbished and our little boat was sent for scrap.

We have spent many months adapting and preparing the boat for our use. Moving diesel tanks, creating safe access, making internal decks, putting in electricity, adapting the hull with steel so it can be often beached on hard pebbles. We’re now racing to get her launched by the end of August and do some sea trials, working with tides and weather.

Our stage manager is on a course learning about maritime navigation.

The first show presented on and around the boat will be The Ancient Mariner, based on the Coleridge poem.

Late Summer 2018 will see the first trial performances off the South Devon Coast.

Home

07/08/2018

INSPIRATION for the Ancient Mariner

Coleridge is a romantic poet with a vivid and compelling imagination. Our show is inspired by The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, his most famous epic and one of Britains’ best loved poems.

He was the son of the vicar and headmaster of Ottery St Mary. An inspiring and quaint Devon town.

You can visit Coleridge Cottage just over the border with Somerset.

Discover National Trust place Coleridge Cottage in Somerset, the former Georgian home of Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

07/08/2018

Getting ready for our first show: THE ANCIENT MARINER

Sailing in to beaches and small harbours, The Ancient Mariner is travelling on The Gryphon, to tell the story of his experiences and his boat. He has sailed far, seen much, and been involved in some amazing adventures.

As an older man he now wants to share his fantastic stories.

Accompanied by a musician friend he takes people on and around the boat and the seaside where he lands.

The show starts a distance away from the boat, and moves, with music and action, into the boat and out again.

**Audience maximum 25.
** Whole performance lasts approximately 60 minutes.
** Not suitable for small children under 8 ish.
** Sadly no wheelchair access over the safe steps and scaffolding we erect for access.

07/08/2018

How our little life boat became a performance venue.