Peoples Republic of South Devon

No more Bit on the Side

Posted by Cptn

Super music and community arts venue The Bit on the Side, Paignton, has been closed. The Torbay Artsbase winner of best live venue has had its doors closed for it and the arts, education and community projects will have to be suspended until further notice.

There seems to have been confusion over the licence, and after a private event in the week the council changed the locks, leaving the organisers in the dark.

Mark, who has been leading the Bit on The Side and the Overdrive Project, told the PRSD: ‘If then there is another incident, the police could, if they choose to, review [the] licence and shut down the theatre.

‘Instead they shut us down, a community project which was a shot in the cultural arm of Torbay, a community project that has run the only venue in torbay for seven months with no police call outs, no drunkedness, no violence, no drugs. A community project that was home to young people who are now back drinking beer in the train station entrance as they now have no where to go.’

It’s been a bad week for the arts in Devon. Check out The Bit on the Side myspace. And here’s a little bit on the Overdrive Project, which was based there (the council has already removed all by the bot-trace of it, but this is evidence it did exist).

December 15th, 2007

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Transformed

Posted by Cptn

Recycled art steps up its game at Gallery Terracina, Exeter. The show, Transformed, runs until December 23 and has some wonderfully re-applied elements in a rich and varied collection. And if you think we gush too much, pop along have a look. We got one of our more arty-minded contributors to talk to the artists involved – Andrew Vaccari and Janice Myers.

Oh, and Janice is keen to get hold of hundreds of those plastic things that hold cans of beer together. Collect ‘em in an envelope over Christmas and email info@peoplesrepublicofsouthdevon.co.uk for the address.

Just click on any of the things below to listen in.

 

 Art on PRSD [7:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (55)

December 14th, 2007

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Performance history

Posted by Cptn

The Totnes Young People’s Theatre has been delving into the past for its current slew of performances.

Not only have these thesps combined live action and film into an installation on the Totnes train station about a bomb attack on the railway - press reports of the attacks were banned during WW2 (a bit like the local press and protests against the war a few years ago) – but they’ve also written a new play Lessons from History, about scapegoating, intolerance and history repeating itself.

Working alongside writer Jon Croose and director Tiffany Strawson, the Company will be performing the play in local schools in the New Year followed by a series of workshops. Jon told the PRSD: “The group decided that the only good reason for looking at history was so we can learn from it and change our ways - hence the title of the piece.

“They also wanted their audience to take responsibility for the future and try to change the culture of conflict, while accepting that everyone has a right to their own opinions about the world situation.”

Both these performances can be seen at the HEX studio, Aller Park, Dartington Estate on Friday (December 14) at 7pm and on Saturday (December 15) at 6.30pm. Free of charge.

December 13th, 2007

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Energetic act

Posted by Cptn

The Theatre Royal, Plymouth, has been putting all its energy into the performances, it seems. The ground-breaking theatre is the first in the country to pick up Energy Efficiency Accreditation for its efforts in reducing energy consumption. Who says the theatrical world is full of hot air?

December 13th, 2007

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People’s millions

Posted by Cptn

The people have voted, maybe not with their feet, but for their feet - well for transport, anyway, and the People’s Millions Lottery grant of £50 million has gone to the Connect2 scheme put together by Sustrans.

The ambitious programme to get over obstacles to walking and cycling, but stops short of penalising nobs in cars, has identified 79 schemes throughout the country which would benefit from a bridge, walkway, etc.

Two schemes in the PRSD catchment area (Newton Abbot and Ottery St Mary) are already earmarked for development, with another at Bovey Tracey being held in reserve. And if you look closely at the Newton Abbot scheme, it might not even effect the proposed flyover down to Torbay.

December 12th, 2007

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New Northcott Theatre set to close

Posted by Cptn

Exeter’s art scene is set to face another blow with the closure threat that now hangs over the Northcott Theatre.

In a move dripping with irony the theatre, which re-opened today after a £2.1 million redevelopment, is set to lose its Arts Council grant from April 2009, making it impossible to operate.

The work was paid for by grants from Exeter City Council (£750,000), Devon County Council (£450,000) and the University of Exeter (£300,000) plus private donations. The three organisations only pledged their money after receiving assurances from the Arts Council that it was ‘committed’ to the theatre’s future. The Arts Council itself contributed £100,000 towards the cost of the conversion and a further £540,000 in revenue grant to support the theatre while it was closed.

Steve Gratton, chair of the Northcott Theatre Board, told the PRSD: “I simply cannot understand why the Arts Council would say it is committed to the theatre, allow public money to be spent on its redevelopment and then pull the plug just as the theatre re-opens. This is a bitter pill for the Theatre’s 58 staff to swallow, coming as they re-open the theatre and just two weeks before Christmas. We had no inkling at all that this was going to happen. Everyone who supports and works for Exeter Northcott has the right to feel very angry indeed.”

Expressions of support can be sent via email to: savethenorthcott@exeternorthcott.co.uk or in writing to Save Exeter Northcott Campaign, Northcott Theatre, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QB.

December 11th, 2007

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Art auction

Posted by Cptn

Save your pennies and practise your officious nod, Plymouth Environment Centre is holding an aution of art at the B-bar Barbican Theatre, Plymouth on Thursday (December 13) from 6pm.

Guide prices start at £10 and work under the hammer will range digital photographs to original oil paintings from a mix of international and local artists, like Peter Randall-Page and Sue Coe.

Take a gander at the piccies and see what takes your fancy in this fundraising event.

December 11th, 2007

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Human Rights Day

Posted by Cptn

As you’ve been doing what you do of a Monday and feeling fairly good about the your human rights on this the international Human Rights Day, spare a thought for those around the world who don’t enjoy such freedom. And maybe consider the proposed number days of detention without charge that’s being mooted under anti-terror laws.

Liberty has a charge or release campaign going on. Take a gander.

December 10th, 2007

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What a relief

Posted by Cptn

Given the current climate, rising sea levels will probably be seen as a message from ‘God’ - a bit like what educated people are calling ‘the Noah’s Ark Myth’. But according to new research, that anti-deluvian [sic] phenomenon kick-started the European agrarian economy (that’s farming to you).

Around 8,000 years ago the North American Ice Sheet melted, increasing global sea levels by about 1.4 metres (around the same as contemporary predictions) and flooded the Black Sea, forcing around 145,000 clever farming types west into the hunter-gatherer communities, taking their culture with them. Et voila.

Professor Chris Turney of the University of Exeter, lead author of the paper, told a damp PRSD: “This research shows how rising sea levels can cause massive social change. 8,000 years on, are we any better placed to deal with rising sea levels? The latest estimates suggest that by AD 2050, millions of people will be displaced each year by rising sea levels. For those people living in coastal communities, the omen isn’t good.”

And, with that in mind, Greenhouse Britain, which looks at the environmental, political and economic challenges of rising sea levels caused by climate change, has extended its run at the CCANW until Sunday January 20.

Its central feature is a multimedia video projection onto a giant relief model of mainland Britain onto which one will see the waters gradually redraw the coastline.

December 9th, 2007

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Status symbol

Posted by Cptn

Old news, old hat and liable to bore your pants off, but we thought it worthwhile to remind everyone that Exeter has not been granted unitary status. It’s all an issue of who runs council services.

The Exeter City Council thought it would be a ‘good thing’ to run all of its services itself, like Torbay or Plymouth, rather than be part of Devon County Council. The government put a stop to all the shenanigans, but the Boundary Commission is looking at ways to make Exeter bigger, better, stronger, faster – apparently – so that it may become a superstate in its own right and reapply.

But what’s the point of unitary status? Read the council’s own blurb. Or take a gander at this string from a sceptic. And the councillors weren’t happy neither.

December 8th, 2007

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