12 short unique plays written by local residents will be performed by professional actors in 15 different locations around the town centre on Saturday 31st May.
Bristol based theatre company, ‘Show of Strength’ run the Trading Local project which uses free performance art to entice shoppers into the town centre to explore and discover shops they may not have visited before.
Earlier in the year Show of Strength worked with local residents to create the 12 five minute monologues which have been written especially for the shops and businesses in the town.
On Saturday 31 May from 10.30am until 4.15pm, six professional actors will perform the plays either inside or just outside a number of shops and businesses in the town. Each play will be performed 4 times, giving audiences plenty of opportunity to have an entertaining day and shop, catch a show, go for coffee, watch another play, do lunch, take in another show and go shopping again.
Diane Butler, Chair of ABCD (A Better Crewkerne and District) said, “It is hoped that visitors to the town centre will spend money on performance day, but more importantly, they will also return to use the shops they discovered at a later date”.
Councillor Angie Singleton, Chair of the Market Town Investment Group added, “The Trading Local project has been performed in other South West places such as Bristol and Exeter. On those occasions, organisers have found that on performance day, a lot more people are brought into the town and the shops have benefitted from the increased footfall.”
A programme of the performances can be found on the Crewkerne Local Information website at www.aboutcrewkerne.org.uk
The project is jointly organised by Show of Strength, South Somerset District Council and ABCD (A Better Crewkerne and District). Funding for the project came from the government’s High Street Innovation Fund via South Somerset District Council’s Market Town Investment Group, ABCD, Crewkerne Town Council and Waitrose.
For more information about the Show of Strength Theatre Company visit: www.showofstrength.org.uk/productions/