The formation of the new amateur theatrical group known as the Taverners follows a long tradition in the parish. Amongst the many old photographs collected by the Parish Project Group are a number taken of performances in the years gone by.

One of the earliest, shows the stage that was erected backing on to the wall of the rectory garden for a concert party commemorating the coronation of George 5^th in 1911.

James Ruth took some photographs of another concert party organised in December 1913. One is of a sketch entitled “The Dolly’s Doctor” performed by little girls and another is a line up of small boys with blackened faces.

In the 1960’s members of the Women’s Institute performed a dramatic piece which shows members dressed as nuns, with the exception of Dorothy Bone who played the part of a man and is seen sporting a fine beard!

For an intimate picture of what it was like to perform after the war, David Balkwill has some vivid memories. He and his wife Sheila, became involved and they performed in assembly rooms at the rear of the Commercial Inn (later the Taverners). He says that at that time the parish was fortunate enough to have a retired Shakespearian actor living in their midst who was willing to put a little polish on the proceedings. His name was Leonard (Lennie) Bennett, at that time living at Damerells Combe.

It was not easy, as one of the ladies who was a shopkeeper was very keen, but had the unfortunate habit of forgetting her lines and would leave the stage with an excuse like having to put the kettle on or something similar, leaving the rest of the cast staring at each other open-mouthed. She was too deaf to hear a prompter, but was too useful in the supply of refreshments to be got rid of, so the rest of the cast had to learn her lines as well as their own so she could lip read and remain on the stage.

They used to do a whole range of different pieces ranging from Shakespeare to country plays. A set of Welsh ones were very popular because they translated into Devon dialect very well.

He recalls doing a play called “The Poacher” and was dressed for the part so accurately the a wag in the front row called out “David you look just like  ______” and named a local who was noted for his poaching activities, which brought the house down and made it very difficult to keep a serious face or instil any gravity into the play.

David thinks that the advent of television killed off village plays, which makes it all the more heart-warming  that people are prepared to give up their time to rehearsals and performing in these days of so many distractions.