Acorn Music Theatre Company

TALES for Fairly Grimm Times, the new Acorn Music Theatre Company’s production, certainly lived up to its name during their recent tour to Start Point, Devon.

The company not only had to cope with losing cast members to isolation but the whole cast and support crew had to contend with the gale force winds of Storm Evert.

Acorn is used to performing in unusual venues and contending with extreme weather, farmyard machinery and the odd chicken.

We are even used to camping in a field between performances with one shower in the cowshed between everyone.

However, on this particular night, no one was prepared for what was to come.

In the afternoon, as the sun shone and the actors rehearsed, Nick Ansell, the farmer who kindly invites Acorn to perform on his beautiful organic beef farm at Start Point, mentioned that the weather looked likely to take a bad turn and we may want to batten down the hatches, so to speak.

He even went so far as to suggest cancelling the evening’s performance.

Up in the field (the only place with any mobile signal), weather apps showed what looked like a hurricane approaching.

All tents were taken down and stowed and, as the wind began to rise, a decision had to be made about that evening’s performance: should it be cancelled?

All ticket holders were contacted by Lucie Henwood and offered the chance to swap tickets for a different night but Devonians are a hardy breed and all braved the elements to watch the performance. The show must go on!

Then, after the final applause, the audience left and the rain began.

Nick and the weather apps had been right and the wind and rain hammered down as the barn was quickly turned into a makeshift dormitory for all cast and crew.

Everyone set up their beds, strategically avoiding the buckets catching the water drips from the ceiling.

There was definitely a sense of togetherness and anticipation in the air.

A few chose to spend the night in the safety of their cars but found themselves being rocked back and forth all night in storm force winds.

Two decided to brave the storm and spent the night soaked, desperately holding on to their tents to stop them being blown away.

Back in the barn, there was only a blackout curtain to keep out the elements. This was soaked and writhing, wraithlike, in the wind.

The noise was horrendous and it was hard not to think of the storm that had washed the nearby village of Halsands into the sea a hundred years before.

The wind began to ease at dawn. Acorn had survived Storm Evert.

Energised from the excitement and camaraderie of the night, the following performances of Tales for Fairly Grimm Times blew people away, thankfully not literally this time.

Sarah Bell, trustee