The Common Players

Cider with Roadies is a unique project, blending arts, horticulture and an appreciation of Local Heritage. The project provides opportunities for great events where communities can be enthralled by a performance, use up spare apples, be encouraged to plant more apple trees, and learn more about their cultural heritage. Supported by Heritage Lottery, Arts Council, LEADER+ and Devon County Council, Autumn 2008 sees the third year of the project and yet more community events planned and relationships to be made. 

Our first production was The Big Squeeze - a simple story about adolescence and leaving the comfort of Mother Tree. The show toured to twenty-four venues over the autumn of 2007 along with our unique apple press Pomona. We are very excited to be embarking on the third and most ambitious year of the project and hope to meet up with old friends and make new along the way. 

Contact Mary at: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or 01392 881400.

New for2008! 

HeathenHarvest  is a newly-commissioned evening show based on the traditions of music hall and cabaret taking place around an evening Harvest Supper or community meal.  The players will entertain you with stories, action and songs drawn form research done by writer Jonathan Stokes, of local Devon apple workers and cider makers.  As a community you decide how many courses your meal will have, what the food will be and who will provide it,then we come in and entertain around your feast.  All we need you to provide is a hall or community gathering space and a 13 amp socket. Heathen Harvest is available from 26^thSeptember to 25^th October 2008   

WormFood is another newly written piece by Jon Stokes aimed at children inprimary schools from six years old and upwards, to be performed during theschool day.  The audience meet a girl called Catrina and her goldfish Finney.  They are taken on a journey of discovery and understandingof the Seasons, Nature and local apple traditions.  At times during the performance the players invite the children to help Catrina make decisions and find new ways of dealing withdilemmas. The actors all carefully and skillfully manage this within the dramaof the action. All we need is a hall space to perform in and a 13amp socket, weprovide everything else.  The audience size would ideally be up to 100 children and if a school is larger than this then it is possible to do two performances during the school day.  WormFood is available from 16^th September to 24^th October 2008  

Pomona ... thePress and our Apple Animateur During our visits  last year, we were often asked if it would be possible to have just Pomona our unique apple press visit a community and press their spare apples.  This year the answer is a resounding "Yes!"  Ideally we would love to combine a press visit with one of the other exciting elements  we are offering this year, such as Heathen Harvest. However we are able to offer a limited number of press visits only.  Along with the press we have our Apple Animateur, Adam Montague.   Autumn '08 sees Adam touring with Pomona, managing the juicing of your community apples, advising on planting, growing and themanagement of your apple trees and orchards.Adam is currently forming a network of local apple groups, growers andorchards to set up a web based Devon Pomona, bringing together existing research in to one accessible data base. This will be an interactive website where knowledge about local apples can be shared. Pomona is available from 6^th September to  26^thOctober 2008.

The Apple Educator - Heather Fallowes, Heather Fallowes our Apple Educator is working on the project as a visual artist, visiting primary schools with a curriculum linked plan of activities to engage young people in their cultural heritage. She is offering a one-day workshop to a class within local primary schools to create 3D apple tree sculptures to put in to a school wall display. During the day Heather will also talk about local apple varieties, heritage and traditions and the children will be offered the opportunity to taste some really local apples. Heather is also available for a more extended project over two days, which would involve her creating the wall display with some children of the apple sculptures.
Our Apple Educator is available from Weds 1st October 2008