Exploring the power of storytelling, the beauty of community & the heritage of Cornwall.
A BIG thank you to everyone who came to support our show FAULT!
Thank you to the kind volunteers who helped on the evening and of course to our amazing, precious cast & crew.
Pleased to find out that Cornwall Drama Association have nominated us for another award in Technical Achievement for our use of multi-media!
We are delighted to announce that we had record breaking ticket sales on all 3 nights and all proceeds will enable us to grow and reach more corners in our community.
Thank you to the local businesses for donating fantastic prizes, we raised a whopping £448 on the raffle, 50% of which will go to help Landewednack School's transport fund.
We are always looking for more people to join us, please contact us if you'd like to be involved in our next project, there's so many areas that you can get involved in.
Well, the Bicycle To The Beyond has travelled to the tip, the Queen's emerald green dress now dazzles in a cupboard, The Geological Penetration of Spirits Hat is safely back in it's hat-box, the Sprites have slipped away into the shadows, our ghost Janet of The Granite has gone away ('til next summer when she'll be no doubt tickling the feets of innocent swimmers down Kennack), Dave the Rave has even had a shave!
The Temple tent -which we have been so fortunate to use for two shows (including Catching Rabbit in 2022) - has now been sold to a local circus, the end of an era!
Alas, the magic is being stored away beneath storage boxes, cable ties and glitter, to be dug up again "dreckly."
Thank you to the kind volunteers who helped on the evening and of course to our amazing, precious cast & crew.
Pleased to find out that Cornwall Drama Association have nominated us for another award in Technical Achievement for our use of multi-media!
We are delighted to announce that we had record breaking ticket sales on all 3 nights and all proceeds will enable us to grow and reach more corners in our community.
Thank you to the local businesses for donating fantastic prizes, we raised a whopping £448 on the raffle, 50% of which will go to help Landewednack School's transport fund.
We are always looking for more people to join us, please contact us if you'd like to be involved in our next project, there's so many areas that you can get involved in.
Well, the Bicycle To The Beyond has travelled to the tip, the Queen's emerald green dress now dazzles in a cupboard, The Geological Penetration of Spirits Hat is safely back in it's hat-box, the Sprites have slipped away into the shadows, our ghost Janet of The Granite has gone away ('til next summer when she'll be no doubt tickling the feets of innocent swimmers down Kennack), Dave the Rave has even had a shave!
The Temple tent -which we have been so fortunate to use for two shows (including Catching Rabbit in 2022) - has now been sold to a local circus, the end of an era!
Alas, the magic is being stored away beneath storage boxes, cable ties and glitter, to be dug up again "dreckly."
More on FAULT:
“A play about the power of laying your ghosts to rest…”
An original play written and directed by Tamara Stidwell.
Here's what the critics had to say:
"Magical realism play set in Cornwall, pulling upon Midsummer Night’s Dream with elements of Philip Pullman and the Mabinogion (earliest prose in written Welsh which explores Celtic mythology). Tamara Stidwell's play echoes the Mabinogion and ancient Cornish plays like the Ordinalia, by smashing old and new ideas together to reinforce the ancient Celtic ideology that there is no distance or differences between the world of the here and now and the Otherworld. Characters therefore have no idea whether they are in one or the other, until certain events make them realise that the world we think we think we exist in, exists alongside another. No one is upset or perturbed by this, like Janet of the Granite who crosses between them naturally. This concept all comes together through rich Cornish retelling and through this lense, this play challenges the parochial view of Cornwall, and does what I believe is very important, displays the international and relevant tropes in Cornish history as stepping stones to Cornwall's international appeal and historical influence."
Mike Tresidder, Cornish social historian and classical civilisation lecturer.
"This interesting original script, weaving Celtic Pagan themes with earthy Cornish humour, examines the transition of the souls of the departed as they break free of this world, in juxtaposition to the emotional journey of the living, whose guilt or need may keep them trapped in this earthly plane. The double meaning of the title – the fault-lines lying between the spirit and mortal worlds, and the faults within the characters which need to be addressed for self-realisation – was subtly revealed as the narrative progressed, together with the fault line cracks in certain Cornish stones, whose presence neatly joined the two ‘faults’... An unusual story: the complex veneers of personality, self-realisation, letting go all layered with comedy and tragedy made for a thought provoking and entertaining evening. The original script handled the subject matter of death sensitively and it was thoughtfully delivered by enthusiastic players."
Oriel Bennett and Jo Nicolle, Cornwall Drama Association.
The full CDA Reviews of two of our plays so far can be read below.
Please have a little watch of our short video for an insight into what the audiences thought... keslowena/congratulations one and all!
“A play about the power of laying your ghosts to rest…”
An original play written and directed by Tamara Stidwell.
Here's what the critics had to say:
"Magical realism play set in Cornwall, pulling upon Midsummer Night’s Dream with elements of Philip Pullman and the Mabinogion (earliest prose in written Welsh which explores Celtic mythology). Tamara Stidwell's play echoes the Mabinogion and ancient Cornish plays like the Ordinalia, by smashing old and new ideas together to reinforce the ancient Celtic ideology that there is no distance or differences between the world of the here and now and the Otherworld. Characters therefore have no idea whether they are in one or the other, until certain events make them realise that the world we think we think we exist in, exists alongside another. No one is upset or perturbed by this, like Janet of the Granite who crosses between them naturally. This concept all comes together through rich Cornish retelling and through this lense, this play challenges the parochial view of Cornwall, and does what I believe is very important, displays the international and relevant tropes in Cornish history as stepping stones to Cornwall's international appeal and historical influence."
Mike Tresidder, Cornish social historian and classical civilisation lecturer.
"This interesting original script, weaving Celtic Pagan themes with earthy Cornish humour, examines the transition of the souls of the departed as they break free of this world, in juxtaposition to the emotional journey of the living, whose guilt or need may keep them trapped in this earthly plane. The double meaning of the title – the fault-lines lying between the spirit and mortal worlds, and the faults within the characters which need to be addressed for self-realisation – was subtly revealed as the narrative progressed, together with the fault line cracks in certain Cornish stones, whose presence neatly joined the two ‘faults’... An unusual story: the complex veneers of personality, self-realisation, letting go all layered with comedy and tragedy made for a thought provoking and entertaining evening. The original script handled the subject matter of death sensitively and it was thoughtfully delivered by enthusiastic players."
Oriel Bennett and Jo Nicolle, Cornwall Drama Association.
The full CDA Reviews of two of our plays so far can be read below.
Please have a little watch of our short video for an insight into what the audiences thought... keslowena/congratulations one and all!
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Hello/Dydh Da
LAFTA is an exciting, dynamic, community-based organisation from The Lizard founded by emerging Cornish playwright Tamara Stidwell. Our aim is to develop, support and deliver creativity grown from the Lizard peninsula, Cornwall. In 2022, we were awarded National Lottery Community Funding. With this funding we have purchased a state-of-the-art projector and screen as well as long term storage facilities that are being used by the wider community. 2 and a half years on, we are pleased to have produced 4 original plays which explore local humour, heritage and the universal beauty of storytelling. |
Theatre/Gwariva
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"We live in times of deep disconnection. Theatre is storytelling, and telling stories is connection. It's absolutely essential that we do whatever we can to draw people together, to think, feel and generate real, random, beautiful, hard-hitting and fantastical stories."
Tamara Stidwell.
(Creative Director)
We would like to thank these organisations:
- Cornwall Drama Association
- Helston Theatre Company
- The Lizard Reading Room
- The National Lottery Community Fund
- Landewednack Parish Council Community Pot Funding
Community/Keveren
DRAWING PEOPLE TOGETHER - Encouraging each other to learn new skills and build on existing passion
We believe that local home-grown collaboration is key to making authentic work. Down this neck of the woods we are a little bit cut off from the rest of the world and those who reside on the peninsula and have an interest in the Arts, often have to travel further afield to seek collaboration or representation. LAFTA aims to bring people in the Lizard and surrounding areas together to showcase and celebrate their ideas and passion.
COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL SCHOOL - Creative Media & Wellbeing Workshops
Workshops with the local primary school, bringing the voice of the youth to print and film, developing their skill and building their confidence in creative media production. See our latest film on Michael An Gof in "Children & Media."
Share/Kevren
SHARING OUR FACILILITIES WITH THE WIDER COMMUNITY
We have been so fortunate to be able to use the local school's magnificent staging for free, and we also let other groups use the fantastic facilities we bought with National Lottery Community funding: an industry standard projector, top quality screen and trusses.
DRAWING PEOPLE TOGETHER - Encouraging each other to learn new skills and build on existing passion
We believe that local home-grown collaboration is key to making authentic work. Down this neck of the woods we are a little bit cut off from the rest of the world and those who reside on the peninsula and have an interest in the Arts, often have to travel further afield to seek collaboration or representation. LAFTA aims to bring people in the Lizard and surrounding areas together to showcase and celebrate their ideas and passion.
COLLABORATION WITH LOCAL SCHOOL - Creative Media & Wellbeing Workshops
Workshops with the local primary school, bringing the voice of the youth to print and film, developing their skill and building their confidence in creative media production. See our latest film on Michael An Gof in "Children & Media."
Share/Kevren
SHARING OUR FACILILITIES WITH THE WIDER COMMUNITY
We have been so fortunate to be able to use the local school's magnificent staging for free, and we also let other groups use the fantastic facilities we bought with National Lottery Community funding: an industry standard projector, top quality screen and trusses.
WHY IS LAFTA IMPORTANT?
"[In Catching Rabbit, 2022] We saw excellent teamwork from a group of talented people... We applaud the ambitious and imaginative use of sound and special filmic effects throughout the performance. An excellent script, thoughtfully written with terrific wit and humour and directed at the local audience who absolutely loved it. The technical presentation was extremely clever and so imaginative."
Cornwall Drama Association, September 2022.
"In community theatre, you see different sides to people completely, some people who you think are very quiet are just the opposite. It gives people a chance to be somebody that they're not."
Esther Johns, Dec 2023.
"We bring people in the community together, we may be small in number, but we are one big family and we encourage new members to join us, there's so much that you can do!"
Jimmy Johns, Dec 2023.
"Growing up on The Lizard, storytelling was all around me. People lived amateur dramatics - there was humour found in real poverty and stories made from real characters. Storytelling was a form of survival."
Jed Trewin, film maker.
"People who might usually stay in their homes can come together, to share in and enjoy something which makes them feel less alone."
Jean Trimble, Dec 2023.
"LAFTA is a fabulous group of people, so friendly and welcoming. I'm delighted to be part of this group. This is exactly how a community theatre group should be."
Roz Trudgon, May 2024.
"[In Catching Rabbit, 2022] We saw excellent teamwork from a group of talented people... We applaud the ambitious and imaginative use of sound and special filmic effects throughout the performance. An excellent script, thoughtfully written with terrific wit and humour and directed at the local audience who absolutely loved it. The technical presentation was extremely clever and so imaginative."
Cornwall Drama Association, September 2022.
"In community theatre, you see different sides to people completely, some people who you think are very quiet are just the opposite. It gives people a chance to be somebody that they're not."
Esther Johns, Dec 2023.
"We bring people in the community together, we may be small in number, but we are one big family and we encourage new members to join us, there's so much that you can do!"
Jimmy Johns, Dec 2023.
"Growing up on The Lizard, storytelling was all around me. People lived amateur dramatics - there was humour found in real poverty and stories made from real characters. Storytelling was a form of survival."
Jed Trewin, film maker.
"People who might usually stay in their homes can come together, to share in and enjoy something which makes them feel less alone."
Jean Trimble, Dec 2023.
"LAFTA is a fabulous group of people, so friendly and welcoming. I'm delighted to be part of this group. This is exactly how a community theatre group should be."
Roz Trudgon, May 2024.
Film/Fylm
WE ARE CONSIDERING MAKING OUR AWARD-WINNING THEATRE SHOW INTO A FILM... READ ON!
Synopsis: An old Cornish man called Rabbit (aka George), lives wheel-chair bound in Mullion Residential Home, 90 years old and unable to utter his needs to his over-worked carer who hurriedly inserts into her ipad that the old man has had adequate fluids, comfort and medication. Little does she know, this old Cornish man has a secret, he used to be able to time-travel... But the audience knows! They can hear his thoughts even if his carer cannot.
Through beautiful poetry, Rabbit leaves the clinical care home setting of hazard bins and plastic masks and returns to the double hedge between Cadgwith and The Lizard where under a full moon, he can cross the veil into the past. He returns to his former 'wisht' younger self, meeting Minnie - the love of his life, whilst catching rabbits on her Mother's farm.
However, she is of good stock, and he isn't! Nevertheless, they go against her Mother's wishes, they marry, move into their cob cottage, and tragically lose a child. Minnie slips into a misunderstood depression, she misses the freedom of her days as a land-girl and dreams of being a pilot at Predannack air field.
Rabbit is too busy soul-searching to notice his wife's demise and as it reaches the 70s, we see him leave the Lizard, going "further than Redruth" to Glastonbury Festival! The middle aged man opens his eyes to the world but returns home to find his wife, broken and alcohol dependent.
Through time-travel, Rabbit watches the impact of his own Father's cruel judgements upon him as a man, and Minnie's Mother's narrow expectations on her as a woman. Rabbit sees the trauma his dad went through as a young boy during the first world war. Rabbit begins to understand that his Kingdom of The Lizard is a 'sheltered' life and somewhat bittersweet, eventually village life drives his ambitious, beautiful wife "who swam down Housel every day, even in the winter" to an early passing.
Finally, old Rabbit finds peace with young Rabbit through these insights, he forgives himself for his ignorance of Minnie and forgives his Father's anguish. Now an old man slouched in his chair, "open the windows maid, I want to see the sunset he says," as the carer pulls back the curtains to reveal a dazzling Cornish dusk, Rabbit finally enters the deep sleep, and the poetry of Lizard life seemingly dies with him.
WE ARE CONSIDERING MAKING OUR AWARD-WINNING THEATRE SHOW INTO A FILM... READ ON!
Synopsis: An old Cornish man called Rabbit (aka George), lives wheel-chair bound in Mullion Residential Home, 90 years old and unable to utter his needs to his over-worked carer who hurriedly inserts into her ipad that the old man has had adequate fluids, comfort and medication. Little does she know, this old Cornish man has a secret, he used to be able to time-travel... But the audience knows! They can hear his thoughts even if his carer cannot.
Through beautiful poetry, Rabbit leaves the clinical care home setting of hazard bins and plastic masks and returns to the double hedge between Cadgwith and The Lizard where under a full moon, he can cross the veil into the past. He returns to his former 'wisht' younger self, meeting Minnie - the love of his life, whilst catching rabbits on her Mother's farm.
However, she is of good stock, and he isn't! Nevertheless, they go against her Mother's wishes, they marry, move into their cob cottage, and tragically lose a child. Minnie slips into a misunderstood depression, she misses the freedom of her days as a land-girl and dreams of being a pilot at Predannack air field.
Rabbit is too busy soul-searching to notice his wife's demise and as it reaches the 70s, we see him leave the Lizard, going "further than Redruth" to Glastonbury Festival! The middle aged man opens his eyes to the world but returns home to find his wife, broken and alcohol dependent.
Through time-travel, Rabbit watches the impact of his own Father's cruel judgements upon him as a man, and Minnie's Mother's narrow expectations on her as a woman. Rabbit sees the trauma his dad went through as a young boy during the first world war. Rabbit begins to understand that his Kingdom of The Lizard is a 'sheltered' life and somewhat bittersweet, eventually village life drives his ambitious, beautiful wife "who swam down Housel every day, even in the winter" to an early passing.
Finally, old Rabbit finds peace with young Rabbit through these insights, he forgives himself for his ignorance of Minnie and forgives his Father's anguish. Now an old man slouched in his chair, "open the windows maid, I want to see the sunset he says," as the carer pulls back the curtains to reveal a dazzling Cornish dusk, Rabbit finally enters the deep sleep, and the poetry of Lizard life seemingly dies with him.
