THE FOLK REVIVAL: Nettle Soup Vol I: Devon Debuts at The Hope Theatre

Champions of the Folk theatre scene in London, Nettle Soup will be presenting their first run of two new short plays at The Hope Theatre this Spring. First in a project which will be curating and celebrating rural stories, Nettle Soup Vol I : Devon, tells the stories of Devon old and new, and the things that never change: pagans, witchcraft, and tins of cider in a field. TEMPERANCE and LEYLINES celebrate the county of Celts and cream first, then jam.

Co Artistic Director, Dan Sinclair says, 'It's an act of quiet resistance - and sad that it has to be one in a landscape overstuffed with village idiot tropes and general disinterest from London venues for rural stories- to have two plays about Devon, for Devon, by queer writers from Devon, writers who, without a flicker of irony, love and understand the place where they were born.' After spending a year developing community groups, artist meetups and festival work with venues such as the Almeida Theatre and York Theatre Royal, this co-production between Nettle Soup and Stage Base will give the West Country the voice it needs on the Off-West End scene.

Writer/Actor, Izzie Harding-Perrott (LEECH! / BOXES, Pentabus / Romeo and Juliet, Exeter Northcott) brings their new play TEMPERANCE, the true story of the 'Bideford Three', the last women in England to be hanged for the crime of witchcraft. They just don't know it yet. In their Exeter cell, Temperance and Susannah live out their last days together. This tragicomedy is a timely examination of state violence, and the power of the individual to resist, even behind bars. Directed by Tomas Howells (05:59, Hope Theatre / The Abnormal Familiarity of Us, Theatre 503), it is a probing look into the troubled rebel history of Devon.

Dan Sinclair's offering (Hedda Gabler This Is Not Bohemia, Golden Goose / Sorry Not In Use, Almeida Theatre) looks at the contemporary idea of the West Country. After fleeing a lavender marriage, Teri seeks a legend of England old, with her dowsing rods and new age mysticism by her side. But after tumbling into the belly of the earth, she discovers an archangel who seems just as lost as her. With folk music and angels, LEYLINES pits modernism against paganism and wonders what force draws us back to our rural villages. This second short will be directed by Ciara Southwood (Bonus Track, Sky Film / Stones On The Riverbed, York Theatre Royal).

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