Quirk Theatre

🥇MARY THE PIGEON won TV hearts on Antiques Roadshow over the weekend and we couldn't have been happier for Charlie Brewer's lovely family! 🥇

Check out the gorgeous clip below, of the Brewer/Hooper family telling Mary's story and finding out how much Mary's medal is worth today- Spoiler alert, it's 🤯🤯🤯

Us Quirkers are so grateful for the chance to help to get Mary's wonderful story out into the world and from our very first meeting have been genuinely moved by the Hooper family's generosity in sharing such a treasured family tale.

And if you'd like to share Mary's story of bravery with little people in your life, don't forget you can still order a copy of our children's book, Mary The Pigeon Who Never Gave up! Beautifully illustrated by Rosie Race and the people of Exeter, all sales directly fund Quirk's theatre work and community projects.

BUY THE BOOK FOR ONLY £6.99: https://www.quirktheatre.co.uk/product-page/mary-the-pigeon-who-never-gave-up



https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/culture/bbc-antiques-roadshow-pigeon-medal-war-b2601924.html

Antiques Roadshow guests shocked at value of war medal awarded to pigeon BBC Antiques Roadshow guests were gobsmacked by the valuation of Second World War medals awarded to a pigeon on Sunday's (25 August) episode. The rare wartime piece was a PDSA Dickin Medal awarded to a bird called Mary. It was given to animals for their work in the conflict. Expert Mark Smith explai...

We are appalled and heartbroken by the shocking racist and Islamophobic violence taking place across the UK.

We stand in solidarity and love with everyone affected by these appalling acts, but especially our Muslim, Black and Brown colleagues, friends, audiences and communities.

We condemn racism, hatred and intolerance.

🌱🌱🌱We’ve just come to the end of an absolutely EPIC three days of Research and Development for & The World of Tomorrow, planting the seeds of this exciting new show! We have been exploring optimistic futures, inspired by 2 wonderful phases of co-creation with primary school children in and rooted in conversations with some of the finest minds working in Sustainability, Circularity and Climate Change.

🤩🤩🤩An R&D is only as good as the people in the room so a huge quirky thank you to the amazing creatives that have joined us this week and brought their wonderful ideas, deep truths and curious questions!

No spoilers so here are some of the things we created or explored using only emojis… any guesses?!
🪱🐝🐘⏰🌀🛹🌍🪩🌱🌳🎄🤝🎤🔮

🌍🌍🌍 Exploring an optimistic future can feel like a mammoth task- it’s complex, it’s thorny and sometimes it can seem impossible! But we have treasured the opportunity to dream together, founded in science, practiced with ART and nature.

We are thrilled to be joining the amazing launch event TODAY, 4-6pm at Exeter's Princesshay. Celebrating an absolutely gorgeous, international project that Quirk have been a tiny part of, led by the amazing Green Futures team at Exeter University. Connect, Discover & Be Inspired to Act for our .

The project features original poetry from young people from the programme, connecting over 400 children from UK and UAE. Quirk have been using a brilliant poem from the anthology as a springboard for our own co-creation workshops in Exeter and North Devon schools. And the poems created in OUR workshops have inspired talented budding composers at BIMM to create new music celebrating our ocean!

Simon and I will be heading along to the launch event later to help inspire attendees to write a collective poem for Exeter. So please do come along and join in the fun!

There will be live music, guest speakers and ocean activities- fun for all the family!

Princesshay Exeter

We are off to THE FUTURE!!

💫🎄 EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT 🎄💫

Quirk Theatre are back this festive season with a new adventure through space and time 🪐

DAYZEE AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW

Join Dayzee and her dad in a magical future where bicycles fly 🚲🪽 flies talk and mangrove forests sing 🎶 Future Tourism is a booming business and the wormhole 🌀 Dayzee discovered in her Dad‘s Pigbat 🐷 🦇 shed has come in very, very handy.

But when a stowaway from 2024 misses the last shuttle home 🚀 Dayzee finds herself on the adventure of a lifetime…

Sun 15 Dec - Sat 28 Dec | 11am / 2pm / 4.30pm | Tickets from £11

🎟️ On sale now at exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/dayzee-and-the-world-of-tomorrow

Here's a snap of our wonderful Composer & Sound Designer JonnyFallsOver delivering a workshop for Exeter College Music Production and Music Performance students, about making music for theatre and his career path as musician into the theatre industry 🎭🎶 Jonny set the students a brief to work on, asking them to create some sound design or composition ideas for our very first little snippet of writing for this year's Christmas show! Without giving away too many spoilers for this year's show, there'll definitely be a futuristic vibe 🤖🌌 He'll be back in a couple weeks to see how they've got on!

🎺 (imagine a brilliant fanfare here) INTRODUCING THE INCREDIBLE WINONA GUY! 🎺

We are so excited to be working with Winona on our Climate & Theatre workshops as we begin to co-create this years show! (Stay tuned for an incoming announcement VERY SOON). Winona has been bringing wisdom, joy, expertise and bucket loads of ideas to the first phase of our workshops and is already such a valued member of the Quirk team.

Winona says "Delivering these workshops has created lots of play and conversations about the climate crisis, and we have been able to move through facts, feelings and stories that resonate with the young people we are working with. It has been exciting to spend time together exploring what's great about our planet, and to use theatre to imagine a brighter, balanced future for earth and all that we love."

🌎More about Winona🌎

Winona (she/her) is a dance and theatre artist, community arts facilitator and environmental educator based in Devon. She specialises in contemporary dance and improvisation and has performed in works by artists including Kyra Norman, Clare Parker, Angus Balbernie, Adam Benjamin & Emily Robinson. As an artist and facilitator, she has delivered an array of workshops for young people and adults for many organisations in the South West, including Take A Part, Exim Dance, Active Devon and Taunton Brewhouse and as an independent artist. Winona works regularly for Far Flung CIC, delivering movement, theatre, art and music classes, performing in new works, providing access support and supporting projects as a Movement Director.

Winona loves to use theatre and movement to explore connection, playfulness, attention and wild possibilities. She is also a passionate outdoor adventurer and is committed to making and delivering work that explores the environment, climate crisis and reimagining better futures. Winona is trained in Carbon Literacy, Permaculture Design and also delivers environmental education through workshops and action days for young people and communities for leading conservation charities.

🌎 Our amazing Assistant Producer for Sustainability, Natasha Lay, has just started her Climate Leadership Accelerator training with . And she dropped us a little blog post about her experience so far! 🌎

"..The idea of being a 'climate leader' is new territory for me. It's hard not to feel like an imposter, especially when you're in a room full of people who confidently identify as one..."

Tash is going to be using her time on the programme developing a guide for independent artists and smaller companies who are trying to work more sustainably. This will mean she can support Quirk's sustainability journey with more tailored resources, but importantly will also benefit the wider arts community. Which we think is rather brilliant!

Adventure's in Climate Leadership- a guest Blog by Tash Lay There's something about gathering together to talk about climate justice that I've always found intimidating. Like most people (I think), I've always taken it upon myself to do better - reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible, keeping in mind what I buy and where I spend my money, walk or take...

We have been performing a Christmas show at Exeter Phoenix for over 20 years and our friends over at our partner venue would love to hear your thoughts and ideas about their family offer. Your thoughts will be so very valuable, whether you're an avid theatre goer or a ver-seldom-visitor, you can help shape what's on offer at your local arts centre.

And the brilliant news is, complete this short survey before 31st May and you could be in with a chance of winning 2 pairs of Studio 74 tickets or live performance tickets. And as we will be announcing our new show very , very soon, you could be nabbing a few tickets ready for Christmas!

Here's the link- good luck! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScOrQbvJ3hj40uOUOA3WBSBxnDyVxi-fJlMzMgkvFWnQHODwQ/viewform

It's ! And what better way to celebrate than by sharing some of the brilliant fun we have been having at our climate arts workshops! We had an awesome time at Bluecoat Primary in North Devon- we shared some amazing Earth facts but learned a whole heap from the amazing pupils too! What a treat to get to spend time with wonderful young people sharing their thoughts, ideas, knowledge, hopes and dreams for our fragile, precious Earth.

Year 5 Get Dramatic with Quirk Theatre On Friday 19th April, Exeter-based Quirk Theatre visited Year 5 for an inspiring and imaginative workshop. The children worked together wit...

EXCITING NEWS!

We are so proud to announce that our Assistant Producer for Sustainability, Tash, has is officially a Climate Accelerator! Alongside our co-Producing partner, Exeter Phoenix, We are supporting Tash to join the Creative Climate Accelerator Programme from Julie's Bicycle alongside a cohort of other fantastic creatives.

Creative Climate Accelerator is a 6 part training programme for participants nominated by a supporting NPO to raise ambition for a creative climate project. It will equip them with the skills and understanding to translate knowledge into action, and to act as agents of change in the sector.

Tash says, "I'm thrilled to be part of the Creative Climate Accelerator programme, it's such a unique opportunity that's not just about building knowledge but also how to translate that into action. I'm particularly excited to develop my leadership skills, which I hope will allow me to help drive collective change in the arts scene in the Southwest. "

And we are thrilled too! Find out more at the link below!

https://juliesbicycle.com/news-opinion/creative-climate-accelerator-2024-participants-announced/

LET'S DISCOVER EXETER'S FAVOURITE BOOK! 📚❤️

We’re delighted to be taking part in ’s new project , which looks to discover Exeter’s favourite novel and celebrate Exeter as a city of readers! 😍

And here's our shortlist! We have been asking Quirk teams old and new for their favourite childhood book but... HOW WILL WE CHOOSE ONE FAVOURITE? Well that's where you come in, Quirk supporters!

Vote in the comments below by posting YOUR choice from our shortlist, and the winner will be nominated for the public vote in the summer 🗳️

🌈 Small's Big Dream by Manjeet Man

🌌T he Northern Lights by Philip Pullman

🦩 Mary The Pigeon by Katie Villa & Simon Hall

🐉 Eragon by Christopher Paolini

🚣🏾 Haroun & The Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

🐻 Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne

💰 Burglar Bill by Janet & Allan Ahlberg

🧙‍♂️ Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone by J.K. Rowling

👀 The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

🐰 Alice In Wonderland by C.S. Lewis

Got your own nomination that's not on our shortlist? Then head to bit.ly/ExCoLCR24 to find out more 🔗

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Our friends at Beyond Face - Theatre Company are hiring - take a look!

Jobs — Beyond Face Visit this page for the latest roles at Beyond Face.

We are absolutely THRILLED to share that we achieved Theatre Green Book Baseline standard on our production of Five Children and It! The Theatre Green Book is a guide and set of resources that supports theatres and theatre makers to make work more sustainably. There are no medals, but there IS a helpful guide to measuring your productions environmental impact! This was a massive team effort and was not all plain sailing, so a huge well done to everyone who got us there!

We know that sustainability matters to our audiences and the climate conversation needs ALL our voices, so here are our top 5 takeaways from our first venture into Theatre show sustainability!

⭐ Give it a person ⭐
We appointed an "Assistant Producer for Sustainability" whose focus across the whole project was Sustainability and the management of our Green Book adventure. Whilst the day to day tasks of list making, sourcing and rehoming were spread across the whole Producing and Design teams, having someone solely focussed on Sustainability made sure someone was always holding the baby

⭐ Give it a TIME ⭐
Sourcing things second hand/sustainably and considering/implementing an onwards life for set, props and costume takes a HECK load of time.

⭐ Give it your voice ⭐
The climate crisis needs ALL our voices. We had hesitated as an organisation to step into the conversation because it didn't feel like our space. But sharing our wins and fails has been so valuable

⭐ Give it a go ⭐
If you wait for perfect, you're probably never going to get started. We decided early on that failing to reach Green Book WASN'T a failure. If we didn't get all the way to our targets, we would still have been learning and making steps in the right direction.

⭐ Give GENEROUSLY ⭐
A sustainable future is a generous one.

And very much in the spirit of generosity, you can read the full report with all our wins, fails and learnings at this link!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z5rQalTRbHW8tLIdCdNdilNlfL6KFwHK/view?usp=sharing

Working with the Theatre Green Book.pdf

⭐ Happy World Book Day! ⭐

At Quirk, we love books so much that we MADE ONE! And it's available to buy from our very own website, or at gorgeous shops around Exeter, including Maker Mart, Bookbag and the gift shops at the RAMM and Exeter Cathedral.

Have you got yours? Head to our online shop to pick up your copy today for only £6.99!
https://www.quirktheatre.co.uk/category/all-products

But the real question is... did anyone dress up as Mary the Pigeon today??

***CALL-OUT***

We're looking to connect with SW-based composers & sound designers who specifically have experience in composing music/designing sound for theatre, for an outreach programme with Exeter College music students.

Sessions are to be delivered in June. This is a paid opp but is funding-dependent. Whilst we await our Arts Council Funding decision, we're looking to build our network & connect with a diverse array of local musicians/composers/music-producers, particularly those underrepresented in the sector.

If this is you, please say hi 👋 & email your CV/portfolio to [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!

Photo of Quirk's very own wonderful Actor-Musician Zaid Al-Rikabi (pictured left) and Composer & Sound Designer Jonny Wharton (pictured right) in action playing some welcome music at our Mary the Pigeon Book event last year (photo by Southwest Theatre Photography).

On the 13th February we'll be hosting a Mary the Pigeon Family Workshop as part of 's 'What If...?' festival. Enjoy a special reading of our ‘Mary The Pigeon’ book, meet the Mary puppet, and take part in a collage making workshop!

Tom McLaughlin's workshop in the morning has now sold out – so we recommend buying either a morning and/or afternoon festival pass (passes are just £2!) to access the wonderful activities we are putting on.

Festival day passes can be booked here: https://theatrealibi.co.uk/what-if-day-two/

We hope to see you there 🐦✨📖

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"What If...?"

The festival will be running from the 31st of January to the 17th of February 2024. There will be theatre performances, workshops, an exhibition, author and illustrator talks. And Emmanuel Hall will be transformed into a portal for creativity and play, all centred around the magic of story!

With a café on site, selling local produce, the festival will become a space for families to spend their day, moving from one vibrant creative activity to the next.

‘What If..?’ launches theatre alibi's exciting new vision for Emmanuel Hall as a Centre for the Imagination for Children and Young People.

Looking for a new wardrobe or some bookcases for your home, organisation, or community space? We have recently used these bookcases and wardrobes for our Christmas show and would love for them to go to a good home in our efforts to work more sustainably.

In total we have:

2 IKEA Billy Book Cases. 106cm x 20 x 28. White shelves and interior, painted Denim blue outside.

1 IKEA Billy Book Case. 202cm x 20 x 28. White.

1 White book case .180cm x 60 x 24

1 Wood colour book case. 180cm x 80 x 29

And potentially some more bookcases might be available on the day.

Pick up will be at Theatre Alibi (Emmanuel Road) just off Okehampton Road on Wednesday 17 January between 9.30am - 4.30pm, first come first serve.

Although they're all in good shape, please remember that they've all had previous lives as set pieces and aren't fresh-off-the-shelf brand new, and so they'll be pre-assembled instead of flat-packed. See you there!

🎄MERRY CHRISTMAS from all at Quirk🎄

❄2 x more shows today (we love our Christmas Eve shows) and then Mrs Cobweb will be parking her squeaky trolley and snuggling down for a well earned Christmas break. So we wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support this year and to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

🎅See you on the flipside! ONE MORE SLEEEEEEEEP!

TWO SLEEPS TIL THE BIG MAN! And four more chances to see the show before we take a little break for Christmas. So if you haven't managed to fit it in before Christmas Day, you still have chance to come on a festive adventure with us on 28th December. The perfect way to banish the post Christmas blues.

But for now we are continuing to look back over a wonderful year with part 2 of our 2023 wrapped! Lots to celebrate, SO much learned, and so many wonderful people crossing our path. Here's to many more adventures in 2024!

With Five Children & It running up until Christmas Eve (and another chance to see it on the 28th) those of us behind the scenes are taking the opportunity to reflect on our busy year. So we are jumping on the 'wrapped' bandwagon to celebrate the work of our amazing team of mega freelancers with part one of our 2023 celebration!

Thank you to all our collaborators, peers, audiences, friends and family who have made everything we have done this year possible. We are VERY excited for 2024, as we have lots of plans afoot and lots of opportunities to join in the fun. Quirk are proud to be an Exeter arts organisation and we are committed to growing a strong artistic network in the city, offering artists pathways to progression and bringing much needed arts activity into schools and communities around Devon.

And if you're interested in keeping up to date with all our projects for 2024 and beyond please do consider joining our mailing list!

⭐Five Children and It public shows are GO GO GO!⭐

We had such a blast playing to packed houses yesterday and were absolutely thrilled with the response. As you can see from these magical audience and press quotes! Our relaxed performance was just brilliant, with a sell out touch tour, visual story and a chance to say hi to the cast before the show.

If you came to see it, let us know in the comments below! Obviously we love being able to trumpet from the rooftops that audiences are loving the show, but also we genuinely shape our shows based on audience feedback. So getting in touch and telling us what you loved helps us make more bonkers brilliant theatre!

⭐️The reviews are in! ⭐️
(And they’re brill!)

Five Children and It from Quirk Theatre, has fun, physical theatre, a brill baddy and is thoughtful to boot. James Banyard watched it Exeter Phoenix

https://www.theprsd.co.uk/2023/12/18/five-children-and-it-thoughtful-funny-and-emotional-piece-of-family-theatre/

At Quirk we believe EVERY child has the right to enjoy the magic of the arts at Christmastime (and especially theatre but you know, we're biased!) . So seeing the impact of some deep community work from our producing team and our partner venue, Exeter Phoenix, makes all the hard work so very worthwhile. We were thrilled to welcome Whipton Barton pupils into the theatre- they were an absolute credit to their school and so so engaged in the story. What a joy!

If you are a teacher, school staff member, PTFA or just a passionate parent and you would like to talk to us about bringing your school along to the show next year, and any barriers that may be in the way, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

We've had the best time performing our schools shows over the last few weeks, and now we've hit the final stretch! It's time for the public shows which you can still buy tickets for here: https://exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/quirk-theatre-present-five-children-it/ - make it quick, they're being snapped up like chocolate yule log! 😋

🎄
Our adaptation of Five Children & It packs in the laughs and brings all the heart and is suitable for the whole family.

❄
Head to the link in our bio to grab those tickets!

Relaxed Performance: Sunday 17th Dec | 2pm
BSL interpreted performance: Thursday 21st Dec | 4.30pm

Photos by Emily Appleton @ South West Theatre Photography

Audience feedback is flying in already! Swipe to read some of the lovely comments from audience members who enjoyed our show!

We're having the time of our lives at the schools shows this week and are looking forward to a long and Quirky Christmas show run all through December! 🧡

Tickets are selling fast so make sure you get yours soon! https://exeterphoenix.org.uk/events/quirk-theatre-present-five-children-it/ 🎄

📸 Photos by Emily Appleton from South West Theatre Photography