The crowd at the unveiling of the Snout & About pigs at the Orchard Shopping Centre this week gave a warm round of applause to both porkers and even an audible and dare we say excited gasp when Michael Fairfax pulled the cover from the Polden Pig. It’s safe to say that this latter is the most striking re-interpretation of the two surviving pig benches that used to stand in the shopping centre.

A reporter and photographer from the Somerset County Gazette were there, and later that day posted a video of the unveiling online. From the comments that the public have added, it’s clear that after 4 or more years off the radar, the Snout & About pigs have certainly got the town talking again.

Many of the online posts, but not all, reveal that some people are not too keen on the new look of the Snout & About pigs. Although we’re not putting the Snout & About pigs in the same bracket as Damien Hirst’s sheep in formaldehysde or Tracey Emin’s unmade bed this is to be expected with any new piece of art, especially one made expressly for public consumption, but everything’s relative.

It’s worth addressing a couple of points which were raised in online posts.

The Snout & About project is self-funding and cost neutral. The costs of transporting the pigs from venue to venue and the free guide booklet that gives the history of the pigs, the places where they can be seen and information about the artists, has all been covered by the supporters of the project. The artists who transformed the pigs gave their time and materials for free. And of course wherever they are on show will be free to enter. The free guide can be obtained from The Brewhouse and you can follow the pigs adventures around Taunton at www.facebook.com/snoutandabouttaunton

As for the issue of health and safety, the pigs will always be cordoned off as going back to their origins they had, after years of being exposed to the elements, become rotten and unsafe to sit on anyway and are not intended to be sat on now.

This is not to deny the many lovely memories that people have of the pigs as they used to be, but the truth is that without Snout & About they would have never returned to Taunton. The most striking pig, called the Polden Pig, now has a new and fascinating story that inspired it’s new look. This was the one of the two surviving pigs that was most severely rotted but is now a bold and brave war pig, as used by the Romans against their enemies to make them flee in panic. You can read all about this bit of real life history in the book that artist Michael Fairfax has written and beautifully illustrated about the Polden Pig, from which he will be reading in Waterstone’s at 11am on Saturday 6 April. You can preview and order the book online here http://www.blurb.co.uk/books/4038943-the-polden-pig

Pigsaw, created by Natalie Parsley, is in a better state than when it came out of storage, having been dismantled, repaired, decorated and given several coats of fresh protective lacquer. The most difficult part of the refurbishment was removing all the chewing gum that had become welded to the pig over the years.

So discussion, and a little controversy, has been stirred, but context is everything in the week that Benedict XVI became the first Pope in 600 years to resign and North Korea successfully exploded its third atomic bomb which caused an earthquake in South Korea.

We hope you’ll visit the pigs on their Snout & About tour, as we can assure you that they are perfectly safe and contain no horse whatsoever.

When in September The Brewhouse announced its Outset Festival, a celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) arts which runs across two days at the end of this week, it couldn’t have known that the topic of same sex marriage would become such a contentious issue.

Who did? It wasn’t in anyone’s manifesto even though it may have been on many people’s radars. Edmund Costelloe, chairman of Somerton and Frome Constituency Conservative Association, has already announced he is quitting the party after 49 years over David Cameron’s stance on gay marriage.

So whatever the outcome of the Commons vote tomorrow (Tuesday 5 February), there’s likely to be some very lively and topical discussion at The Big Gay Debate at The Brewhouse on Saturday 9 Feb at 5pm. It’s a free event and anyone and everyone is invited to come along and have their say, or just listen to what are bound to be some interesting viewpoints.

The Outset Festival starts on Friday 8 February, and full details can be found at www.thebrewhouse.net

As well as The Big Gay Debate there’s much more to enjoy including live theatre on Friday evening from Pink Triangle Theatre with Show One!, a powerful and punchy look at homophobia using four actors to portray thirty three characters. Top stand-up comedian Paul Sinha, AKA The Sinnerman who is a “chaser” on Bradley Walsh’s teatime ITV quiz The Chase, headlines later in the day, and on Saturday evening Lorraine Bowen presents a hilarious catwalk cabaret show called Polyester Fiesta!

As its name implies, the show is a celebration of that particular synthetic material and its place in fashion. If you’re coming, you are positively encouraged to wear your favourite synthetic fashion outfit.

There are also five specially chosen films across the two days, with screenings of Priscilla, Queen of The Desert, Boys Don’t Cry, Beautiful Thing, Water Lilies and Milk starring Sean Penn.

So come one, come all, to the Outset Festival at The Brewhouse in Taunton on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 February. There’s something for everyone, and a chance to join the debate about the hottest topic in UK politics this week!

As well known high street chains collapse around us the reality of this government’s austerity policy is becoming clearer. With both Arts Council England (ACE) and Local Authorities being forced to make deep cuts across the country, the case for cultural investment seems ever more difficult to make.

The equation for the investments made in The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in Somerset as a registered charity always seemed straightforward to me, but I accept we do need to get better at explaining it. For every pound invested in us we generate around £8, which helps us keep our aged building open. But conversely if £1 of funding investment is cut we need to generate over £10 from our box office to replace it.

But then there’s the real tough question: Why invest in culture when we are having to cut funding to things like schools and hospitals?

The answer is simple. The annual economic impact of The Brewhouse on our county town is over £4m – money which helps to pay for those schools and hospitals. The restaurants and cafes our patrons use, the extra Christmas shopping picked up after a matinee of The Wind In The Willows, the hotel rooms filled and the car parking income, the tax and NI that all these jobs pay and the VAT and so on all adds up. We don’t see that income, but we help to generate it.

The benefits of our work has a wider economic reach. Local boy Stephen Daldry, our Patron, gained his initial theatre experience here. He’s now one of the most respected film directors in the world. He produced the Olympic opening ceremony last year, and generated millions for the taxman by directing Billy Elliott on stage and film before that. He’s not the only one who was inspired and had their talent nurtured by what they saw and did at a local theatre, indeed, that has been the rule rather than the exception in British theatre. The regions are the incubation units of the world class talent we have in this country.

However our cultural infastructure in  Somerset may be one of the first in the country to collapse, because not only has the County Council ceased all sustainable investment in theatres and arts centres, but also because we were historically under-funded in the first place. This lack of local investment was emulated by Arts Council England especially in their national portfolio of investment. Annually in London it spends £63 per person, in Bristol £36 and in Somerset just £3 per person. ACE thinking seems to be that Somerset has democratically elected councillors who don’t value culture, so ACE money is not needed here and will therefore be invested elsewhere. Most of the councillors I have worked with in Somerset do value what we do, but perhaps not all of them understand the economics and potential leverage for national investment.

Now I am not a big fan of Mrs Thatcher, but I will say one thing. She was a grocer’s daughter, and she understood that when her father sold bread and milk he used that income to buy more bread and milk to sell. There was a simple cycle of speculate to accumulate. The moment he said “Margaret we must have a policy of austerity and we cannot afford any more bread” then his business was doomed. Unfortunately the offshore investment business that David Cameron’s father ran didn’t work that way, so its no surprise that there is little understanding from our current government of how a small investment in our regional towns can keep the economy afloat.

Maria Miller the Culture Secretary says, “The arts do produce a clear benefit to the economy. But I do not accept this is all at risk under the Government’s spending plans.” She goes on “The key to success must lie in private money complementing public investment.” Here in Taunton we have done our very best to find private money, indeed our fundraising is growing thanks to the generosity and support of the community we serve, but it will not replace what we have lost over the past few years. We do not have the glamorous pull of the Royal Opera House, we are just a “plucky and crucial” (Lyn Gardner – The Guardian) local cultural hub in Somerset.

With Newcastle also looking likely to implement a complete cut to sustainable arts funding, Somerset is once again at the forefront of this national debate, and we feel like the Canary in a coal mine. Now time is running out. We do understand that there need to be savings, but must they be fatal?

We are doing our best to balance the books, we have increased box office income, cut our wages bill by about a third, and decreased all other spending. But our meagre reserves are now all gone, and we have to ask how long we can continue? Our board of trustees will be struggling with that very decision in this difficult year ahead. Our hardworking staff, loyal volunteers and the communities we serve across the south west must live with the damaging outcomes of that decision, which in Somerset could take more than a generation to repair.

Local storyteller Michael Fairfax is bringing our winter season to a close with an exciting storytelling for everyone 12+. Baba Yaga’s Oven on Fri 25 Jan at 7.45pm will be a night of music, song and theatre featuring the infamous witch from russian folklore, Baba Yaga.

We caught up with Michael, Rebecca and Martin who all feature in the performance and asked them more about its roots.

Can you tell us a bit more about the story?
The story is set at a crossroads deep in the heart of a Russian forest where an old gypsy sits by a fire. Looking into the flames he sees the face of an ancient old woman who fixing him with her stare, says “It is time…”

He tries to trick her with his music, lull her into a change of heart with his wit and charm, and so the night in the forest closes around as tales are told until the fire begins to burn low…

Stories, music, songs and theatre are all woven into this setting.

Baba Yaga features in a variety of manifestations in various cultures. What inspirations have you drawn on and what can we expect for this Baba Yaga?
We have read, listened to and researched many stories from Russia, East Europe and those cultures with Slavic roots. The boney-legged Baba Yaga we portray is the no-fearing, no-nonsense, pestle wielding, terrifying aspect of the underworld who some say is the gateway between life and death. In our show she appears as the adversary of the hero, tempting him down to her home in the otherworld to complete his task in full.

Can you elaborate a bit more on the title, does it suggest a possible link with Hansel and Gretel at all?
Not really a Hansel & Gretel link, although we venture into the mystical forest
of mythology, where the hero meets ‘brotherhood and betrayal’ through three giants and ‘beauty and intention’ through the maiden. The ‘oven’ symbolizes many things, including heat, intensity, passion, the otherworld, rites of passage, restriction, the sense of feeling trapped, the power of the female aspect in all its glory and gory…

Can you elaborate a bit more on the music and Martin Solomon’s inspirations, are they original pieces? From where do they draw inspiration?
Martin has drawn from Russian, E European and Jewish influences, some traditional, some created, some improvised on the theme on violin and accordion. We also have an entertaining rendition of ‘Abdul Abulbul Amir’, a rousing ‘Kalinka’ and clarinet.

If you’re looking for a warming winter tale with a chilling twist, look no further. Tickets can be booked on our website at www.thebrewhouse.net/main-house/1471/baba-yagas-oven

I thank you for all the positive feedback for our seasonal offering, The Wind In The Willows. Great word of mouth, glowing reviews and a very healthy box office all add up to a great Christmas for The Brewhouse. We are particularly proud that we are one of the few theatres in the region that continues to make the time and money available to produce its own in-house show. It would be easy to buy in a standard pantomime with fading soap stars, second-hand sets and recycled costumes, but we believe our community deserves better. A bespoke script, created from scratch, that is tailored to the show taking place in Taunton, with all the local references and jokes, utilising local talent, makes it a rare homegrown treat. There’s an old saying, “it’s not the size, it’s how you use it’, and in our case this could not be more true. Even though we only have a medium-sized auditorium we still offer great shows and attract some great names. On last week’s letters page, Ross Keniston complained that we don’t attract “the best entertainers in this country or the world”, but one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Michael McIntyre, Steven Berkoff, Al Murray, Miriam Margoles, Lee Evans and Simon Callow might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but they’ve all played here recently. The real issue is that when we attract these names the shows sell out so quickly we have a lot of disappointment in our community, so I wholeheartedly agree with Ross that we need a bigger venue in our county town. An arena would be great, and so would bringing back the Gaumont for live shows, but I don’t think in the current financial climate either of these can be achieved. For this reason we have costed a project to develop The Brewhouse on its current site, adding a new, bigger auditorium suitable for large-scale theatre, concerts and gigs. Also, our plans have a new large gallery, workshops and a studio theatre, and we will retain the current auditorium as well, so we are able to offer a real diverse range of arts and entertainment in the centre of Taunton. If you draw a triangle to the region’s main cultural centres, Bournemouth/Poole, Bristol and Plymouth, you will find Taunton right in the middle, and this, alongside our growing population, adds to the case for a major investment in our cultural infrastructure. More details on this exciting development will be forthcoming in 2013 and we will be asking for your support. Meanwhile, have a very merry Christmas, and a happy and successful New Year.

Robert Miles
Artistic Director & Chief Executive

Steve Bartin and Dawn Bradley with Fred Broom as Toad

Steve Bartin, a bathroom installer from Tiverton, chose an unusual place to propose to his girlfriend Dawn Bradley who is a nurse and lives in Sampford Peverell and works as a children’s community nurse at Taunton’s Musgrove Park Hospital.

He got down on one knee on stage in front of a packed house for a performance of The Wind In The Willows at The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in Taunton.

Steve had contacted The Brewhouse some weeks before as Dawn’s nickname for him is Tivvy Toad, so the venue’s in-house Christmas show seemed to present the ideal opportunity for a surprise.

However he needed the collusion of the professional cast, which is where Fred Broom who plays Toad in the production and Matt Bannister who plays Ratty stepped forward with an extra bit of unscripted business at the end of the performance that the couple were watching.

Fred declared that he was in love and summoned dawn onto the stage and asked her to marry him, at which point Matt was on hand to make clear that she had the WRONG Toad.

Cue Steve, who went on stage, went down on one knee, and almost before he’d trodden the boards Dawn said yes and he slipped a solitaire ring on her finger.

The couple will get married in July of 2014, and as a little engagement present The Brewhouse presented the happy couple with a year’s free membership of its Friends scheme.

The Wind In The Willows runs at The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in Taunton until 5^th January. Tickets are available on 01823 283244 and at www.thebrewhouse.net.

Click here to read the Somerset County Gazette’s feature on the story.

It was a bright, blustery morning when The Wind In The Willows arrived in Taunton. Since then, strains of swing music have been pouring from the rehearsal room at The Brewhouse. Actors can be found lurking in every nook and cranny – learning lines, not learning lines. Being told to learn their lines. Coffee sales at Edwardo’s have risen by 110%.

As we approach the final stages of rehearsal, you’d think tension in the room would be pretty high – as high as the River Tone, perhaps. Well, you’d be wrong. All has, thus far, run as smoothly as water off an otters’ back. The good ship Windy Willow has been calmly and carefully steered through even the stormiest of dramaturgical seas by our very own salty sea dog Director, Captain Robert Miles. And Cptn. Miles be a fair capt’n, he be. Apart from the odd flogging. And that time he made our Musical Director, Mirek, walk the plank for being too darn clever – but we don’t talk about that… So far, so good.

However, don’t you go thinking that staging the many twists and turns of The Wind In The Willows has been a walk in the, err, willows. Our woodland wanderers come face to face with all sorts of challenges in this fantastic story, including battling weasels, mystical fauns, hypnotic rats, not to mention the many who get entangled in the adventures, or rather, misadventures of Toad. Add to that boats, caravans, horses, barges, cars, violins, accordions, banjos… and you’ve got yourself a headache.

On day one, naturally the big question for our Director was: “How on earth do we get our all-day breakfast from Morrison’s if the river floods? Surely we don’t have to go the long way round?” No. Sorry, not that. This question: “How on earth, or rather, on a stage, do we do all that?!”

Well. That’s not quite for me to tell. You’ll have to come and see for yourselves. But with brain, brawn and a great deal of creative brilliance from Cptn. Miles and his cabin boys, it has happened. Paper has been turned in to play. Water in to wine. Words in to willows.

We’ve about a week to go until ‘curtain up’, and we are racing along in fifth gear. (As is Toad in a stolen motorcar, regrettably.) All we need now is for you lot to come and join us on our journey along the riverbanks and through the wild woods of deepest, darkest Somerset. So, dust off your first edition copy of the book (before selling it for a small fortune on eBay), and read, refresh or revisit this magical tale. Then close the book. Forget it. And let us tell you a story…

P.S. If anyone does find Mirek, do send him back to us immediately. We need him to go shopping for another car horn. Poop poop!

P.P.S. And doughnuts.

Kate Marlais

It’s that time of year again when I get to do the thing that brought me into this industry in the first place. The magic of creating a show is a bit like the Great British Bake Off, you know the ingredients the show needs, and source only the best. You know how to put them together, and in what order, but you only know if it has worked at the last minute and a delicious treat is created.

Take a bespoke script, a team of top performers and a cheeky chorus into a rehearsal room. Mix in the excellent creative team, a wonderful set, sumptuous costumes, sparky dance routines and swinging music, cook together for four weeks and serve to an excited auditorium of 350 people.

This is the tasty dish we will be serving up over December and into January, and following on from the wonderful success of last years Alice In Wonderland, created by the same team, we anticipate a feast for the senses!

In these difficult times, we are one of the few local theatres who still produce their own professional in house production for Christmas. We passionately believe that we need to do this in order to give you the kind of theatrical experience you deserve. And as this will be the first visit to a theatre for some of our younger patrons we must ensure we only offer the best, a lifetime of theatregoing is at stake!

Making our own show means that we can fill it with local references, and tell the story in the best way for our audience. It also means that we can utilise the fantastic local talent, offering high quality work in the creative industries for local artists.

As we are producing The Wind In The Willows this year, we will be working with local artist Steffan Jennings, who created the Willow Cathedral in Taunton, to decorate our building and create part of the stage set. Well you can’t do a show about willows without some Somerset withies! And we have a great reputation for letting the show take over our whole building adding to the fun in our gallery, café and box office

In fact to come back to the food metaphor, you can go and get mass produced fare with very little flavor that is the same in any town. But our xmas offering is the equivalent of locally sourced produce, made with care by local theatre makers, especially for you the community we serve. The whole team at The Brewhouse are very proud of what we do and hope you will come and taste it!

Combat Art is underway in Afghanistan

The Royal Marines from 40 Commando, based in Taunton, are on their final tour of Afghanistan and for the first time for this type of deployment they have access to an extra
piece of military kit – the Combat Art Kit.

Distributed to 500 Marines from all ranks, the Combat Art Kit is the brainchild of Taunton
resident Anita St John Gray.

Together with Tim Martin, visual arts coordinator at The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre in Taunton and artist Jon England, the kit has been designed specifically to offer Commandos the opportunity of documenting and reflecting on their work in Afghanistan.

A variety of people from the Royal Marines have helped to develop the project, including the Commanding Officer at 40 Commando, Lt Col M.J.A. Jackson RM and Rev Paul Andrew Chaplain RN who is in regular contact with the team back home and who is leading Combat Art on the ground in Afghanistan.

The camouflaged Combat Art Kit, a 40 Commando branded zipped waterproof pouch, fits
neatly into a trouser pocket. It contains high quality art materials including a sketch pad or
journal and watercolour paper, watercolour paints, brushes, pens and pencils.

There are also written instructions inside to offer ideas on how to use the kits. These ‘idea
cards’ will offer ways of using the kit together with other pieces of equipment, found objects and so on to record thoughts, experiences and observations. The aim is for all Marines at all levels to use the kits in ways they find useful. This may be by creating images, words or objects, or a combination of all three, to express and record daily or unusual events.

The benefits of using creativity and art to support both physical, psychological and emotional wellbeing have been well documented over the past 30 years and it is hoped that the Marines will not only see the Combat Art Kit as a natural extension of their larger deployment kit, but will also find them useful as a way of expressing personal thoughts and feelings.

As well as creating art for its own sake, the hope is that the Combat Art Kits will help the
Marines emotional and mental wellbeing.

As Pablo Picasso said: ‘Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.’

On the Marines return from Afghanistan there will be a period of gathering and curating the individual materials brought back. There will be both individual and group prizes for the most interesting response to using the kit. An exhibition will be developed with 40 Commando that will be installed at The Brewhouse Gallery in Sept/Oct 2013. It is also hoped that the exhibition will tour to other venues around the country.

The project could not have gone ahead without funding from the Royal Marines Charitable
Trust Fund and from Go Commando amounting to £10,000. The organisers are currently
seeking just £3,000 more to develop the resulting exhibitions.

Tim Martin says: “With the number of kits we have in the field at the moment we are certain that we will be able to create an impressive exhibition. However, interest in the kits amongst people serving in Afghanistan is high and we have had requests for more, and so the more additional funds we can raise the more extra kits we can send out.”

If you would like to donate please go to www.thebrewhouse.net/donate.php and to see the
film associated with the project please visit www.thebrewhouse.net/learning/combat-art or contact tim.martin@thebrewhouse.net

ENDS

13 November 2012

The Brewhouse Theatre & Arts Centre, Taunton
www.thebrewhouse.net

Located in Somerset’s county town of Taunton, The Brewhouse offers a varied programme
of events for all ages including drama, dance, comedy, music, workshops, exhibitions and
poetry. Its gallery presents a programme of exhibitions featuring work from both local and
international artists.

Our mission is to be a creative hub for the region, continually offering high quality experiences which entertain, stimulate, involve and inspire the many diverse communities we serve.

We also provide an oasis for artists and creatives to meet and engage with the community
through sharing of work, workshops, mentoring and participatory events. At the heart of what we do is the promotion of culture and the understanding of how it can enhance and enrich people’s lives.

Royal Marines Charitable Trust Fund www.rmctf.org.uk

Our challenge is to raise £6M by the 350th anniversary of the Royal Marines in 2014 so that we can better support the:

Recovery Pathway: Helping the wounded and injured in any way we can, particularly as the most severely injured begin their transition into civilian life; quite simply, the RMCTF will help when others cannot.

Decompression/Quality of Life Pathway: Helping those still serving and facing successive
tours in high threat environments – providing adventure training for those returning from
operations, funding homecoming events, financing memorials, maintaining our heritage etc.

Through Life Pathway: Continuing the same level of support and care once the beneficiaries break their formal links to the Corps.

Sadly, but importantly, the RMCTF also provides a grant to the next of kin of those who die in service within 48 hours of the event.

Go Commando www.gocommando.org.uk

Go Commando was founded in Taunton in November 2010, following overwhelming support for the men of 40 Commando during and after the Herrick 12 tour in Afghanistan.

It is now a national charity, supporting all Royal Marines and their families. The tempo of
deployment is unrelenting and the pressures on Royal Marines and their families are great.
We recognise the burden on families when the men deploy and aim to provide support for
them: many women find themselves miles from family, raising small children on their own
whilst their men are at war or carrying out training.

Completing their 2012 season of poetry events at The Brewhouse, Fire River Poets are
delighted to announce that the guest poet for their reading on Thursday 1 November will be the distinguished poet, teacher and educational researcher Anthony Wilson. Chairman of Fire River Poets, John Stuart, said

“We do not perhaps usually think of the world of academic research as producing great poets but it does and there are many excellent examples throughout the world. We are fortunate to have one of them, Anthony Wilson, under our very noses, so to speak, in the South West.”

Members of Fire River Poets will also be reading during the evening and, as John is always
at pains to point out “We always provide a platform for poets of all ages and levels of
experience, so there will as usual be an open mic session during the evening for any poet
who would like to come along and read. Poets who would like to take advantage of this
opportunity should apply through enquiry@fireriverpoets.org.uk.”

The reading begins at 8.00 pm, takes place in The Studio and costs £5.00. Tickets may be
purchased from the Brewhouse box office. Enquiries and bookings on 01823 283244 or
info@thebrewhouse.net.