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Theatre in Southern England: Devon"Devon, glorious Devon", as the old song calls it, has the largest theatre provision in the South West, with 25 venues in thirteen towns. Quite a number of these are seaside resorts which have a number of venues, but it is Exeter which has the greatest number, varying in size from 100 to 1435. The most well-known is the Northcott, Exeter's rep theatre, which seats 433. In the recent round of funding increases to regional theatres, the Northcott did well, getting an extra £225,360, an 84% increase. The largest venue in the city, however, is the Exeter University Great Hall which seats 1435. It's primarily a concert hall, but does have the occasional drama or dance performance. The only other theatre is the Barnfield (298) which is available for hire. The other Exeter venues are the 100-seater Drama Studio, an educational venue, which is particularly interested in physical theatre as well as youth groups; the Phoenix, a 216-seater arts centre with a fondness for experimental theatre; and the St George's Hall, a multi-purpose venue (500 seats) with a varied programme. Barnstaple's Queen's Theatre is a national touring house, seating 688, and Beaford has the Beaford Centre, an arts centre which presents outdoor shows only. The Brixham Theatre (in Brixham) accepts all forms of entertainment in its 340-seater auditorium, whilst Dawlish has the Shaftesbury Theatre. Mainly the home of the Dawlish Rep Company, this 148-seater is also available for hire. Exmouth has three theatre venues, two of which belong to educational institutions. The Theatre (just that! no other name) belongs to Exmouth Community College, seats 200, and presents a wide range of theatrical performances, and Theatre and Performance (another slightly off-the-wall name!), which is part of Plymouth University's Faculty of Arts and Education, seats 240 and specialises in fringe dance, drama and music. The Exmouth Pavilion is a multi-purpose venue (540 seats) which presents mainly touring one-nighters and amateur theatre. Ilfracombe's Landmark Theatre and Pavilion - a new venue, opened in 1998 - has 483 seats in the theatre and 150 in the Pavilion. It is available for hire. Paignton's Palace Theatre (404) is available for profession hire, but its staple is amateur shows. Plymouth has three performance venues. The Athenaeum Theatre is privately owned and is available for hire, mainly to amateur companies. It seats 352. The Plymouth Pavilions is a multi-purpose venue (and a big one: 2500 seats) which has a mainly concert programme. The Theatre Royal is a mixture of a touring house and a producing theatre. The production side is mainly co-productions with other theatres or companies, and ther theatre presents a very wide-ranging programme. It seats 1296 in the Theatre Royal itself and 200 in the Drum Theatre. In Tavistock, the Wharf (200 seats) is an arts centre with a wide-ranging programme. And then we come to Torquay, the English Riviera and the location of Fawlty Towers - although I am assured that Basil Fawlty was not based on any real Torquay hotelier! There are four theatre venues in the town, although one, the Riviera Centre, concentrates more on music and cabaret. It has a seven week summer season and presents ten concerts and twenty cabarets during the year. There are two performance areas, the Forum and the Arena, both seating 1800. The summer season, of course, is an important part of any seaside resort's provision, and two of Torquay's theatres have such a season as an important part of their programme. The 600-seater Babbacombe Theatre adds plays and touring shows, whilst the Princess Theatre (1494 seats), is available for hire on a percentage-split basis, and accepts plays, musicals, panto and amateur shows. Finally, the only purely theatre venue in the town in the Studio One Centre for the Performing Arts, part of South Devon College. During spring and autumn there is one professional show a month, and at other times the programme is made up of student and amateur shows. It seats 100. Torrington's Plough Arts Centre (141) specialises in community and participatory work, whilst Dartington Hall in Totnes presents a broad programme in its two venues, the Barn Theatre (190) and Studio 1 (120).
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