Buxton theatre group Three’s Company is celebrating its 20th year at Buxton Fringe with an adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s international best-selling novel The Little Prince.
Yaz Al-Shaater, Tom Crawshaw and Michael Grady-Hall attended Buxton Community School, performed with Buxton’s REC Youth Theatre and Buxton Drama League, and started creating shows together, inspired by their drama teachers and leaders, when they were 13. They then formed Three’s Company and produced their first stage show—a comedy about a delayed train—at Buxton Fringe in 2003.
Twenty years on, the trio are working professionally in the arts—Crawshaw’s writing has appeared on BBC Radio 4 and been produced in the West End, Grady-Hall has performed at the National Theatre and with the RSC and Al-Shaater is directing for Channel 4 alongside a range of film work.
They are still creating new theatre shows and say Buxton remains the perfect place to première work. “The audiences in Buxton are so welcoming and the Fringe is an incredible mixing-pot of talent and creativity. It’s wonderful to bring a new show here, meet artists and see how audiences react,” said Crawshaw.
The Little Prince fuses comedy, music, magic, puppetry and lighting effects to create a “joyous and uplifting” show for adults and children alike. Alice Kornitzer directs and designer is Dylan Howells.
The Little Prince can be seen at Underground at The Old Clubhouse from Wednesday 20 until Monday 25 July.