Dragon-Fish is now our principle show for theatres, arts centres and the rural touring circuit, having played in schools over the last academic year.

Features that particularly entertain the children include the quarrelsome relationship between the brother and sister, the trips to the underwater world, the simple puppets and the sound technology - principally a loop-box - that we have incorporated.

We've had some great artwork from Kingsacre School, Braunton - some of which is displayed in the "school's work" section. And Forches Cross Primary School created their own epic extravaganza of a play based on Dragon-Fish which they called The Scribble Creature.

We're taking Cassandra to the Prague Fringe Festival in the Summer - our first visit to a European Fringe. It will be especially interesting to rework Cassandra in the light of the video that we now have of our performance at the North Devon Fringe Theatre Festival.

Though originally conceived in the aftermath of 9/11, the play has acquired different layers of meaning as first Afghanistan and then Iraq entered the equation. Unfortunately the play resonates more than ever and we are trying to secure further showings.

Prague video promo

The line-up has now been announced for Fringe08TheatreFest - North Devon's Fringe Theatre Festival. 16 companies have been accepted so far but the search is on for an extra venue so that we can included more of the exceptional talent on offer. Things are looking good.

The Fringe will run from 26th - 29th June (one day longer than last year's inaugural event). It's already developing into a low-cost, high-integrity Festival of real worth.

Lots more info at www.ndfringe.org

In May we opened a new play - Beast!.

An amalgam of fact and myth, the hunt for the Beast of Exmoor provides the framework for a taut psychological drama about our need for Beasts and what happens as we hunt them. The hunter becomes the hunted and hero and beast are in danger of becoming indistinguishable.

This is entertainment with substance for adult and student audiences.

We've played a number of colleges and schools in the South West with great success. We played The Plough Arts Centre last November. We've a number of performances coming up - particularly in schools and colleges. The play is very effective and our only disappointment is that only one of the Rural Touring Schemes has come on board. We thought this would be ideal fare.

Medea is back on the road. Last year we took her to Norway. This year we've taken her to Lisbon - to St Julian's International School -where we also performed Beast! and Baby Iron Teeth.

The play never loses its pertinence as a tale of a clash of cultures and political expediency but every time we resurrect it, certain elements chime more chillingly with the outside world.

We're developing a new play, Backward Glance, to present at Brighton Festival Fringe. We're playing the Studio Bar at Komedia - a great venue where we presented Cassandra last year. This year they've extended the performance area - which was certainly quite compact for Cassandra.

You can reach a description of the play by clicking the image.

We will also be performing the piece at the North Devon Fringe Theatre Festival at the end of June.

other links

ACTORSandCREW.com

We launched Poor Jack with three performances in one day - two for Year 7s in Pilton Community College, and the third as a teachers' preview hosted by Park School.

Since then we've played schools audiences across the target age-group (5 - 11) and we are delighted with the reactions.

After the technical challenges of our last two productions - Tattercoats and Dragon-Fish, we have kept things relatively simple. But we have created a very good-looking design - a series of pictures that form an integral part of the story - which the children respond to. And music plays an important part in the story.

We couldn't be more delighted with the reactions of children and teachers - many of the latter commenting that this is our best production so far!

We're involved in an ambitious programme designed to taylor theatre-visits, workshops and extension activities around the differing requirements of a number of schools.

We're working in partnership with Arts and Learning and 10 primary schools in Cambridgeshire.

We have performed specific productions as requested by the schools to dovetail with curriculum and themed work. In some cases we have provided follow-up drama workshops ourselves. In other cases Arts and Learning have taken the work into other areas ranging from dance, to kite-making and ceramic murals.

The project, supported by Cambridgeshire County Council, has encouraged schools to think imaginatively about how to get the best value out of a theatre visit and additional creative input.