After enjoying only 20 days of being open in the last 12 months, trustees of The Plough Arts Centre have confirmed the long-awaited good news that The Plough can begin to reopen its doors from Tues 22 June. Hugh Wormington, chair of the trustees of the charity, announced:
“Many arts and community venues across the country are facing permanent closure, following the events of the past year, so we are extremely grateful for the trust that has been placed in The Plough by national and local funders to enable us to survive. There was a time last summer when we were forced to make 80% of our long serving staff redundant and the immediate future was looking decidedly bleak, but we are now looking forward to gradually rebuilding the team and the dynamic arts & community programme that has been the hallmark of our programme for 46 years.”
Director Richard Wolfenden-Brown added: “We intend to reopen cautiously from Tues 22 June with The Plough open 10am – 4pm Tues – Sat for Gallery exhibitions, workshops and a simple café. Meanwhile we will focus on our Open Air Theatre Festival, kindly sponsored by Bond Oxborough Phillips, which includes 52 performances by the cream of the country’s open air theatre companies, at fifteen North Devon venues, with tickets on sale from 1 April and all the details available on our website. Live events, and possibly films, will then resume at The Plough from 1 Sept. It has been a long haul but we are delighted to be looking to a brighter future. We have also made the most of the enforced closure to carry out some long-needed repairs and upgrading to our toilets, dressing rooms and firedoors.”
The Plough’s satellite venue, ThePlough@StAnne’s in Barnstaple, is able to open from 1 May and Sharon Dixon, the Welcome Manager is busy reinstating a programme of workshops, talks & walks, and private hirings, prior to other live events resuming from 1 Sept.
The Plough Arts Centre has continued to offer an online arts programme during covid with regular workshops by Sophie Hatch for young people in Plough Youth Theatre and for adults with additional needs in Plough Prism and Motion Dance. It has also hosted online performances and live streamed events. Over the next few weeks it will offer two online Youth Take-Over Days on 9 and 16 April, with opportunities for youngsters to get involved in a wide range of arts workshops, plus a Spring Listen music project with Becki Driscoll & Nick Wyke, and a ‘Plough The Future’ Photo competition for 8-18yr olds with a theme of ‘Unmasked’ and prizes of £350 up for grabs. Meanwhile The Plough’s international poetry competition, The Plough Prize approaches its deadline on 31 March and has already attracted over 1,400 worldwide entries. Administrator, Gill Clayton said “we have received entries from all corners of the globe and our judge, Roger McGough, is standing by to choose the winners and award £1,750 in prizemoney.”
Although Tues 22 June is reopening day for the public, Plough Volunteers and Supporters are welcome to pop in on Freedom Day itself, Mon 21 June, 11am – 2pm to meet staff and trustees and to have a coffee and a sneak peeview of the new toilets.
Further info:
Richard Wolfenden-Brown, Director, richard@theploughartscentre.org.uk
Sharon Dixon, (Acting) Marketing & Promotions Manager, sharon@theploughartscentre.org.uk