There was plenty of laughter at St Mary’s Church, Totnes when St Mary’s Totnes Heritage Trust played host to the Dartington Playgoers who ended their sell out late summer tour of Alan Ayckbourn’s hilariously entertaining Ernie’s Incredible Illucinations with three polished performances in the churchyard. Friday evening’s performance was preceded by an hour of great ambient jazz music courtesy of Peter Shearn and Bev Knowlden of Ambient Jazz Landscapes. Members of the audience brought chairs and picnics to relax with families and friends in the beautiful churchyard and enjoy the music and the play.
On Saturday there was an afternoon and an evening performance of the play with tickets selling right up to the start of both shows. Ben Loverock starred as Ernie and gave an impressive performance as a boy with an incredible imagination – so much so that he can conjure up all sort of surprises. The 30 minute play was a trip through Ernie’s illusions and he took the audience to a boxing booth, a library with a corpse, a treacherous mountain and even conjured up a military band – well, sort of!
The Playgoers had previously performed in the Broadhempston Community Orchard as well as playing three performances in the Dartington Private Gardens, all of which had been fantastically well supported. What a success! Times may have changed over the last few months but where there’s a will there’s a way, and the Dartington Playgoers’ tour certainly proved they’d found a great way to bring yet another great event to their supporters.