CARNIVAL Capers, the Okehampton community musical, takes place this week in the sports hall of the town's community college. Performances start today (Thursday) until Saturday, April 26 at 7.30pm. There will also be a matinee performance on the Saturday at 2.30pm. The project, run by folk arts charity Wren Music and the Ockment Centre, has brought together more than 150 local people as actors, singers and musicians, some of whom are pictured right. The performances are the climax of eight months of workshops and rehearsals, and are sure to entertain and amuse audiences of all ages. Carnival Capers is inspired by the history and people of Okehampton, and Dartmoor myths and legends, and has been written by Tim Laycock. Over the last 30 years he has combined his career as a folk singer and concertina player with a parallel career as an actor and playwright. His work has included stints at the Chichester Festival Theatre, the Old Vic, the Young National Trust Theatre, Theatre In The Downs, and the Royal National Theatre. His previous large-scale plays commissioned for Wren Music productions include Red Spider, from a melodramatic story by Sabine Baring-Gould, Poor Man's House, based on the book by Stephen Reynolds, and Kitty Alone, another adaptation of a Baring-Gould novel. Tickets for the musical are £5, with a concessionary rate of £3, and £2 for under 16s. Family tickets are also available. They are available from the Wren ticket office, behind St James Chapel, open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Tickets are also available from Okehampton Library or on the door at the community college sports hall before each performance. A cast recording of songs from Carnival Capers has been made, and the CD will be available at the performances, or from the Wren Music office.
