THE Exeter Northcott Theatre — currently closed for refurbishment — doesn't have any seats in its auditorium or any facilities open to the public at the moment, so this summer the 40 year old professional venue has taken its work into some exciting and unusual alternative venues. From June 7 to 9, 18 short plays on the theme of rural life will be performed in the livestock arena at the Matford Centre. Each play is 15 minutes long, and has been written by a member of one of the Exeter Northcott's two community participation companies — the Northcott Community Company (NCC) and Northcott Young Company (NYC). The project is a collaboration between the theatre, Exeter City Council and the Matford Centre, and is called Pen and Trough. Members of the NCC and NYC will direct and perform the plays, doing six each evening. The Northcott Theatre Company has been staging a major open-air Shakespeare production in the city centre Rougemont Gardens since 1995. This year it's the dramatic, fast-paced and murderous story of a lust for power gone terribly wrong — Macbeth. This will be the 13th annual Shakespeare in the Gardens production — a source at the Northcott says that they are not superstitious about that number, even in relation to Macbeth — sometimes called 'The Scottish Play' because it is meant to be bad luck to say its title. In further defiance of superstition, the production opens on Friday July 13, and runs until August 11. The NCC are back in action from August 17 to 25, using the same stage in Rougemont Gardens, with a charming adaptation of Cider With Rosie, Laurie Lee's beautiful autobiographical novel. A brochure with more information about all these events is now available from the theatre. Tickets can be purchased from the Northcott Theatre Box Office on 01392 493493, by post from Northcott Theatre Box Office, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QB and online at http://www.northcott-theatre.co.uk">www.northcott-theatre.co.uk
