VII. Cultural and Artistic activities (to students only)
What types of local live entertainment have you enjoyed? What kinds of venue did they take place in?
This question produced a very varied and multifaceted response, with a minority of students classing football and rugby as entertainment.
Entertainment preferences ofschool students
Preferred venues for entertainment
Have you ever enjoyed an activity (music, dance, theatre, exhibition) elsewhere that is not available in Tiverton? Tell us about it. Students had enjoyed widely different types of entertainment in many places. These included:
• Theatre and dance in Exeter, Torquay, Taunton, Barnstaple, Plymouth, London and elsewhere
• Festivals on Exeter Quay, at Castle Hill, Filleigh in North Devon, and Powderham Castle
• Christian Festivals
• Art exhibitions on Exmoor, and in Exeter, including museum exhibitions at the Royal Albert Museum
• Ice Shows in Plymouth and Exeter
• Toy fair at Westpoint
• Orchestral concert with participation from the audience in Exeter
• Pop concerts at Butlins, Powderham, Sheffield, and Exeter University
• Concerts, gigs and rock concerts in Exeter (Northcott and University venues), Birmingham, Cardiff, London, Barnstaple
• Night walk with entertainment en route in Barnstaple
• Comedians and animation shows
• Eden Project, zoos, wildlife parks and adventure parks
• Sporting entertainment including cricket test matches and off road racing
This return shows there is considerable potential to provide and develop a variety of cultural activities that involve young people.
What type of out of school activities would you like to take part in?
This question provided an interesting response.
• There was a clear, but not always differentiated aspiration to take part in artistic activities (18) with painting,
sculpturing, craft and graffiti singled out, the latter linked to ‘hanging out’.
• Two students wished to take part in animation and movie-making workshops.
•Theatrical and junior operatic activities occupied the minds of 25 students, with 3 aspiring to dance (Willowtree Dance Company), 1 to play jazz and 1 to play the recorder.
•Ice skating, street dancing, vintage rallying, and bowling occupied other respondents, and one wished to become a steam apprentice.
The response indicates that it would be possible to develop a sustainable centre for artistic, theatrical, operatic and dance, providing for these needs, given that effective publicity reaches and is received by the client group. The successful Willowtree Dance Company needs a permanent home of its own.
What type of music do you like listening to? Can you hear live performances locally? Where and how would it be possible to put on more live performances in our area?
13 students stated that no live performances were possible locally. 16 students enjoyed a variety of music, while 44 enjoyed rock, pop, rhythm and blues, and 2 enjoyed classical and choral music. A significant percentage of the sample wanted to be able to hear live music locally, with one simply asking for local live
performances, one suggesting a summer festival in one of the parks, one suggesting regular concerts in Tiverton with donations to a local charity, and one pointing out that more venues were needed for local bands. 3 students felt that larger venues, of the Westpoint size, were needed for rock concerts, and one student felt more publicity was required for live concerts locally. The Tacchi-Morris Centre in Taunton was cited as a good example of the type of performance centre that the Exe Valley should have. This is one of several multi-purpose
performing arts centres that have been visited by the Heritage, Arts and Culture Focus Group.) Suggested venues for local live performances were Tiverton Town Hall, the Rugby Club, the Football Club, the New Hall, Pubs, the School Hall, the Youth Centre, or outdoors in the Parks, on a field on the edge of town, or a school field. Probably the most far-sighted suggestion was for a multi-purpose indoor sports track that could also function as a theatre complex. Asked if they had visited a theatre for a play or dance performance, or been to an exhibition, 80 replied that they had been to a theatre, while 42 had been to an exhibition. Suggestions for
performances and exhibitions locally were veryvaried. 9 students felt that pantomimes, story performances, thriller plays, new plays and classic plays would be good to perform locally. 4 felt that there should be more performances of plays locally throughout the year and two suggested an animation festival. 2 students
suggested classical ballet performances and one an ice dancing show. There were a number of suggestions for concerts, with 4 students simply suggesting live music, 3 dance concerts, 2 song concerts and 1 live professional bands. Several types of exhibition were suggested including a photography exhibition, an archaeological exhibition, an exhibition by an historical enactment society, a craft exhibition and establishing an art gallery.
This section of the survey showed there was clear interest across the area for better and permanent multi-purpose performing arts facilities. Close linkages with school are indicated by the fact that the questionnaire was distributed through schools. Tiverton High School has shown a keen interest in partnering such a venture.
Exe Valley Community Strategic Plan 4 February 2007
The Exe Valley Plan -
