Orchard Theatre

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John Lane founded the Orchard as a touring repertory company, its debut performance having been Harold Brighouse’s Hobson’s Choice in Torrington Town Hall. It became a familiar and valued feature of the regional arts network and, in the later 1970s, I would take my children to the annual pantomime in Barnstaple’s Queens Hall (now upgraded as the Queens Theatre). From the outset, staffing was on equity terms.

By the time I became directly involved in the 1980s, the Orchard remained part of Beaford, but operated from separate premises in Newport Road, Barnstaple, and had its own steering committee, which was normally convened on the morning of the days when Beaford’s main board met in the afternoon. Under the artistic direction of Paul Chamberlain, who departed in 1982 for Theatr Clwyd in Mold, and then of Nigel Bryant, the company was exercising a three-year franchise for South West Arts as the region’s major touring theatre company. But there were new trends in theatre being pioneered in the South West, first by Footsbarn (founded in 1971) and later by Kneehigh (dating from 1980), which sought to move away from text-bound work, whether established or newly commissioned, to the creation of vigorous, popular theatre for a broad spectrum of audiences in a variety of locations with multi-facetted forces.    

The Orchard’s pre-eminence as a regional touring company first faced serious threat when its franchise came up for review in 1985. Criticism of standards and quality were strongly rebutted, but, with the benefit of hindsight, one can see that this was camouflage for growing questions as to the value of the repertory model as compared with the lively new forms now coming on stream. A succession of assessment and appraisal exercises followed over several years, during which the Orchard under Nigel Bryant was continuing to commission new plays, increasing its audience numbers and achieving plaudits for tours on a national scale. However, nothing could disguise the fact that there were fundamental differences of conviction between those who regarded Orchard as offering middle-of-the-road repertory and sought a new approach and Nigel himself, who stood firmly resistant to change. 

In 1989, Nigel left Devon to work for the BBC at Pebble Mill and was replaced by Bill Buffery from the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Youth Theatre. Both Bill and I became extensively involved in correspondence and meetings about South West Arts’ latest appraisal, with which, despite material reservations, we sought to cooperate. However, Bob Butler’s appointment at much the same time brought new perspectives to bear on the situation, given his past experience in administrative roles with both Kneehigh and the Colway Theatre Trust’s community plays. For so long as the Orchard remained integral to Beaford, why should its policies not be more closely aligned with those of the parent organisation? Moreover, following the absorption of the Plough, could cohesion within the whole organisation not be best served by relinquishing the Orchard’s Barnstaple base and moving its headquarters to the Plough in Torrington?

I myself was attracted by this scenario, and it would not have excluded the subsequent disposal of the Beaford site and the acquisition of additional office space in Torrington. But it was not to be, for the Orchard clung to its effective independence, a determination heightened by the poor chemistry between Bob Butler and Bill Buffery. In 1997, the Orchard finally lost its SWA funding subject to some modest transitional support, and expressed the wish to continue on a reduced scale as a separate charitable entity. There followed the rather grisly business of dividing up the assets, Orchard Theatre taking all the theatre equipment and a share of reserves, but not the freehold property in Newport Road, with which (as will be seen) Beaford had only recently been endowed and with the capital value of which I was determined it should not part. Orchard Theatre closed in 2000.  

Bill Buffery went on to set up a new company, Multi Story Theatre, with Gill Nathanson, long-term Orchard Theatre company member and Education Officer, and they remain active in North Devon and far beyond.  Moreover, through the dauntless leadership of Richard Wolfenden-Brown and much community effort and enthusiasm, the Plough continues with a modicum of outside funding to provide a lively programme of exhibitions, film and live events. Change is invariably an opportunity as well as a threat and Beaford could surely not have been transformed with the success Mark Wallace has now achieved if it were still attempting to manage a theatre company and a fixed venue on the side.