New Podcast Shares Extraordinary Stories from Rural Communities

Stories from the Sticks is a brand new podcast featuring tales from rural communities created by Scratchworks Theatre supported by Arts Council England. Scratchworks has toured theatre shows to isolated communities across the South – West and nationally for many years and the theatre-makers have met many wonderful characters along the way. City-dwellers themselves, Laura, Siân and Alice
have always appreciated being welcomed into remote villages to hear stories of love, history, local myth and community spirit.

‘We’ve heard some amazing tales from people in villages across the UK. Lockdown
has turned everything upside down – we can’t perform in these communities right
now – so instead we’re providing a platform to share their stories with the wider
world.’

Laura Doble, Scratchworks Theatre

The series will consist of 6 episodes, each one interviewing a guest or several guests from a different region. The first episode features Eddie from Dolton, a well-known character who moved to North Devon 37 years ago. A retired plumber, recalls carnivals, jubilee celebrations, motorbikes, stuffed-dog doorstops and the time Charlie Watts from The Rolling Stones made him a cup of tea. As Scratchworks say: ‘Dolton is a no-nonsense ‘get the job done’ kind of place with a cheeky smile
you can’t help but find infectious’.

The interviews are interwoven with original music by Jack Dean plus narration and singing in Scratchworks’ signature style giving a distinctly theatrical feel to the podcast. The company are also keen to receive creative responses from listeners: ‘We’re hoping these podcasts will inspire others to get creative too. We’re asking people to creatively respond to the question ‘If the place where you live was a dessert- what would it be?’ People can send in responses in any format – drawings, photos, music, short films – and we’ll share them on the Scratchworks website.’

Stories from the Sticks can be downloaded from most podcast platforms including Apple, Spotify, Deezer, Pocket Casts, Stitcher and A Cast. A subtitled version is provided on Youtube. All links can be found via www.scratchworkstheatre.com.

Creative responses to the podcast should be sent to
scratchworkstheatre@gmail.com
ENDS

Notes to Editors

The series was created and written by Laura Doble, Alice Higginson-Clarke and Siân
Keen of Scratchworks Theatre. Music for the series was created by Jack Dean. The
series was edited by Andrew Armfield.
The series is supported by Arts Council England.

About Scratchworks Theatre
https://www.scratchworkstheatre.com/
Scratchworks are a physical ensemble of three women who work collaboratively to
create highly visual, playful theatre from scratch. Founded in Exeter in 2013, they
share a passion for creating original stories and use a diverse mix of physical
movement, puppetry and live music to entertain and inspire our audiences.
Recent touring locations include New Diorama Theatre, Greenwich Theatre,
Battersea Arts Centre, PULSE Festival Ipswich, Salisbury Arts Centre, Theatre
Royal Bath and VAULT Festival where we received the ‘Festival Spirit Award’ 2017.
We have also received an NSDF award for ‘Best Overall Body of Creative Work’ at
the Edinburgh Fringe 2013 as well as nominations for the Charlie Hartill award 2016
and the IYAF: Best of Brighton Fringe Theatre Award 2017.

Media Contact
Alice Higginson-Clarke
Co-Artistic Director
alice.scratchworks@gmail.com
07753 129518