OUTDOOR Theatre returned to Crediton Town Square on Sunday, September 6 with a fantastic performance of Peter Hamilton’s adaptation of "Fearless Jack", featuring live action and a giant puppet.

"Fearless Jack", a short folk tale from Italy, features a Giant who lives in an old palace.

When a weary traveller arrives at a nearby village and enquires about spending the night at the local Inn, he is told that no accommodation is available. In fact, the only possible place is the Old Palace.

But the Palace comes with a warning from local people. "Spend the night there and you will not survive to see the morning."

But Jack, Fearless Jack, has no choice. Wishing for a roof over his head he sets off for the Old Palace. It is a short, 15 minute tale, told by a small cast, live music and features, of course, a giant!

It was performed at 11.30am to an audience of more than 130 people and afterwards at 1.30pm to a smaller audience due to a rain shower.

Peter Hamilton is highly respected in the Crediton area as the former director of Crediton Arts Centre, and the director of many Shakespeare productions which have been staged in the Town Square.

Before the play performances, the prizes were presented to the winners of the Crediton Heart Project "My Life in Lockdown" competition, with performances by some of the entries.

Anita Munson and Lisa Rowe and “The Briars” provided wonderful music to complete the programme in the Town Square.

WINNERS

A poster, a short story and a set of paintings, all inspired by the experience of lockdown, were chosen as the winners of the creative competition.

“We had a fantastic range of entries, including poems, prose, paintings, songs, sculpture and even Lego,” said Heart Project Chair Rosemary Stephenson. “Our judges were amazed by the skill and high quality of the work we received from all ages.”

Music teacher Suzie Yates won the adult category for a series of paintings inspired by her walks during lockdown.

Three adult entries were also highly commended by the judges; a satirical cartoon by Jamie Sollis, some cleverly illustrated recipe cards by Chloe Turner and a moving poem by Sam Lee.

Kiki Shaw (16) won the teenage category for her thought-provoking short story called “Sunny Days on the Island” and in the five to 12 years group, seven-year-old Tilly Thompson took first prize, for her heart shaped poster about what she was missing in lockdown.

Joint runners-up in the younger age group were seven-year-old Rupert, who made a Lego model of his whole family staying safe at home, and 11 year-old Leah Bragg, who wrote a poem where the first letter of each line spelt LOCKDOWN.

The winners received vouchers to spend in local shops listed on the Crediton In and Around website: www.creditoninandaround.co.uk .

“As well as celebrating local talent, we wanted the competition to support our wonderful local businesses which have all worked so hard to adapt and keep going during these difficult times,” explained Rosemary.

Crediton Courier editorial manager, Alan Quick, who was one of the competition judges, presented the prizes.

Other judges were electrician and lighting designer Jo Ward, art teacher and photographer Shirley Bebbington and international theatre and events producer Julian Stoneman, who is also a patron of the Heart Project.

The competition was supported by a special grant from the “Lottery25” fund to help celebrate 25 years of the National Lottery.