LOCAL writer Mary Stephenson has received funding from the Arts Council of England to go to Avranches in France and Fulda in Germany to research stories about the people of those towns during World War One.

This is in preparation for the “Echoes of Wartime” project led by Rod Brookes Hocking and Anthony Richards of The Common Players on which Mary Stephenson is the writer.

"With the help of Crediton History Society in 2015 I did a lot of research into the experiences of real people living in Crediton during World War One,” explains Mary.

"The resulting stories, which were often sad, sometimes amusing, always moving, formed the basis of work with theatre director Anthony Richards and a team of actors and people from Crediton to devise their stories into a piece of drama. This is the process I shall be going through on my visits to Avranches and Fulda over the next few months."

Strong links have already been established with Theater Mittendrin in Fulda and Fabrice Hervé, a theatre director from Avranches. This early work has already led to successful exchanges between pupils from Queen Elizabeth’s School and Challemel-Lacour College in Avranches.

“The Echoes of Wartime” team has worked together to apply for European funding to stage a major theatre and music production in each of the three towns during late summer 2018.

They expect to hear whether the application has been successful this summer.

"Even if we don’t get the EU funding," continues Mary, "we are all keen that some creative piece should come out of our work together over the last two years. This opportunity is also a tremendous boost for me as a writer to work with French and German theatre companies and learn different ways of telling these moving stories."

Alan Quick