ENTERTAININGLY Different is well-known throughout Devon and beyond for its Expressive Arts Workshops, family entertainment and public performances. 

The founder and director Rob Pudner, who lives in Okehampton, established Entertainingly Different 18 years ago and heads up a small team of self employed practitioners/performers who he subcontracts on a casual basis for various engagements/projects.

Rob’s love of all things theatre started at the age of five following a visit to the Plymouth Theatre Royal to watch Bonnie Langford in "Peter Pan". 

Rob, who is known for his crazy trousers and colourful suits, has always enjoyed dressing up and at both primary school and secondary school where he took part in many plays and pantomimes.

He joined the Plymouth Gilbert and Sullivan Fellowship at the age of 16 and performed in a number of operettas on the Theatre Royal’s main stage including "Pirates of Penzance", where he was cast as a cabin boy and had to dance with a mop! 

He has been inspired by many people over the years but namely his secondary school Drama teacher - Nigel Crabb, local television/radio personality and pantomime performer - the late Douglas Mounce and writer and artist Laurence Gardner, who is also sadly no longer with us.

Rob, who has qualifications in Childcare and Education, Group Acting, Activity Leadership and Group Management has almost 25 years’ experience delivering dramatic workshops to people of all ages and abilities in various settings.

He has directed a large number of youth, community and professional theatre productions and has made quite a name for himself of latter years for his interactive style of family entertainment which has proved extremely popular on the festival circuit at the likes of Beautiful Days, Glasdenbury, and the Dartmoor Folk Festival. 

Rob’s aim as a workshop leader has always been to "act as a catalyst rather than a controller", whilst nurturing life skills and natural creative talent. 

He believes the arts should be accessible to all and lots of his work is with children and adults with special educational needs. He has regular engagements with Pathfield School, the Northam Care Trust, The Colour Cabin and Marland Primary School where he uses his Drama, Story Telling and Expressive Movement exercises and activities for intervention and as a therapeutic tool.

Rob has also been presenting a fortnightly arts based show on community radio station - Soundart Radio for the past 11 years. "ARTZ4U" allows him to share his passion for theatre and the arts and feed his thirst for live performance.

Since lockdown all Rob’s work for the foreseeable future has ground to a halt with events being postponed, rescheduled or cancelled altogether.

To this end he has taken to performing his ever popular "Rise and Shine" show live on Facebook on a Saturday morning at 9.30am. The hour long interactive show which he streams from his own back garden is jam packed with songs, stories, shoutouts and silliness and has been enjoyed by young and old alike.

He has recently become a key partner of Puppets By Post and he is collaborating with local authors Julian Hilton, Clare Helen Welsh, Suzie Laverty and David Lawrence Jones and as well as sharing their fabulous books in his Saturday morning show he has also been reading them as part of "Snacktime Stories" at 11am on a Friday morning.

Rob plans to continue raising laughs, smiles and lifting spirits during this difficult time and moving forward he would like to direct more theatre and facilitate more masterclasses but in the meantime he is happy continuing enthusing, entertaining, educating and encouraging in his inspiring and inimitable entertainingly different style.

For more information or to contact Rob, please see: http://www.entertaininglydifferent.co.uk/ .