'Story Exchange' closes in on funding

‘Theatre Rush’ an Exeter based drama company, are close to finding the funding their latest project designed to bring storytelling to the city’s streets.

The company, made up of a core group of three female artists, Lizzy Humber, Katie Villa and Chloe Whipple is already well established in the Exeter theatre scene having taken up residency at the Bike Shed at the beginning of last year.

However their latest project, ‘Story Exchange’, sees the company bring their work out of the theatres and around the city via a portable writing desk come wheel barrow packed with everything needed for an impromptu show.

Initially a one-off event commissioned by the Bike Shed theatre for the Extreme Imagination festival, Story Exchange, proved a hit with crowds leading to a longer term project.

Since last February the company has taken their unique travelling show on the back of their prototype barrow (named Belinda) around Exeter and the surrounding area.

Chloe Whipple, a artistic director of Theatre Rush, said: “its something that people can just engage with really easily and quickly. It’s fun, its simple and its free as well.

“A lot of the time when we’re out and about in the streets people’s first reaction is ‘What are you trying to sell me?’ but once people realise that its free and fun their guards go down and they get really get into it.

“Lots of people have really good experiences and have positive things to say about it.

“it’s really nice to sort of creatively interrupt them on their daily routines.”

Sadly their experiences have highlighted some issues with the current design, holding their project back from going further.

Issues with the barrows size limits how far they can travel to take the show out and how flexible the performers. A new barrow would also let the company take their shows into schools around the county.

Faced with finding the funds for the new barrow, Theatre Rush, turned to crowd-sourcing to raise the cash.

Offering a range of incentives including personalised poetry and stories starring the backer the response has been strong. 

Having already achieved over £800 of their £1000 target a new barrow looks likely to be achieved.

Chloe Whipple, continued: “We’re really, really happy with how its going but we’re still aware that sometimes it gets to a certain point and you just have to do pushes again just so people remember that we’re doing it.

“We’re really amazed by how many people have donated so far, it’s been really great.”

“[The backing] will help fund the designer and the maker who are both local, Devon based artists.

“We’ll have a couple of days with them to dream up a new design, we have no idea of what it’s going to be yet so that’s really exciting.

“We want it to be smaller and a bit more family friendly on the safety side of things to take it into schools.

“We’ve also talked about things popping out of it like having wings or a sail so it can become a bigger object. To create almost a set that can be fold back in on itself.

“It should create a lovely impact so when it arrives very small and then you can hear noises and it suddenly becomes much bigger.”

Most recently story exchange was in Exeter’s guildhall shopping centre as part of Animated Exeter to promote the Extreme Imagination festival to be held next October.

Theatre Rush is now looking to take Story Exchange around the festival circuit this summer and is taking bookings for the project.

To find out more about Story Exchange visit here