The Great Gale of Brixham 1866- history drama – Brixham Theatre

On the night of January 10 – 11th 1866, a southeast gale blew up, and the storm is widely remembered in Brixham to this day. Much of the towns fishing fleet, as well as other ships sheltering in Torbay were destroyed, with a large loss of life.

THE SHOW
The Great Gale of Brixham 1866, brings to life a pivotal historical event in Brixham. The show dramatizes the historical night and its aftermath, as well as delving into some of the other local stories of the town that are believed to have happened within the 19th Century. The Great Gale of Brixham 1866, was carefully researched from original newspaper sources, local stories and oral history from local families, written by the South Devon Players company founder, Laura Jury, a long term resident of Brixham. While it can only provide a snapshot of the events of the night, it brings to life one of the big historical events of the town, in a two hour production.

The performances at Brixham Theatre, on December 13th and 14th 2019, are performed in one of the towns buildings still linked to the storm – many surviving sailors rescued from the multiple shipwrecks were brought to the town hall (now the modern day Theatre and the Scala Hall) which acted as emergency accommodation

Performed by a professional cast of locally based actors.
The Players last production; William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, won an international award in the Long Island Theatre Awards, in New York, in June 2019.

The South Devon Players, founded in 2005/6 on the proceeds of a carboot sale, are winners of the national Epic Award 2017 for England, a national arts award celebrating creativity and innovation in grassroots arts, and now the 2019 Long Island Theatre Awards “Theatre Partner” award in New York. Based in Brixham, the Players primarily specialise in researched historical theatre productions and old “Classics”.