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ON OUR RADAR
Romeo and Juliet
Troubadour Stageworks presents an accessible, family-friendly production of Shakespeare’s tragic romance.
Martin Redfern
Troubadour Stageworks is presenting a production of Romeo and Juliet at Poltimore House on Saturday 27 May.
The company’s energetic and fast-paced production aims to fill Shakespeare’s tragic romance with music and fun, making the play family-friendly and accessible to all.
Troubadour Stageworks is a registered charity that works in public education and heritage, producing music and drama aimed at bringing people together in historic spaces.
Its events range from rehearsed readings to full theatre productions, often in sites with little experience of event hosting to provide a model for future self-hosted productions.
Development director Judith Morgane also programmes events at St Nicholas Priory and runs Lightbear Lane, an Exeter-based consultancy that promotes the arts in heritage, nature and community spaces.
The current Grade II* listed 18th-century house is on the site of earlier buildings erected by the family from 1550 onwards. They also owned Bampfylde House, an important Elizabethan town house on Bampfylde Street in the centre of Exeter.
Politmore House was occupied by the family until 1920, then became a school before becoming an NHS hospital which closed in 1974. The house suffered an arson attack in 1987 before being left empty, falling into dilapidation until Poltimore House Trust was created in 2000 to rescue it.
The Troubadour Stageworks production of Romeo and Juliet is at 2.30pm and again at 6.30pm on Saturday 27 May 2023 at Poltimore House.
Full price tickets cost £15, Friends of Poltimore House pay £13 and under-16 tickets cost £12. They are available via TicketSource.
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EXETER CHIEFS members have voted in favour of a takeover of the club proposed by Black Knight Sports and Entertainment. The US investment company, led by CEO Bill Foley, bought AFC Bournemouth in 2022 and is a minority shareholder in Edinburgh club Hibernian F.C.. The vote follows a January announcement by Exeter Chiefs chairman Tony Rowe that he was seeking a new major shareholder for the club, made a few days before Exeter Chiefs owners Exeter Rugby Group reported a £10.3 million loss. Tony Rowe said that the proposed takeover “does not represent a firm offer” and is “just a non-binding expression of interest at this stage”. He added: “Hopefully, an offer will follow and we can begin negotiating the terms of the sale”.
EXETER CITY COUNCIL’S RECYCLING RATE was ranked in the bottom tenth among councils in England which collect household waste last year. According to government figures just 29% of the household waste it collected was sent for recycling, compared with 54% by neighbouring Teignbridge District Council and 60% by East Devon District Council, which was among the best-performing councils in the country on this metric. Exeter’s residual waste performance was better than North Devon, Plymouth and Torbay councils, but East Devon recorded the lowest residual waste rate of all.
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Market returns for 2026 season with stalls selling vintage items, jewellery, crafts, clothing, records, food and drink.
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Vintage items, handmade gifts and baked goods from local traders with wellbeing activities including yoga, crafts and hula-hooping.
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Poltimore House interior. Photo by Alison Day under Creative Commons license.
