New TV documentary on famous 'Shute disaster' top open Shute Festival 2023

The first showing of a new television documentary on a famous 1986 'Shute disaster' will open the 2023 Shute Festival. 

In 1986, the Shute Theatre and Arts Guild (STAG), a local amateur dramatics group, staged a performance of Macbeth that went so catastrophically wrong that it made international news headlines, with several people injured.

The performance passed into local legend and, in 2021, filmmaker James Soldan got hold of the story and set out to discover how much truth there was behind the hilarious and extraordinary tale. 

The resulting short documentary, 'The Scottish Play', made by Spinning Path Films, will be presented as the first event in the 2023 Shute Festival.

The documentary will be accompanied by a selection of other short films by local filmmakers and a small exhibit to commemorate STAG, which sadly folded last year following the pandemic. 

The event will take place at 7pm on Friday, April 28 in St Michael's Church, Shute. Tickets will be £5 on the door and refreshments will be available.

Filmmaker James Soldan said: "We hope as many as possible will be able to join us for this celebration of local arts and culture."

In 2023, Shute Festival will be hosting a number of events throughout the year. These will include talks, walks, and concerts.

Events already confirmed include a talk on May 25 at 7pm by wildlife authors Fiona Mathews and Tim Kendall on their new book 'Black Ops and Beaver Bombing', about their hunt for British mammals.

On July 6, there will also be music from the Frank Stoddard ensemble. 

Shute Festival was founded in 2016, and has since then brought both locally and nationally renowned authors, artists and musicians to an East Devon audience. 

Further details are available at www.shutefest.org.uk