Heritage Grant brings Community Theatre to Harleston

Harleston Players were awarded a grant of £24,000 to stage
a local play, written by a contemporary of Shakespeare.

Robert Greene was born in Norwich and his romantic
comedy The Honourable History of Friar Bacon and
Friar Bungay is set in this very part of the Waveney valley.

When the King's son falls for a dairymaid, the Fair Maid of
Fressingfield, he enlists the help of his best friend, (disguised
as a Beccles farmer) and the skills of the world's greatest
magician, the infamous Friar Bacon, in order to win her.
But things do not go according to plan... Packed with
romance, broad comedy and miraculous magic, this was
the first time this rumbustious play had been performed for
several years.

The purpose of the grant was to give local people a greater
understanding of their heritage. To that end, we envisaged a
piece of community theatre involving as many people and
organisations in Harleston as possible.

There was scope within the outline of the project to utilise
many local artistic skills and talents. To realise the full
potential of the venture, several professionals were
employed to take forward specific aspects of the project,
for example, accompanying literature, a website, set design,
stage management, costumes and publicity. Their aim was to
make people aware of the significance of the play and
playwright to the area and also bring into context the life
and times of Harleston in the 16th and 17th centuries. The
project culminated in a series of performances of the
play in June 2006.

The play was directed by Cathy Gill, a professional director.

The grant was from the Local Heritage Initiative,
devised and run by the Countryside Agency.
It is a national grant scheme that helps local groups
invest in, explain and care for their local landscape, landmarks, tradition and culture.

LHI grants are funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund with
additional sponsorship from the Nationwide Building Society.