Wallis Agency - Poster and programme design
Sprint - Printing of poster and flyers
Henry Ling - Printing of rehearsal scripts and 32 page programme

Riskstop 
Hall & Woodhouse 
Catalyst Capital, London 

We are also grateful for Business Sponsorship from the following local companies through advertising in the Spinning the Moon programme:

CB Reid
Edwards & Keeping
Greenwood Grange
O'Brien Roofing Ltd
Grassby Funeral Services
Poundbury Wealth Management
Symonds & Sampson
The Blue Vinney
Zero C

The power and importance of community theatre

Since the first production of Entertaining Strangers in 1985, Dorchester’s community plays have been deeply lodged in the history of the town.

Spinning the Moon continues this thread through recognising the significance of local history, its relevance on the world we inhabit today and the importance of showing it to present generations.

Spinning the Moon has someone new at the helm after the previous director, Peter Cann, left to live and work abroad. Our new director, Peter Leslie Wild, has won awards and worked in theatre, television and radio, most recently on The Archers.

He is no stranger to Dorchester’s community plays, having been inspired by Entertaining Strangers, an experience he describes as ‘life changing’.

Peter said: “It is an incredible privilege to take over from Peter Cann. I have a lot of respect for him as a director and picking up the play now, from him, is a lot easier than it could have been!”

He is now enjoying working with the cast and helping them to create the record-breaking seventh community play for Dorchester.

Peter explained: “My PR job to the cast is to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and that even though it is not the same production, they will mainly have the same words to speak and the characters will be the same.

"As a director, the critical thing about rehearsals with a large cast is that everyone understands that they have an important part to play. They may think they ‘only’ have five lines, but the story is told by everybody.  It is a big collective effort and everyone must feel involved and that they are not wasting their time. They are helping to create something wonderful, everyone involved is helping to tell the play’s story...

He said: “the key thing about community theatre is that what a community play does, is reflect back something about the community to the people of that community, so that they are looking at, and watching, their own story.

There is a passion and commitment in telling the tales, people are creating and examining something from their own local history.  It helps explain to people who they are and why they are there.”

It is like a huge painting with lots of tiny details and when you look at the whole you see something quite amazing.”

Playwright David Edgar, who penned DCPA's first community play Entertaining Strangers, has been recognised by the Writers Guild for his tireless and sustained work in theatre
And in a fantastic double-whammy for us, his prestigious Outstanding Contribution award was presented to him by his wife Stephanie Dale,playwright of Spinning the Moon! David and Stephanie also worked together to write our fifth play, A Time to Keep.