Travelling theatre brings county’s folklore to life

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A unique outdoor theatrical experience is on offer at two country venues near Ashford over the next fortnight.

Theatre groups often talk about taking a show on the road, but in the case of Sabotage Theatre Company that is exactly the case as the actors from the company carry their scenery, props and costumes to venues in a horsedrawn wagon.

Actors will also camping out as they make a tour of Kent with a play called Owlers, an old name for smugglers, which focuses on the activity that used to be part of life on Romney Marsh.

Sabotage Theatre was founded in 2008. Its aim is to challenge elitist attitudes to theatre, using materials from skips and performing shows in unlikely rural settings.

Owlers, by Zoe Hinks, weaves together history and folklore. It follows the bizarre story of Kit, a cross-dressing boy working for the Aldington Gang of smugglers, when in 1826 a routine landing of contraband ends in disaster. Owling was a com- mon term for the smuggling of sheep or wool from England to France.

The practice was illegal in England from 1367 until 1824.

The show is at Poulton Wood nature reserve, Aldington, at 7.30pm tomorrow (Friday); at 3.30pm on Saturday, July 4, at Hamstreet Woods National Nature Reserve, Hamstreet, and on Thursday, July 9, and Saturday, July 11 at 7.30pm at the JAM On The Marsh festival, at St Mary in the Marsh.

Audiences are advised to bring a seat and dress appropriately. They are being encouraged to arrive early and enjoy a picnic before the performance starts

Tickets, £10 and £5 for concessions, can be booked online at www.sabotagetheatre.com

The Sabotage Theatre Company’s Owlers wagon