Rural touring is physically demanding but you get to visit the heart of places and are treated as guests of honour. Clare Beresford on the joys of rural touring.
Our company, Little Bulb, has been going for over 15 years and, in that time, we’ve performed in all manner of venues from bandstands, bars, living rooms and disused shops to school assemblies, street festivals, forests, studio theatres and main stages - we even once did a gig in a cave.
But no matter where we perform, most important is connecting with people. That’s never more true than when we take a show on a rural tour, where forming that connection is as important, if not more so, than the show itself.
This autumn, we took Mountain Music* on the road. It tells the story of how Scots-Irish folk music and ballads from the British Isles journeyed, via the Appalachian Mountains, to eventually become country music.
The narrator moves freely among the audience, giving frequent opportunities to ad lib, sing, dance, drink and play along - but without expectation. This low-pressure involvement means audiences come up with surprising, hilarious and wonderful responses. They feel at ease singing along to classic country hits because the show doesn’t so much perform to the community but with them.
Touring is a creative challenge
When touring rurally, you get taken into the heart of a place, treated as a guest of honour, surrounded by people invested in making it a great night. So whatever role anyone takes - simply buying a ticket and turning up, or helping move the chairs, run the raffle, make the dinner, run the bar, or take on the responsibility of organising and promoting the event - audiences give their time and energy to make the night a success way before you even get there. Through a hundred tiny gestures, you see people caring for each other.
But it isn’t always the easiest way to tour. There’s a lot of travelling (shout out to all the SMs driving the long hauls). You’re often in remote places, so you have to plan and stock up on essentials. The daily loading in and out of places - often without lifts or easy parking - means it’s hard physical labour.
It’s for all the same reasons that it’s also brilliant. You see beautiful places you otherwise might never visit. All the van time together means you bond as a company and having to adapt to the quirks of each venue becomes a creative challenge that keeps the show alive and bespoke to each hall and audience.
A vessel for communal joy
We last performed Mountain Music four years ago. However, taking the show out a second time, after the pandemic and in a cost-of-living crisis, the reception - though still joyous - was entirely different. In particular, the music took on a greater significance and was much more emotionally charged.
It was clear from the number of people who wept openly just how much need there was for a place to release the emotions of the past few years. The show acted as a vessel for people to channel their memories and emotions into. There were often older men which was very moving. It felt important we provided a space for deep feelings to surface and be held and celebrated.
It was also a vessel for communal joy as many venues combined the show with a special occasion. Good examples are being the first performance to re-open Wiveliscombe Town Hall after 60 years and providing the entertainment for Black Country Touring’s 25th birthday in Smethwick.
We were often a venue’s first show after the pandemic. We might have expected a low turnout, yet the opposite was true. Everywhere we toured was either sold out or sold more than expected: people wanted to come out and be together and have a good time.
Taking art to people
Compared to the health across the theatre landscape, which is still recovering, thriving audiences for rural touring show how important it is to take art to people, rather than waiting for them to come to it. And offering a good night out on the doorstep in such tough emotional and financial times is more important now than ever.
In a few weeks, we will be returning to the Royal Opera House with our family folk opera, Wolf Witch Giant Fairy. While my younger self finds that unbelievable, I find it just as special to perform in village halls – and sometimes more so. What the performance means to the audiences is the same.
People in rural communities trust touring companies to provide not only great entertainment but a chance for their community to connect and celebrate themselves. To be given that trust is more precious than I can describe.
I can’t wait until we do it again.
Clare Beresford is Co-Director of Little Bulb Theatre.
littlebulbtheatre.com/
@Little_Bulb
* Mountain Music is a co-production with Farnham Maltings.
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