FREE Creative Play Days in South Somerset

The Octagon Theatre and Westlands Entertainment Venue in Yeovil are working with local, and national arts practitioners and local organisations to bring FREE creative activities and live theatre to residents this Summer, as part of the Play Day initiative. 

Play Days are a national initiative that celebrates children’s right to play, this year’s theme is: ‘Play - the culture of childhood.  Supporting play, fun and friendships’. For 2024, we have planned a series of four Play Days taking place in, and bringing creativity to, neighbourhoods across South Somerset.

This summer we will be in Yeovil, Langport, Wincanton and Chard. The Play Day events will be free for all to attend, taking place in local parks and recreation grounds, with the opportunity to play and get creative with other families, children and young people during the long summer holidays. Each of our Play Days will run from 11am – 3pm with a variety of different creative workshops for families, children and young people to take part in.

There will be a range of activities on offer at each event from music-making to circus skills to air-drying pottery to face painting, alongside other activities all of which will be free for families to take part in. To each Play Day we will be joined by various local and national touring theatre companies, with a free live outdoor theatrical production, to entertain, inspire and educate audiences.

Tit for Tat Circus Theatre Company will perform at the first Play Day on Wednesday 7th August (which also coincides with the National Play Day) at Mudford Rec in Yeovil.  Tit for Tat is an unusual juggling company that believes in celebrating the ordinary, in their show BOOKS! Where four bedraggled book enthusiasts are travelling from town to town – forced between the margins – on a mission to protect literature.  Without new members, the book club and the books it has sworn to protect, will surely perish! An adventure where audiences can expect juggling, fire, comedic routines, and plenty of books!

Above: Tit For Tat

Our next Play Day on Tuesday 13th August is at Cale Park in Wincanton.  Joining the fun will be The Last Baguette Company performing their latest show, Bin Rat!!! The Last Baguette makes entertaining, accessible and eccentric work for family audiences and uses physical comedy, puppetry, visual storytelling & silliness to talk about important issues of our times. Bin Rat!!! is an outdoor theatre & puppetry show that explores our relationship with our waste and where it goes, and asks the question: is tidiness really the answer?

On Thursday 15th August we will be in Langport alongside the River Parrett at Cocklemoor, where we will be entertained by aKa Dance Theatre performing their latest show, shed-ache..  shed-ache is a seriously silly dance theatre show that transports little people and their grown-ups to a world that sits somewhere between reality and make believe. shed-ache consists of two dancers and a shed on wheels that get up to all sorts whilst faced with down pores, lava floors and socks falling out of the sky!  Be prepared to be blown away by aKa’s brand-new family friendly show which is bright and sunny - with 100% chance of laughter.

Above: aKa Dance Theatre - Photo credit Luke Taylor

The fourth and final Play Day will be in Chard at Jocelyn Park on Thursday 29th August, where Autin Dance will be returning to Somerset with their 13-foot giant puppet (as seen at Yeovil’s Super Saturday last year) performing their show Out of the Deep Blue. Out of the Deep Blue is a moving tale about our earth's climate emergency told through dance, movement and masterful puppeteering. Ideal for children and family audiences. An outdoor spectacle featuring Eko a 13-foot-tall Sea Giant Puppet!

Above: Autin Dance

To each Play Day we have invited local organisations and services to attend, offering the opportunity to promote their service and provide additional activities, this includes Freedom Leisure, Young Somerset, Somerset Libraries, the Fire Service, Somerset Skills and Learning and Children’s Autism Outreach team.

This project has been made possible thanks to The Octagon Theatre becoming an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) and being awarded an investment of £760,000 to support arts and cultural activities in Somerset from 2023-2026. Each Play Day will be FREE to attend thanks to support received from Somerset Community Foundation, Yeovil Town Council, Wincanton Town Council and Langport Town Council.  The Arts Engagement and Outreach Team are striving to provide affordable, accessible arts activities and experiences in the heart of local communities and delivering four free Play Days during the summer holidays is just part of their work.