We Are St Thomas – An Exhibition  By Theatre Alibi

Theatre Alibi are a nationally renowned theatre company, based in Emmanuel Hall, St Thomas making work for both adults and children since 1982. 

Over the past 2 years the team have been working together with their neighbours in St Thomas to gather the stories of the place. They’ve listened to accounts of floods and fireworks, fairgrounds and evacuees, dances and lost loves. As a continuation of this work, from the 9th-12th September (10am-4pm daily) at Emmanuel Hall, Theatre Alibi have opened their doors for ‘We Are St Thomas’, a free photographic exhibition celebrating the people of St Thomas. 

Story Gatherers, Lisa Heledd-Jones and Daniel Jamieson, have been meeting with St Thomas people and recording their conversations and photographer Ben Borley has been taking their portraits. At the exhibition these wonderful portraits have been displayed, along with stories to enjoy and some great live music by the composer, Elizabeth Westcott, who has written music especially for the exhibition inspired by the stories of St Thomas. 

I was lucky enough to have my photograph taken for the exhibition and have had a chance to have a look around the exhibition. It was wonderful to see so many familiar and friendly faces and also to meet some new St Thomas characters along the way. Each portrait is a wonderful snippet of people’s lives within St Thomas. 

There is a chance to listen to people’s stories too with elements of their interviews accessible as part of the exhibition. 

As a bread baker, I was happy to be trusted to provide cake for the exhibition. You can dig into Spiced Rum Fruit Cake (made with Spiced Rum from Two Drifters – a carbon negative rum fermented, distilled and spiced in Devon, UK), Lemon and Elderflower Drizzle Cake (made with St Thomas foraged elderflower), and finally a moist Chocolate Cake. All of the cakes are made with eggs fresh from my neighbours’ chickens, who you can often hear clucking on Buller Road! So, come along to enjoy the exhibition and have tea and some delicious cakes too.

WHERE: Theatre Alibi, Emmanuel Hall, Emmanuel Road, Exeter, EX4 1EJ 

WHEN: 9th – 12th Sept, 10am – 4pm daily 

Free and open to all Step free access to the hall 

Facebook Event 

COVID safe measures will be kept in place throughout the exhibition. 

We Are St Thomas’ will also be a way for people to find out more about the exciting finale to Theatre Alibi’s St Thomas project – a ‘Festival of St Thomas Stories’. The Festival will be running over a week in the Summer of 2022 bringing to life the many colourful stories that have been collected over the past few years these will spill out into the parks, the streets, the shops, cafes and community buildings.

About the author: Boudicca Woodland

Boudicca moved to Exeter in 2007 from London with her partner (now husband) after making a list of requirements – a theatre, a cinema, decent Sunday lunch pubs, excellent coffee shops, and access to good food. Exeter has not let her down in the slightest and in fact has encouraged her to explore lots of different food events and also locally sourced, seasonal, food more than ever before. 

Originally from an arts administration background, Boudicca now runs One Mile Bakery Exeter from her St Thomas home where she bakes bread for subscribers and hosts baking classes. 

She has two children who have given themselves the demanding role of Chief Tasters for the bakery!