Summer 2009
David Lockwood, Fin Irwin & Deborah Bucella formed Particular Theatre Company with the aim of producing new plays in new spaces. In September, they began with Forsaken by Helen Davis which had a three week run at the Hour Glass Inn, Exeter.
Spring 2010
Particular Theatre secured a three week lease of an abandoned Chinese restaurant to produce The Distance by Craig Norman. Named the Bike Shed Theatre due to its location beneath the Bike Shed shop above, the success of this run leads to an extension of the lease until July. In this time, the company produced a further two new plays - Still by Steve Lambert and Beanfield by Shaun McCarthy (the latter of which transferred to the Tobacco Factory in Bristol following a glowing review in the Guardian) - as well as receiving several South West theatre companies. In June, the theatre hosted the first Exeter Fringe Festival, with 22 companies from across the UK performing over eleven days.
Summer 2010
After the success of the first four months, the theatre expanded to include an adjacent cellar. The original theatre space was transformed into a vintage cocktail bar, set up and managed by award-winning mixologist Chris Lacey. The new theatre space was a brick lined room with Victorian flagstones, allowing a capacity of 60 in a variety of formations.
Autumn 2010
Re-opening a theatre on the 13th proved foolhardy, and for the first three months the venue waited to be signed off by the City Council. Exeter Northcott stepped in to host A Midsummer Night's Dream, whilst the audience sat on sofas in the bar to watch productions of jazz version of The Magic Flute (with a new libretto by Elaine Ruth White) and Sam Randall's new play Serendip. The bar also welcomed visiting companies including Taunton Brewhouse, before the new theatre space finally opened (on the 14th December) with a devised production of The Little Prince.
Spring 2011
Using a grant from the Arts Council, the theatre produced a new play by Neil Bebber (Cul de Sac), Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets, Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter (which received a four star review in The Guardian) and Shaun McCarthy’s new play Circus Britannica, which transferred to Theatre 503 in London. The theatre led an expanded Exeter Fringe Festival which incorporated five other venues in the city and welcomed over eighty companies.
Autumn 2011
In November, the theatre produced Bunnies by Kieran Lynn. This production wins a prestigious Peter Brook Empty Space Award. The seasonal production of A Christmas Carol: Smoke and Mirrors, in a version by Shaun McCarthy, is the most adventurous yet, incorporating animated ghosts and a Heath Robinson-style set of pulleys and leavers.
Spring 2012
Continuing the work with new plays, the venue produces Peter Kesterton's dark and challenging Playing with Snaills. This is followed by a co-production with Viva Voce on the Exeter Blitz Project, a verbatim piece created to commemorate the destruction of Exeter city centre during the blitz of 1942. The venue also welcomes in visiting productions from Paines Plough and Chris Goode and Company, among others, and is a partner in the inaugural Ignite Festival, which incorporates the Exeter Fringe Festival.
Autumn 2012
The beginning of a new way of programming, as companies visit us for residencies of up to three weeks. This gives Exeter audiences the chance to see new work created in the city before anyone else in the world. The venue also opens the bar during the day for the first time and introduces a new menu.
Spring 2013
The theatre co-produces two new plays - Freddy Dare and the Ginger Robber and Aubade - with Cornish company cube essential theatre. The season also includes work from writers Peter Oswald, Hannah Silva, Murray Lachlan-Young and Chris Goode.