In 2002, the village of Tideswell, Derbyshire was introduced to New Perspectives through Thank God for Cod, a touring production where cod goujons were cooked live on stage.

Gerard Rogers, promoter for Tideswell Theatre and board member at New Perspectives, remembers it well. “We’d recently joined Live and Local. We did the usual thing of choosing from the menu and our second Live and Local show was Thank God for Cod which was absolutely amazing. It blew us all away,” he recalls.

Since 2002, Tideswell Theatre have had New Perspectives shows visit the village at various venues, including Larkrise to Candleford which was performed in the medieval parish church also known as The Cathedral of the Peak.

Gerard has not only seen all 27 New Perspectives productions that have toured to Tideswell, but has also travelled to see many other shows, with some of his favourites being Faith Healer, The Fishermen, We Need New Names, Wasteland and Farm Boy.

“Farm Boy was amazing,” Gerard comments. “I saw that several times in various venues and I really liked the accessibility of it and the story. And the tractor, of course! Mandy who was technical manager for the tour was very keen to show the audience and particularly the children how the tractor was assembled.

“Wasteland was also great because of the violence within that and the passions. And, also, Karl Haynes who starred in it actually grew up in the next village to us, in Litton, and his interest in theatre started after seeing local plays in Tideswell so that feels like we played some sort of part in his career.”

Having brought many shows to the village, New Perspectives has a strong reputation in Tideswell. “You know that a New Perspectives show coming to the village is going to be a good show and that people will go for the name,” Gerard says. “We do have regulars drawn from the village and wider. We have a really great following for New Perspectives shows.

“We even took a group up to Wakefield to see The Hired Man after having it here because people really wanted to see it again.

“A Christmas Carol, the one man show, was performed in a really small venue in the village. We were short of places to perform and we were expecting a small audience, but people turned up in droves and we really packed them in. The special effects, the magic elements of that show – liquids changing colour and strange uncanny things happening on stage – were great and really talked about in the village.”

Gerard also remembers a time when, at the same venue, there was a bit of hassle with the get-in before the show: “New Perspectives had this big blue van. They were performing How Steeple Sinderby Wanderers Won the FA Cup in the tiny venue behind the church and to get to it you had to go down these very narrow medieval streets. There was a right angle in the street and Jeremy Rowe [former Stage Manager at New Perspectives] was determined to get this enormous van round this right angle - seemingly impossible. Eventually, Jeremy realised if he reversed in then he could actually make that sharp bend and he did! Every year, Jeremy and I commemorate that day!”

After experiencing a few of New Perspectives productions, Gerard wanted to deepen his relationship with New Perspectives and applied to be a member of our board after seeing an advert in the programme for Not Now, Bernard in 2006.

“It’s so exciting,” Gerard, who is still a part of the New Perspectives board 18 years later, comments. “It’s nice to feel you’re somehow involved in the productions and seeing the journey of each show.”

On the board, Gerard is a big advocate for rural touring and what it means to people. “I’d been involved with the local theatre group, Tideswell Community players, which has been going since 1930, since the mid 1980s. But, in 2000 or 2001, I was married and we were expecting children and suddenly I looked at theatre in a different way. We used to go off to Sheffield and Manchester at the drop of a hat to see a play and suddenly those things weren’t so accessible anymore. It gets you thinking about all the people who can’t get out of the village but want to see something or experience something new. Bringing touring shows here helps that.”

For Tideswell Theatre, Gerard programmes dance, comedy and music as well as theatre, through Live and Local and also contracting direct with performers, to give people an opportunity to see things they wouldn’t normally see. “It adds to the life of the village. We’ve got a thriving cinema club as well - a spin off from our Tideswell Theatre enterprise. Being involved in organising all of that, although it is hard work for those involved, is really rewarding!”

Rural touring also gives people who wouldn’t normally engage in theatre an opportunity to experience it. He recalls New Perspectives production The Allotment which was about people from diverse backgrounds working on an allotment: “We have two allotments in the village and we asked people to come along as if they’d come straight from the allotment or their gardens, dressed in wellies and overalls, and to bring vegetables to auction after the show. It was great way of getting people involved and really helped build on the atmosphere of the show.”

22 years on from Thank God for Cod, Tideswell Theatre are still part of Live and Local, still programming exciting events for the community and still enjoying New Perspectives productions. “We’re trying to bring new and challenging work to the village,” Gerard says. “And the credit for much of that is down to New Perspectives, I think.”