TV and theatre stalwart Jeremy Swan came to Sidmouth’s Manor Pavilion for the opening night of his first play Sudden Deaths.

Jeremy watched the performance with an entourage of VIPs from the TV and theatre worlds in London and Ireland and gave a reception in the theatre bar afterwards.

Jeremy started in the theatre as a child actor in the Dublin Gate Theatre.

He has been an assitant director for the Irish Film Industry and worked on Coronation Street and children’s programmes including Jackanory and Rentaghost. He directed the Blue Peter pantomimes, wrote and produced the series Julia Jekyll and Harriet Hyde and directed Sooty and Fraggle Rock. In Australia he worked on Round the Twist and directed The Genie from Down Under.

His work as an exhibition artist inspired him to write Sudden Deaths and he is grateful to Charles and Imogen Vance for including its performance premiere as the final show of the Manor’s 24th Summer Play Festival.

Among the audience on the Friday night was actress Hannah Gordon, on a break from filming TV series Hustle.

Company manager for the season Tricia Barclay, said: “This was quite a different production to the previous 12 plays of the festival season and very exciting to work on. The cast and crew pulled out all the stops to make it work.

“Each scene change involved the display of the different works of artists of differing genres and even included a large bronze sculpture of an oak tree.”