Sidmouth Sea Fest to feature audio installation of Stephen Reynolds radio play

A play about Sidmouth’s Stephen Reynolds, an early pioneer of safer sea fishing conditions, has been recorded as a radio drama.

Fish out of Water was first performed on The Ham at last year's Sea Fest, and will be launched as an audio installation at this year's event on Saturday, May 16.

Writer and co-director Pippa Marriott said: "We wanted the play to be captured for posterity.

"Stephen Reynolds was an important figure and lived at a time when his sexuality was not accepted.

"He was a trailblazer for fisheries, and died too young from the Spanish flu in 1919.

"We think his contribution and life should be preserved."

The play, featuring hymns, sea shanties and ballads, was recorded at The Sound Studio at Exeter Phoenix, thanks to funding from the Sid Vale Association.

Louise Cole, director of Sea Fest organisers the Sidmouth Coastal Community Hub, said: "We will be broadcasting the play to take it to new audiences, using the radio recording in different ways to share Sidmouth's hidden history."