From rock bottom to centre stage - theatre helps rebuild Torquay woman's life

When Lucy Martin used to drink, she couldn’t sleep. Her life was an all-too-familiar one of anxiety and isolation. However, this week, Lucy can’t sleep for another reason. She is excited because she is starring in the title role of ‘The Fabulous Helen Lenoir’ for the Unleashed Theatre Company at the Royal Lyceum Theatre on Abbey Road, Torquay.

Lucy is very typical of the sort of person whose life has been turned round by Unleashed. For most of her adult life, she has suffered from depression, which she self-medicated using alcohol. She freely admits she moved to Torbay fifteen years ago in the hope of a fresh start, which never really came. Her drinking got out of control and was at its worst around 2021-22. Like a lot of people who hit rock bottom, she tried AA and also the Smart Recovery programme, which she found more helpful. However, it was after her GP recommended she join Unleashed that things really started to turn around for her. "This is really different," she says. "I have real purpose and motivation not to drink. I know if I do, I won’t get to the weekly choir sessions or rehearsals, and it has literally changed my life."

Above: Lucy during rehearsals

Lucy has never acted before but, fourteen months ago, joined the weekly community choir. It takes place, each Tuesday night, at the theatre and regularly attracts over sixty people. From there she got involved in the drama group which meets every Thursday night, and this week she is undertaking not only her first acting role but the lead role in a show which has real local resonance.

Helen Lenoir’s story was unknown to me but is fairly incredible. An unknown actress who appeared in Gilbert and Sullivan’s first show, in London, she became the driving force behind their operettas – a female producer in a time when such things were unheard of. What is particularly wonderful about Helen’s story is the local connection. In 1897 Gilbert and Sullivan’s smash hit HMS Pinafore was being put on by over a hundred different casts across America, but they and Richard D’Oyly Carte, the producer, were not making any money from them. They had not secured the copyright and were about to suffer the same fate as the new show The Pirates of Penzance. Helen Lenoir realised that they needed to put on a production before the end of the year in the UK or avoid losing the copyright to that show too. The only cast they had available were down in Torquay, performing at the Royal Lyceum Theatre. In what must have been a frantic rehearsal week, they learnt the new script in five days. The world premiere of The Pirates of Penzance was performed on 31 December 1897, at the neighbouring Bijou Theatre, at the back of the Gerston Hotel, Paignton. The theatre sat only 50 people, but that night history was made.

It is very fitting then that this week’s show is also making its debut at the Royal Lyceum, where The Pirates of Penzance was first ever rehearsed. Helen Lenoir has also clearly provided an inspiration for Lucy, the actress playing her. "She was an absolute powerhouse and went on to be the main person behind the D’Oyly Carte empire, even eventually marrying him – although I think that might have been a business arrangement. She was also a bit of a buffer between Gilbert and Sullivan, who were very different people and often argued."

Lucy also talks very passionately about the Unleashed Theatre Company, and it is very clear what a central role it plays in her life and her recovery. "I have always loved to sing, and the choir here is incredible and gives me so much motivation. No-one really talks about why they are here, because people join for all sorts of reasons, but it provides a community and feels really safe. Everyone is so welcoming, and it has literally helped turn my life around."

Equally evangelical about the work Unleashed does is Martin Cox. An ex-paramedic and porter at Torbay Hospital, Martin has been involved with the group for around 7 years. He plays the role of WS Gilbert, but this is not his first show. "I was absolutely terrified of appearing on stage when I joined." He told me. "My anxiety was so bad I could not cope with being in large groups. If I went into a shop with more than three people, I would walk out again. But, after joining Unleashed, my first show was being onstage, in front of 1600 people at the Princess Theatre. I’ve done fifteen shows since, and it’s just been incredible."

Above: Martin Cox during rehearsals

Unleashed is welcome to all but has particularly helped the vulnerable residents in Torquay. "I know how scary it is to walk into somewhere like this," continues Martin. "At first, I was quite aggressive and didn’t want to talk to anyone, but after about four weeks, I relaxed and started to open up and realised that everyone else was really nice. It was an environment that I was not used to, but pretty soon I became completely addicted to theatre. It offers an escape from the outside world each week – which, let’s face it, can be pretty gruesome."

The show has been created by Martin Harris, himself a bit of a powerhouse, and the Helen Lenoir-like figure behind Unleashed. One of his cast described him to me as "like a Duracell battery who never runs out of charm, charisma and enthusiasm". I sat in on a rehearsal, and to watch him whizzing round the Lyceum auditorium, I can see why this description might be accurate.

He certainly has his work cut out. The show has a cast of over thirty people, many of whom have learning and other disabilities and challenges. They range in age from actors in their twenties to Jean Tolchard, who is 92. It’s a very funny script and contains plenty of local jokes and songs from the original G&S shows. Lucy described the script as ‘Gilbert and Sullivan meets Blackadder, with a peppering of Carry On. We have got saucy chorus girls, bumbling bobbies, singing cowboys, menacing mafiosi, lewd behaviour and gratuitous bad language.’

Certainly, Martin Harris cannot be said to lack ambition, and his is a very inspirational story which deserves more recognition. Unleashed Theatre Company was established in the early 2000s and has, over the years, produced many large-scale community plays and musicals. They enjoyed a decade-long residency performing outdoors every summer at Buckfast Abbey. Then in 2014 the Unleashed Community Drama group was established, initially at the Leonard Stocks Homeless Centre, Torquay. Since then, they have run workshops every week, 51 weeks of the year, on a Thursday morning. Members include those who have experienced homelessness and addictions and those who have suffered with mental health issues. In 2018, off the back of two large fundraising shows, the Unleashed Community Choir was established as a permanent fixture in their programme. The choir is free to attend and this year won an award at the Southwest and Torbay Music Festival. 

Above: Company founder and artistic director, Martin Harris

In 2022 Unleashed brought their own premises, the Royal Lyceum in Abbey Road, which, let’s face it, might have just sat abandoned for years after the Merlin Cinema Group relocated to the old BHS building. That they are repurposing such a historical building sends a positive message out across the bay, but more needs to be done.

When I visited, there were buckets set out in the theatre entrance to catch the rainwater that was cascading in. One of the volunteers told me that the whole roof needs fixing. They also desperately want to build a kitchen area to help feed the members but also provide pre-show meals and attract other groups into the theatre to use it. The cost of doing this was estimated to be at least £60,000, though, and to my eyes, there are plenty of other ways that outside investment could help such a worthwhile organisation.

Above: Outside investment would help this worthwhile organisation

Already, outside touring theatre groups are using the space for productions such as Romeo and Juliet in June. They also put on old movies on the big screen, with The Italian Job, Lethal Weapon and the original Star Wars films coming up. However, Unleashed needs more volunteers and more funding.

I strongly urge readers to go and support this group by seeing their shows. You might not get the acting standards of the West End (yet!), but you will definitely get massive enthusiasm and be helping support incredible people who want to change their lives. The rehearsal I saw was extremely funny, and I also learnt of a local theatrical milestone which was unknown to me. If you know of anyone who can fix a roof or build a kitchen for free, perhaps you can help in that way too? Let’s not have to step over buckets of water in the future.

The last word should go to the star of the show, Lucy: "It means the most to me that all my children and a dear friend will be there to watch me. They’ve never seen me act before. My daughter said, ‘I see the difference in you and believe Martin Harris does God’s work!’. They cannot believe there has been such a transformation in me. I am actually not sleeping at night because I am so excited that they will see me in it. I urge anyone else who wants to change their life to join or get involved in Unleashed."

The Real Helen Lenoir runs from 24 to 26 April, with tickets at £8. Bookings at: https://www.unleashedtheatrecompany.com/whats-on/ There is an open coffee morning every Thursday between 10am and noon.

For those who might need help with issues with alcohol addiction, visit: www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/find-a-meeting or smartrecovery.org.uk both of which have meetings across Torbay.