A DARTMOOR theatre group has celebrated 20 years of producing original theatre with the official opening of its new headquarters in Moretonhampstead on Tuesday.

MED Theatre?s new high street headquarters will be used for rehearsals, workshops and office space? not to mention a much-needed store for the hundreds of costumes specially designed over the years!

To mark the opening pupils from Moretonhampstead Primary School performed a short extract from a play called ?The Vikings at Tavistock? which students have written in conjunction with MED Theatre.

The refurbishment of the new headquarters has been funded by the South West Regional Development Agency and Ugbrooke Environmental Limited, along with the skills of local interior designer, Rachel Kingsley-Garner and Paignton builder Richard Skitch.

Mark Beeson from MED Theatre, which is renowned for producing and performing original plays with community casts and a Dartmoor setting, said: ?We?ve been established since 1984 but we?ve never had our own premises. Before now it was perfectly normal for us to rehearse our plays in village and school halls or even out on the moors. All of our administration was normally done from my house and as we employ three people and have a host of community volunteers, this got a bit fraught!

?So it?s great finally to get our much needed new base which will also allow us to house more arts activities including the use of digital technology to enhance the mixed media element of our performances. It?s an ideal space to run our programme of workshops from, as well as small-scale rehearsals, so it will make a huge difference to the way we operate.?