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Young playwrights and performers from across Dartmoor are staging a series of short plays at the 2007 Dartfest in November.

Around nine plays are being developed and rehearsed ahead of the festival in Moretonhampstead on 23-24 November.

The festival is organised by Dartmoor-based community theatre company, MED Theatre - a registered charity.

The young people are aged 11-18

Some of the playwrights have been members of MED's young company for a number of years, but others came forward after an appeal for budding writers to take part.

They come from towns and villages across Dartmoor, including Okehampton, Ashburton, Chagford, Ilsington and Moretonhampstead.

The writers - aged 11-18 - are being helped with their scripts by the MED Theatre.

Artistic director Mark Beeson said: "The pieces are very interesting and impressive.

"There will be around eight or nine plays, and they are a real mixture of things. Most of the stories have got something about Dartmoor in them.

"The majority of the young people came to us with an idea, and that idea has been developed and helped along the way by mentoring."

Some 20 young people are involved in the festival, either as writers or performers, or as helpers.

The longest play is 45 minutes, but most are around 20 minutes.

Each play will get one showing at the festival, which has three sessions - on Friday 23 November (7pm), and Saturday 24 November (2pm and 7pm).

The event takes place at the Parish Hall in Moretonhampstead. For more information, visit MED Theatre's website which is linked from this page.