HAVING stormed their way through a weeklong schedule at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, members of Weymouth-based Patchwork Theatre Company are now setting out their stall for the next 12 months.

Plans include a tour of the south coast and return to the Scottish capital for this year’s festival – plus working overtime to prepare their latest show and raise sponsorship.

Patchwork is made up of former Weymouth College students Jenny Jackson, Stuart Earp and Rebecca Ayles. Last year they were artists in residence at the college but this year they decided to strike out on their own.

When the company, which specialises in absurdist comedy, went to Edinburgh last year they performed in a converted church called Greenside.

Jenny explained: “We went up to Edinburgh by train, which was a feat in itself. We had to change twice and were carrying everything we needed for a week plus two huge pot plants.”

But their perseverance paid off. Put A Sock in It received rave reviews.

This year, they pitched for and won a place at The Space, one of the larger venues on The Royal Mile and are preparing their latest show to take north.

Titanic Sinks Titswilly (pronounced Titeswillay) is about a famous film director who moves to a rural visit in Dorset.

“It is almost like a sequel to Put a Sock in It,” said Jenny. “It’s very funny and silly but people seem to like that. Because things are so bleak at the moment, people want to watch something that’s light and funny.”

Stuart added: “There is no big message in this show and we aren’t preaching. People seem to think that theatre ought to have ‘a message’ but why can’t people just go out and have a giggle?”

However, performing at Edinburgh doesn’t come cheap and Patchwork are now hoping that people and businesses will come forward and offer sponsorship.

Last year friends and businesses including Weymouth College, Low Cost Quality Print, Honeybuns Bakery, Town Mill bakery, Slim dance Dorchester, the Rajpoot restaurant and Joe’s Cider helped with finance.

For further details visit patchworktheatrecompany.co.uk, call 07872 443917 or look at their pages on Facebook and Twitter.