As you know, we made a theatre show in Exeter in 2016, and Sam was hugely important in making it work. Tiny Heroes is a show about ordinary, often-overlooked heroism: about the people who save your life, your day, or your bacon.
We gathered stories from all over Devon and turned them into a two hour show, including several songs. There were two professional performers, but we had this idea that we wanted a community choir to join them on stage, in particular for a song about volunteering. We contacted several choirs in Exeter and Sam was immediately on board: she was enthusiastic, supportive, professional and full of creative ideas about how we could make it work. She enthused the Exeter La La Choir about the idea, gave up her time to run extra rehearsals with them, and brought them along to take part in the show two nights running. Watching her with the choir was joyful: she was focussed and enthusiastic, pushing the singers to be the best they could be, pumping them full of her own energy, giving them confidence.
That moment when the choir stood up out of the audience to sing with our performers was described in our Guardian review as an “extraordinary and heart-stopping moment”, and the show itself as a heartfelt demonstration that there are everyday heroes all around us. Sam is one of them!
