TEIGNMOUTH thespians are hoping to make a strong showing at their annual drama festival, which started last night.

It has been switched to the Shaftesbury Theatre, Dawlish, this year because of venue problems after the demise of the Carlton Theatre, and both the Teignmouth Players and the Tykes youth section are taking part.

The senior company will be taking the name of Teignmouth far and wide. Their play, Faking Genuine, is also entered in the Exmouth Festival and Somerset County Drama Festival and, by invitation, an additional performance at Brixham Theatre on March 23.

Faking Genuine is written by established local playwright Austin Hawkins, and is the final part of his trilogy Friday’s Child. The first part won a number of awards in 2013, and was runner-up in a national competition for best original drama.

A sociological drama it is set in the flat of a young prostitute, Sharon, who unexpectedly receives a visit from the wife of a client.

The play is directed by Jef Pirie, whose play I’d like to Believe in Angels, swept the board with awards at festivals last year.

The Tykes play The Necklace, directed by Rachel Swain, is set in France in the 1880s when a family borrow an expensive necklace and have to deal with the profound consequences when it goes missing.

The Tykes are on stage at the Shaftesbury tomorrow at 2.30pm, and Faking Genuine was performed last night.