THE On Our Turf big show project in Easingwold has been cancelled and there will now be a pause to consider the next step.

The Monument was to have been the second community production in the series that began in Pocklington in the spring and is planned to continue with further shows in Helmsley and Selby next year.

Pocklington and Easingwold commissioned a theatre company or artist with a national profile to spend time in their community to produce a piece of theatre to be launched in the town and then tour this new work to the other participating towns.

Pocklington set the project in motion in April, selecting Bristol company Fine Chisel to work with the community to produce Icarus, a promenade folk opera that drew on Pocklington's Flying Man legend and was presented in each of the towns.

Easingwold's On Our Turf steering group selected Leeds performance artist Selina Thompson to coordinate its show, The Monument.

As York Theatre Royal's On Our Turf producer Alexander Wright explains: "It was to be a celebration of life and everyday lives lived, drawing on the stories told by the people of Easingwold to create a 'performative journey' around a series of installations and intimate performances dealing with the experiences in life that make us who we are.

"It was a very ambitious project: to some it was exciting and challenging, to others it was baffling and unwieldy. The Monument very nearly happened but in the end, for various reasons, the show was first postponed then, sadly, finally cancelled. We would like to thank everyone who gave their time and effort to the project. We wish Selina and her producer Emma Beverley all the best for the future."

Alexander says "we have learned a lot on the On Our Turf' journey so far".

"The volunteers in the four towns did not really know what they were letting themselves in for; York Theatre Royal probably didn't either. The project was meant to be ambitious and experimental: it has achieved great things but there have also been difficulties and aspects that haven't quite worked as well as they could," he says.

"The failure of The Monument to come to fruition has prompted a pause in the On Our Turf timetable of events, allowing time for the towns to work with the York Theatre Royal to find the best way to take the project forward. "

Easingwold's steering group opted to continue with LittleFest 2014 in September as planned, as highlighted elsewhere on this page, while the other towns are postponing their LittleFests until Spring 2015.

"We hope the people of Selby, Pocklington and Helmsley will come and join in the fun in Easingwold this weekend," says Alexander.