Hello! Welcome to our monthly blog were we update you with all things exciting going on behind the curtains. It’s been yet another great month here in the theatre, with many thing happening. New shows starting rehearsals, life changing experiences for youth theatre members and more. Let’s get caught up.
Youth Theatre Residential:
This month we took a group of our youth theatre members on a 3 night residential trip to Barnstondale centre for a peer mentoring/ personal development programme. We take our young people on this residential as we believe that it is a fantastic and worthwhile opportunity that’s helps them build confidence as well as raising self-esteem and enabling the young people to identify their own personal skills.
During the residential we explore many topics including communication, choices and consequences, body image/ self-esteem, quality and diversity, domestic abuse and trust. We explore these topics through activities, tasks and discussions, working in small groups as well as working together in a large group. We also include some outdoor exercises such as a nightline activity we do with them that helps them build trust with not just the tutors but each other.
The young people seemed to enjoy themselves a lot during these few days away and came back having learned life skills they can carry on and also having learned things about themselves that they may not have realised before.
Terriers Is Back:
The incredible show Terriers in back and has started touring around schools again! This month we started rehearsals for Maurice Bessman’s Terriers, which has been going for almost 13 years. We have bought it back with a brand new cast and they are working on it with Director Zain Salim. Our fantastic cast members this year are AJ Jones, Shannon McFadden, Emily Slade, Michael Irvine-Hall, Tom Highton and Callum Connor.
The play throws up the moral dilemmas and life changing decisions that some young boys and girls have to make. The show was originally commissioned by Merseyside Police in 2008 using partnership funding, and to date over 120,000 young people from secondary and primary schools across Merseyside and the U.K. have seen the play and studied the primary and secondary educational packages.
We’ve seen a great response from the students that have seen it so far and we continue to tour the show and spread the awareness of gun and gang crime.
The Scouse Jack and The Beanstalk:
Rehearsals for your favourite time of the year have officially started. This month we have started rehearsals for this year’s Christmas panto, The Scouse Jack and The Beanstalk! The cast and crew behind the magic and madness of the Christmas shows are back again and ready for the best time of the year. From last year’s show we welcome back Michael Fletcher, Lindzi Germain, Andrew Schofield, Hayley Sheen, Keddy Sutton and Liam Tobin. Also joining them will be the great Jake Abraham who recently graced our stage this summer in YNWA! Our amazing band are also back with us and we have Howard Gray, Greg Joy, Ben Gladwin and Mike Woodvine and they are joined by singers Emma Grace Arends and Emma Bispham.
We are all very excited to get the show on the road and see what magic the cast and the incredible behind the curtain crew can bring to the stage this year! We hope to see you all there.
Join us again next month for another catch up on the magic behind the curtains of The Royal Court Theatre.