BROMLEY

We were thrilled to present our home performance of Replica by Titas Halder as part of National Theatre Connections in the Studio in front of a sell-out audience. Our Young Company of actors aged 16+ had been rehearsing since January and were involved in all aspects of production including lighting and sound design, original music, set making, costumes and props, alongside their acting talents! The play was well received, and the company were delighted to have a post-show debrief with Helen Enwright, Lorna Strawson and Jo Stead-Burgess where they had the opportunity to tell their guests about the process of making their play from scratch! The Company are now looking forward to visiting The Tramshed this week as their partner theatre. 

GUILDFORD

Pond Meadow School Visit 
Last month, Creative Learning facilitated a school tour, activity, and lunch for local special needs school Pond Meadow. We welcomed two classes consisting of 16 students and nine staff members. As well as a behind the scenes tour where students had a chance to be on the main stage and sit in our Technical Manager’s ‘top seats’ in the auditorium, Creative Learning set-up and facilitated an arts activity which consisted of mosaics, card making and wellbeing colouring. The children had been making Easter cards at school so loved developing this activity further with the use of mosaics.

Now, Meet Our Summer Youth Project Team for 2024! 
Introducing and welcoming to the G Live Stage… 

Lisa Millar 
Lisa is excited to bring the beloved story of Peter Pan to life on stage. Having the opportunity to witness the growth and transformation of young performers as they take on these iconic characters is a privilege that fuels her passion for storytelling and for inspiring the next generation of theatre makers. It is a chance to ignite the imaginations of both the performers and the audience, transporting them to the magical world of Neverland.

Hannah Batley 
Hannah is thrilled to be working on this year’s production of Peter Pan at G-Live and is looking forward to collaborating with the creative team and nurturing the talent of all the young people participating. Hannah’s passion for movement and inspiring young people through dance has spanned decades and founding Zambesi Dance Company in 2010 where she raised thousands of pounds for charity, was a career highlight.  

Daniel Looseley 
Daniel is excited about sharing his love for the gorgeous music in the show with the cast and bringing it to life with a live orchestra and hopes it will be something really special! 

CREWE

Crewe Summer Youth Project: Taster Workshop 
In late March, we held a taster workshop at the Crewe Lyceum Theatre, where we warmly welcomed 70 young people eager to learn more about our Summer Youth Project, Bugsy Malone. Throughout the workshop, attendees had the opportunity to meet our creative team, participate in learning part of a song and dance routine, and immerse themselves in a drama workshop focused on character exploration and audition strategies. The session wrapped up with an engaging Q&A session, addressing any concerns they had regarding auditions and the project. This served to alleviate any audition-related anxieties among the young people, supporting them to feel comfortable in our theatre. As we edge closer to the auditions at the end of April, excitement is building throughout Crewe! 

SOUTHEND

Technical Youth Company – Puppet Masterclass 
During the Spring Term of our Technical Youth Company, we were joined by a local practitioner to lead a Masterclass on all thing’s puppetry at the Cliffs Pavilion. This session taught our young people about the key elements of theatrical puppeteering, the different types of puppets we see on the Southend Theatres’ stages and gave them all the opportunity to operate the puppets themselves and put their new knowledge into practice!   

Open Doors Project with Southend City Council  
On 20 March, Southend Theatres partnered with Southend City Council to launch the Open Doors Project. We welcomed 15 Performing Arts students from the Southchurch School for a one day Work Experience placement at the Cliffs Pavilion. The students were taken on a backstage tour with our Buildings and Technical Manager, talked through all things Hospitality and Events with our Hospitality Manager, and completed some tasks on Venue Programming and Marketing with our Programming Co-ordinator and Venue Marketing Executive. We are working with Southend City Council to continue this programme with more local schools and colleges in the future!  

WYCOMBE

During the Easter holidays, Wycombe Swan’s Creative Learning and Technical departments collaborated with The Mousetrap company to deliver a 3-day Technical Theatre Masterclass to 14 local young people. The week was themed around mystery and suspense (we’ve had a lot of spooky plays in Wycombe recently!) and delivered by our fab in-house techies to give the participants a taster of what it means to be a theatre technician and work backstage. 

Day One – The group covered the basics of lighting units and effects that can be used to create suspense including lots of work on Q Lab and rigging 12 profile side lights. 

Day Two – The group covered sound and more LX with gels/gobos, putting the battens out, cabling up the booms, starting on their Q Lab files and patching. 

Day Three – An exciting opportunity for the group! First, they met The Mousetrap’s CSM, DSM and Tech ASM. They were then given the opportunity to do a full understudy run of the show with backstage cues, operate sound and lights, and sit with the DSM. And they loved using the snow machine! 

A huge thank you to CSM: Lauren Barclay, Resident Director: Steven Elliott, DSM: Matthew Pain, TASM/Sound: Nathan Marney, and the rest of The Mousetrap tour team for giving our young people this amazing experience!