August is Summer Youth Project time for Trafalgar Theatres and will bring lots to celebrate across the venues. There will be new projects taking to the stage and old ones marking big milestones.

Crewe Lyceum are beginning their journey with a mini SYP of Oliver! JR, G Live’s production of Bugsy Malone will be their first on the main stage and Wycombe Swan’s production of Oliver! will see their first project back in the venue since 2019!

Wyvern Theatre & White Rock Theatre are following the yellow brick road with their productions of The Wizard of Oz and Hastings celebrates 20 years of SYP in 2023!

The Beck is in its 37th year with their production of The Little Mermaid, and Southend & Dartford go head to head sticking it to the man with their productions of School of Rock!

The aim of the Summer Youth Project has always been to provide local young people the opportunity to work in our venues with professional teams, providing them with a crucial artistic outlet during the summer holidays as well the opportunity to build confidence, learn new skills and have lots of fun.

Summer Youth Projects are self-funded and non-profit making. The ethos has always been to provide the best possible experience and training at the lowest possible cost to the young people involved. Many participants move on to successful careers in the creative industries and often receive bursaries funded by the venues and their local supporters.

Super stats since SYP began in our venues!
Number of projects across the Group – 135
Number of performances during these projects – 673
Number of participants – 17,680

Please do come along and support these wonderful young people and their productions. For further information, please contact Jo Stead-Burgess, Group Head of Creative Learning.

In other Creative Learning news…

Last week, The Beck Community Choir (pictured below) took to the stage for their latest show titled Music from the Movies. Compered by The Beck’s panto star Joe Pollard, we were transported through the soundtracks of films we all know and love including Shrek, Moana, James Bond, Blues Brothers and A Star Is Born. Audiences were even treated to a performance of Phantom of the Opera from trained opera singers Francis St John (Choir Leader) and singer Fenella Watkins Hale. There was also a Summer Youth Project teaser from the talented Alannah Dolphin, who will be playing Ursula in the SYP production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

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Meanwhile, the Churchill Theatre Creative Learning Department working in partnership with the Culture and Regeneration teams at Bromley Council, delivered a bespoke workshop in June as part of the Youth Arts Programme funded through LBB Regeneration Dept.

The special ‘Once Upon a Time’ workshop was designed to offer a fully sensory creative experience to students with a range of learning and cognitive needs and tied in with the school’s curriculum. It was led by specialist arts practitioner Suzie Lowe, who devised StoryMakers sessions that we run at the theatre on a weekly basis during term times.

The learning objectives for the session were:

• To introduce the theme of stories using a range of sensory methods for the group to experience through sight, touch and sound.
• To bring characters from fairytales ‘to life’ and exploring their stories through role play. The children were encouraged to take an active part in the narrative by undergoing a ‘quest’ to find the golden egg.
• The workshop would be underpinned with music and sensory props and lights to encourage the group to explore their responses to stories.

The children loved getting on their ‘horses’ to ride to the next part of the story and meeting all the different characters. The Three Little Pigs were a big favourite, as well as playing the musical instruments and working with the different finger puppets and pom poms. Other favourite moments were singing and dancing at the Princesses’ party and playing in the bubbles!