CREATIVE LEARNING NEWSLETTER 2019

7 Jan 2019 News

Happy New Year from the New Wolsey Theatre!

Our Creative Learning Team are excited to get cracking with 2019… there are loads of opportunities for students and teachers to take part in workshops and visit the theatre. Read on to find out more!

 

CREATIVE LEARNING LOUNGE

For our first Creative Learning Lounge of 2019, we will be taking you on a backstage tour to uncover what happens behind the scenes. Intended to demonstrate a tour that your students would receive, we will take you from stage door to fly floor and everywhere in between! Our backstage tours are a fantastic way for students to understand the many career pathways available in theatre, and can be extended to an Industry Day where they can meet members of staff.

There’ll also be the usual opportunity to have a drink, a bite to eat and chat to our team about opportunities for schools in the Spring and Summer Terms, including Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain, Set Design Masterclasses alongside our production of Grandma Saves the Day: A Musical about the Giles Family, as well as this year’s Youth Perform! Festival.

You’ll also get to see this year’s fantastic rock n’roll panto Cinderella that evening…all for free!

Our Lounges give you the chance to chat to our team, share creative practice and ideas, build relationships and see a production…all for free!

Here’s what people thought so far…

“A great CPD for Drama!”

“A really inspirational evening”

“Incredibly interesting with a lovely atmosphere”

“The wealth of opportunities sounds wonderful for our pupils”

“Excellent resources…love it!”

“Very relevant and understanding to the needs of teachers”

“Good delivery, clearly explained”

Come and join us on Thursday 24th January 2019 at the New Wolsey Theatre from 5pm for a 5.15pm backstage tour, as well as drinks, eats and chats!

The performance of Cinderella is at 7.30pm and will finish approx. 10pm

Places are free but limited, and will be allocated on a first come first served basis. To book your place, email sthomas@wolseytheatre.co.uk or call 01473 295930

 

SET DESIGNER FOR A DAY

Bring your class to the New Wolsey Theatre to experience what it takes to be a Set and Costume Designer. Based around our production of Grandma Saves the Day! A Musical about the Giles Family, students will receive a backstage tour followed by a practical workshop with Set and Costume Designer Cleo Pettitt.

Working with Cleo Pettitt, Set and Costume Designer for Grandma Saves the Day! A Musical about the Giles Family, your class will have a full backstage tour to understand how the theatre works and look at the set of the production. They will then take part in a practical workshop to find out how a set design is created, and make their own 3D designs based on a cartoon, book, film or even video game of their choice!

Cleo Pettitt is a set and costume designer for the theatre. She left Birmingham with a B.A. and M.A. in Scenography and has never stopped since. Her work has taken her all over the world and includes designing musicals in Bermuda and Dubai, operas in Alaska, plays in Canada, many pantos in Britain and all sorts of other shows in between.

Wednesday 1st May 2019

  • £120 plus VAT
  • A class sized group
  • KS2-5
  • Backstage tour plus 1.5 hour workshop

 

BASED ON A TRUE STORY: PART 2

Would you like to be involved in the creation of our next primary schools touring production, which will introduce your students to the social model of disability 

This Spring we are touring Based on a True Story: Part One to primary schools across Suffolk. This production is for years 3&4 and is all about difference and fitting in, helping you to creatively explore the SMSC requirements. It is part of a three year cycle of work designed to introduce primary school students in years 3 – 6 to the themes of difference and diversity, and the social model of disability.

In 2019 we will be undertaking some research and development for Based on a True Story: Part 2, which will introduce students to the concept of the social model of disability.

Our Cinderella would have gone to the ball if only there weren’t so many steps, the 3 Blind Mice can do much more than chase farmer’s wives, and our Beast really isn’t that beastly if you get to know him!

What if all the fairy stories you knew were true? Where once upon a time in a land not so far away real people’s lives could have been transformed with just a change in how we think.

This is an adventure through some big ideas about disability and changing all our worlds for the better…

Get in touch with us if you would like to be part of the research and development phase for part two!

 

PULSE FESTIVAL 2019

Are you looking to find contemporary theatre for your BTEC, G.C.S.E. Drama or A Level Theatre Studies students? Come and see some of our Pulse shows!

Our annual Pulse Festival runs from 30th May – 8th June 2019 and is a ten day festival of contemporary theatre. There’s the chance to see new and existing work from all over the country throughout the festival, made by some of the most exciting theatre makers around.

Our Pulse Presents programme is an extension of the Pulse Festival, which offers a bright and inspiring snapshot of contemporary theatre with one off performances throughout the Spring Season.

Check out our Pulse and Pulse presents shows here 

 

Short Course for Spring 2019: Young technicians

We run free short courses for 16-25 year olds, to develop young people’s skills in theatre. The first course is Young Technicians which starts on Thursday 24th January and runs for 7 weeks.

You don’t need any previous experience, just come along to learn about sound, lighting, set design, prop making and stage management and technical theatre roles.
Weekly sessions: Thursdays 6.30pm-8.30pm
DATES 24, 31 Jan/ 7, 14, 28 Feb/ 7, 14 March 2019
Ages 16-25
Cost: Places are free but limited

To take part, just register your interest by emailing Rachel rfitzgerald@wolseytheatre.co.uk

 

SHOWS FOR YOUR CLASSES

PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Ages 5+ can enjoy all the best bits of the past with all the gory bits left in, in Horrible Histories: Barmy Britain!

SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES

This Spring our acclaimed Young Company present The 39 Steps.

GCSE and A Level Students may enjoy London Classic Theatre’s production of Charlotte Keatley’s My Mother Said I Never Should and Eclipse Theatre’s Princess & The Hustler.