Most Theatretrain companies organise a summer school during the holidays. I want to talk about two of them this week. I could have chosen many others to discuss, but here are two different and equally interesting approaches.
In Chester, Prestatyn, Wrexham, and Mold, Steve and his team conducted four week-long sessions – one in each location. In a week, they managed to cover a musical a day, so they could choose to do a whole week or select the ones they wanted to do. Those who were there on Friday were part of the end-of-week show, which consisted of a 30-minute compilation of musical numbers from the week.
The attendees were asked to wear a fun token gesture of costume each day to match that day’s show. Wicked wore green or pink, Matilda wore school shirts (and they were given matching ties), Grease wore white, pink or black, and Les Misérables wore all black.
The daily sessions were split into two groups, where they took turns to explore the show themes through acting or concentrate on the show material for the day, then they would switch over. At the end of the day, they would be brought together to give the material a final polish.
Jess in Royston secured funding from Hertfordshire Council for the 8th time to run HAF clubs.
HAF is the ‘Happy and Fed’ government-funded campaign to support children of low-income families. This year, for the first time, they were fully booked, with a waiting list, for the 120 allocated places spanning 4 days of the summer holiday.
Over those 4 days, they provided 240 meals – a snack every day, kindly donated by Tesco and a main meal with pudding each day delivered to their door by a local restaurant. They ran inclusive sessions with children of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and SEND needs. Crafts, dancing, acting, games, props, colouring, you name it, they did it all!
Parents, especially those who work, love an activity that their children enjoy. From our point of view, we are introducing the elements of theatre. It’s different to school and for many of them – it’s different to what they may have been expecting – in a good way. Sometimes, the attendees enjoy it so much that they want to join up for the year. If it gives them a glimpse of the joy you can find in theatre, then for me it’s a great idea.
