First workshop on Thursday October 29th! A new theatre-making project giving young people in rural Suffolk a platform to tell their stories.
Young people in the Stowmarket area are being given the chance to help create a new play focusing on the realities of growing-up in rural Suffolk.
Theatre Producer Karen Goddard (pictured above), writer Martha Loader and director Scott Hurran have teamed-up with ‘The Together Project’ at The Mix in Stowmarket to offer 15 – 24-year-olds the opportunity to take part in the new drama project, entitled ‘Stow and Tell’.
Thanks to recent funding from Arts Council England, ‘Stow and Tell’ will invite young people to take part in a series of free weekly face-to-face theatre-making workshops at The Mix during October, November and December.
Participants will get (socially-distanced!) experience of every aspect of theatre production from writing, researching, developing and marketing and finally staging a pilot performance of a new play.
The project will provide participants with a fun and fascinating ‘behind-the-scenes’ experience of producing a new piece of theatre. It will also offer young people the chance to learn some important transferable work skills that will help their chances of future employment.
‘Together Project’ Youth Worker Chloe Davis said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for young people to have a platform to voice what really matters to them. It is also an amazing chance for young people to gain important life skills, as well as an insight into theatre production and the vast and varied employment opportunities within the arts industry.”
‘Stow and Tell’ will also provide employment for a group of professional freelance creative practitioners.
Producer Karen Goddard said: “Freelance actors, writers and theatre directors are having a really hard time at the moment. So, I’m pleased that the grant I’ve been awarded is enabling me to offer not only a great creative learning experience for a group of young people, but also the chance for Ipswich-based playwright Martha Loader (pictured below) to develop a new script and for director Scott Hurran and a fantastic group of actors to bring her ideas to life. All this has only been possible thanks to public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, so I am hugely grateful for that!”
Hedley Swain, Area Director, South East, Arts Council England, said: “We’re really pleased to support ‘Stow and Tell’ thanks to National Lottery funding. It is really important that young people have the opportunity to develop and share their creative voices, but especially those who are vulnerable and might not otherwise have that chance. And that is exactly what this project is all about.”
The ‘Stow and Tell’ project is supported by The Mix and Suffolk County Council, in partnership with the John Peel Centre for the Creative Arts, Eastern Angles, Bury Theatre Royal, and The Garage in Norwich.
The Covid-secure workshops will be held at The Mix Centre in Stowmarket every Thursday from 5 – 7pm from October 29th onwards. The sessions will be limited to 15 people per group with participants wearing facemasks and observing social distancing rules. For more information on how to sign-up for the weekly workshops contact: Together@themixstowmarket.co.uk or ring Karen on 07789 933558
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Notes to Editors
- Karen Goddard is Freelance Theatre Producer based in Charsfield, Suffolk. www.karengoddard.net
- Martha Loader is an Ipswich-based playwright. Her plays have been performed at the Ink Festival and as part of the Ipswich ‘Women’s Voices Women’s Votes’ Festival. She is also co-founder of Tusk Theatre Company.
- Scott Hurran is Artistic Director of Ecclesia Theatre Company. His most recent directorial work is ‘Paper Cut’ by Andrew Rosendorf, produced in association with Theatre 503. He has worked with the Mercury Theatre, Eastern Angles and Action Transport Theatre.
- The Mix is a Youth charity in Stowmarket which exists to empower and enable young people.
- Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. We have set out our strategic vision in Let’s Create that by 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish and where everyone of us has access to a remarkable range of high quality cultural experiences. We invest public money from Government and The National Lottery to help support the sector and to deliver this vision. www.artscouncil.org.uk
- For Press Enquiries and interviews contact: Karen Goddard, karenlgoddard@outlook.com 07789 933558
Karen Goddard 