The Croc is ticking and Pan is on his way

Aspiring young thespians from Staffordshire will be heading to Neverland this summer with a sprinkling of fairy dust. 

May saw over 120 young people take part in an audition workshop day for just 80 places for the Stafford Gatehouse Summer School, which started on Monday 23 July 2012.

The group are working alongside professionals including director Elizabeth Rose; associate director Richard Poynton; musical director Michael Cotton; and choreographer, Verity Bray to produce a full-scale show, which will be performed at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre on the main stage.

In addition to rehearsing the show, the lucky youngsters are also taking part in workshops covering all they need to know about the theatrical world. 

This year’s Summer School will see the children work towards a production of the children’s classic Peter Pan, which will be performed from Wednesday 8 – Saturday 11 August 2012.  

Join Wendy, John and Michael Darling as they are whisked away by Peter Pan to the exciting and magical world of Neverland. 

Filled with Pirates, Mermaids and fairies, Neverland is the place where children need never grow up.  But as the Darling children begin to enjoy their new home, disaster strikes as Captain Hook comes out to play.  Will Peter and Tinkerbell be able to save Wendy and her brothers from the clutches of Hook and free Neverland of the evil villain?

This family friendly show will provide a magical and enchanting afternoon or evening treat for children during their summer holidays and offers a unique opportunity for children to see other children performing.

Tickets cost £9.50 or £8.50 for concessions for the 7.30pm shows and £8.00 and £7.00 for concessions for the 2.30pm matinees on (no matinee on Friday 10^th August).

Tickets for Peter Pan are available from Stafford Gatehouse Theatre Box Office on 01785 254 653 or online by clicking here

interACT Community Dance Project

A group of 15 young adults aged between 16 and 30 from the Stafford area have been working hard over the last 12 weeks as part of the interACT Community Drama Project and created a performance called ‘They can work it out’, which will be presented at the Gatehouse theatre’s MET Studio on Tuesday 17 July.  This performance is being specially presented to the performer's friends and family.

During weekly sessions, the participants have chosen areas that are important in their lives and used drama, improvisation and writing to create a story about young people getting into work, with a hint of ‘Romeo and Juliet’. 

The project has been led by Drama facilitator Frank Conlan, supported by 7 volunteers and has been run in partnership with Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Staffordshire County Council and many other organisations in the town. 

Project Leader Frank Conlan is a drama practitioner, former Community Outreach Worker in Stafford, and has more than 10 years experience of working with people with learning disabilities, mental health issues as well as the homeless and unemployed.

Frank explained “At the start of 2012, I undertook research into the availability of community drama activities for vulnerable groups in the Stafford area, by running some drama workshops with potential participants and by interviewing key staff in statutory and voluntary organisations, which work with vulnerable groups.” 

Frank continued “The research identified that there is a great deal of interest and support for this type of work, and Derrick Gask, Artistic Programme Manager at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, was particularly keen to support this initiative in order to further develop the theatre’s link with the local community. As a result, it was agreed to run a pilot project in partnership with Stafford Gatehouse Theatre.”

Following the results 15 participants were recruited to the project, mainly young adults with learning disabilities, who attend Walton Hall Youth Club, organised by Staffordshire Young People’s Service, in addition to other unemployed young adults.

Sessions have been held every Monday morning over the past 12 weeks at Stafford Gatehouse Theatre and the group members have taken part in a programme of drama workshops involving icebreakers, games, discussions, activities, role plays, improvisation and mime.

The sessions focus on having fun whilst working hard and the participants have worked together to create the content of the final performance.