The National Theatre will be running fortnightly workshops at Coram, with a group of 16-25 year olds from groups supported by Coram’s Young People programmes. This includes young parents, adopted young people, care experienced young people and young people from a migrant or refugee background. The workshops will look at storytelling and public speaking as well as performance skills such as voice and movement.
Through the Public Acts programme, the National Theatre will engage with seven charities across London for two terms of workshops. These workshops will culminate in a production featuring performers from all seven charities alongside a cast of professional actors, which will be performed on the National’s Olivier stage. The production will be a new adaptation of Shakespeare’s Pericles written by Chris Bush, and directed by Emily Lim.
We had our first taster workshop for the project last month to give potential participants a taste of what the term of workshops might have in store. The term of workshops will be tailored to the group, focusing on what individuals want to explore and what they hope to get out of their time with the project. The taster session ended with a discussion of ideas and expectations and we all came away feeling inspired and excited for the months ahead, with participants sharing how they enjoyed ‘meeting new people, building confidence, … and talking about aspirations’ and were very excited for the workshops ahead because they were ‘inspirational’.
Gethin Evans, the workshop facilitator said:
The taster session with Coram was incredibly exciting. The room was full of laughter and passion as we delved into the world of performance – focusing on the importance of respecting, listening and responding to each other.
Inspired by discussions in our taster, our first term of workshops will use movement and improvisation to explore character, story and relationships. I am really looking forward to the next session, building on this foundation and embarking on this incredible journey together.
We’re looking forward to the incredible journey that lies ahead, in a project that recognises the inherent artist in everyone. Look out for further details of the production on the National’s stage next August!
The term of workshops kicks off on Tuesday 10 October, and we still have space for young people to join us. If you are interested, please sign up here. If you have any questions about the project please email nationaltheatreproject@coram.org.uk.
You can find out more about the Public Acts programme on the National Theatre website.