Outreach News - January 2015

The Watermill Outreach Department works with over 13,500 people in the community every year, leading workshops, courses, community and school projects, and a thriving youth theatre.

Looking back, 2014 was a busy and memorable year for the Outreach Team; with so many wonderful people taking part in the life of the theatre. Here are some of our highlights:

• The Excel Project: 100 Years Ago – a series of six short plays reflecting on the theme of war, written by students from Trinity School, performed by over 80 primary school children in May.
• The Bard Unbound – our community Shakespeare night at The Watermill, with 145 performers aged 5 – 85yrs all acting in favourite Shakespeare scenes.
• Hardboiled – our rural tour, created by Rhum and Clay and Beth Flintoff, which toured village halls in the summer.
• Our youth theatre main house productions: Life Lessons, performed by the Senior Youth Theatre, and Twelfth Night by the Young Company.
• Hamlet – our production specially created for a young audience - 22 performances in local schools and a week at The Watermill
• My Untidy Life - a play about young people with caring duties at home, performed by the young carers themselves and based on their real experiences. The play was performed in Theale Library and at primary schools in West Berkshire. You can see a video of them talking about their experiences here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doQtdNfh5dk
• The Curse of the Kennet and Avon Kelpie – our interactive performance piece for young children, created by Emma Bradbury, performed in libraries and primary schools.

In 2015 we will be kicking off the New Year with rehearsals for our Senior Youth Theatre production of The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, adapted by Russ Tunney from the classic children’s book by Joan Aiken. In the early days we will be investigating how to portray a steam train attacked by wolves, secret passages, and how to do an entire scene on ice skates!

In the Spring our regular workshop leader, actress Lizzie Lewis, will be creating a new production for small children, an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s fairytale The Selfish Giant. Funded by West Berkshire Council, performances will take place in Libraries and will be suitable for children aged 2 – 6yrs. We will be announcing the dates soon.

Meanwhile we are busy working with disadvantaged and vulnerable young people in our community. Young men from Children 1st West Berkshire have been visiting The Watermill for workshops on communication and social skills, while we are working with Artitec delivering drama-based workshops at Waterside Youth Centre with a wonderful group of young women. Towards the end of 2014 we delivered a series of communication skills workshops to young people across the county and we hope very much to continue delivering this work.