Outreach News - January 2016
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, 2015 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 Rural Primary schools’ project, Beneath the Lines – a new play about the individuals who built our rail network, performed by over 100 primary school children in June.
•Oliver! – 33 local young people, including Youth Theatre members, performed in our summer musical alongside twelve professional actors.
•Our youth theatre main house productions: The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, performed by the Senior Youth Theatre, and Gormenghast by the Young Company.
•Macbeth – our production specially created for a young audience - 29 performances in local schools and a week at The Watermill.
•
Relaxed Performance – The Watermill’s first Relaxed Performance of A
lice in Wonderland in November was a great success! We are looking forward to holding our next one during our 2016 Christmas show,
Sleeping Beauty on Saturday 26 November 2.30pm. Find out more about the Relaxed Performance
here.
•The Selfish Giant – our interactive performance piece for young children, created by Lizzie Lewis, performed in libraries and primary schools.
•10 Young Carers from West Berkshire successfully completed their Bronze Arts award.
•In October, 18 local ladies appeared in our main house production of The Ladykillers.
2016 is already looking to be an exciting year. With our new Community Associate, Lixi Chivas, in post there are lots of new projects in the pipeline. Lixi’s position, which is generously funded by Greenham Common Trust, aims to support vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, enabling them to watch and make theatre at The Watermill. To see what Lixi’s working on, read her blog
here.
We’ve started rehearsals for our Senior Youth Theatre production of The Railway Children, adapted by Beth Flintoff from the classic children’s book by Edith Nesbit. We’re looking forward to facing the challenge of how to create a train on stage!
In the Spring our regular workshop leader, actress Lizzie Lewis, will be creating a new production for small children, an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale The Ugly Duckling. Funded by West Berkshire Council, performances will take place in Libraries and will be suitable for children aged 2 – 6yrs.
Our weekly programme and one-off workshops continue to expand and we have some exciting ideas up our sleeve, so watch this space for further news…!