Thirty young theatre makers from Cheshire have enjoyed tremendous success in creating and performing a new musical in just five days.
City company Theatre in the Quarter staged another of its renowned summer schools at St Mary’s Creative Space in Chester following the success of productions last year.
Co-director Millie Stevenson said: “Last year the younger children staged their own version of Pied Piper which went down a storm and so we chose the children’s book It Was A Dark And Stormy Night as inspiration for this year’s production.
“Reading the story on the first morning was the springboard for a week of amazing creativity.”
The original production was performed to a full house on the fifth day, but as a new innovation the company was delighted to enable hundreds more people to enjoy the original work through live streaming via social media that peaked to more than 700 views.
Jessyca Baker, marketing leader for the project, said: “Theatre in the Quarter is a key pillar of Cheshire’s youth creative culture and, as we are all aware, social media is now becoming more important than ever.
“To keep in with this change we decided to utilise Theatre in the Quarter’s social engagements by hosting the play on a live stream. It was brilliant as we had people as far as Durham and Edinburgh watching their friends and family perform in Chester.
“We asked ourselves, do we want to keep the show to just the people we can fit into our venue or are we willing to take that plunge and just see how many more people can be inspired by our performance?”
Located at St Mary’s Creative Space, the children, aged 7-12, worked from 9am-4pm daily devising their own lyrics and music for songs and dialogue to bring the story to life.
Company manger Julie Elston said: “This really was something not to have missed. It was filled with laughter, action and occasional sadness. If you missed it be sure to check out our Facebook page.”
Directed by Millie Stevenson, Erin Elston and Matt Baker, the ensemble was headed up by George Bengree playing the Chief of the Brigands and Maya Rojas playing Antonio.
Theatre in the Quarter runs year round workshops for young people of different ages. More information can be found at enquiries@theatreinthequarter.co.uk
