For the past two years, we have been working in partnership with Stage Directions at The Lowry, sharing our Imaginary Communities approach as a form of co-creation with children and young people in two primary schools in Salford, and the University of Salford. Chol’s Vicky and Carly have been working intensively in schools each week as ensemble leads and artists in residence, supporting them in developing their confidence, speaking and listening, and performance skills.
The Stage Directions programme has been incredible in many ways. It has provided us as a company with further knowledge on how we can further develop our practice to include more artforms, and improve learning and engagement. It has also had, and continues to have, a significant impact on creative young people across Salford, providing them with the tools, knowledge and confidence to explore a number of artforms, with a variety of creative practitioners. We feel very honoured to have been participating in the Stage Directions programme and we look forward to seeing what’s next for the Stage Directions team in 2022-2023.
The children’s final creations were shared and performed on Wednesday 13 July at The Lowry. The classes devised two original pieces of theatre and performed to their family and friends. We are so proud of what the children have achieved – the performances were fabulous and fun, and showed the real talent and dedication of a group of young artists in Salford.
