Tiny Treasures Rehearsal: Week 1

The Tiny Treasures team have had a busy first week in rehearsals... but they've managed to let us in on what they have been up to...

Stuart Mullins, Director
It's Wednesday evening and the process of making Tiny Treasures has been intense. We've made loads of discoveries; James' overall objective in the play is to hold his family together. That this will be his life forever, looking after his Mum. What an incredible realisation to have at the age of 13! Today Kevin the writer joined us and was very open to changes to the script; it's great to have him there to respond to our questions. Adam Farrell, who is playing James has been working really hard. He has over 20 pages of script to learn. Its not so much learning the words as knowing what James is doing when telling us his story. I think we've made an excellent start!

Leanne Rowley, playing "Mum"
A blog! Eeek, new to this. Bare with me readers. (I feel there should be some sort of disclosure - 'Any chaotic or rambling passages displayed within are in no way a reflection of the rehearsal period being as such'). For one thing is certain - there is a whole lot of focus going on down at ARC. But that's skipping ahead. (NB that disclosure...) Rewind a few weeks back to our development day in York where I met for the first time a group of young people who are nothing less than inspiring - they are the Young Carers Revolution. And beware, this revolution is in very good hands and is coming right for ya. Strong, witty, honest, intelligent... a few of the words that describe this group of children and young adults that not only have to deal with the struggles and challenges growing up throws at you - they do it whilst also being full time carers. A great day of playing for the first time around the text and movement and getting their initial feedback left me striding on home with one thing very  clear in my mind - this play has to be done right, the characters have to be truthful, for them.

Skip ahead to Monday, first day of rehearsals and after the meet and greet we stretched and played our way into the day with a bit of yoga and some games and got down to work. By mid afternoon Adam (who's playing James, and is forbidden to talk in his native southern tongue), Stuart (our director - an advocate of ale and actioning... I'm in) and I are staring down at a floor strewn with pieces of paper outlining and picking apart Kevin Dyer's beautiful script; we'd found the facts, defined the timeline, discussed structure and began our exploration of character and family. A short break occurred when Bek popped round to show a model of the set - *Spoiler alert* - er - hello! Is that a sink you can crawl through?? And a wardrobe to climb out of?? And a whole heap of other stuff we can scramble over?? (Yeah. We got a bit excited). Wednesday we'd get to see it in full - but right then, playtime was over... we took  up pencil, pulled up a pew, unleashed the script and began 'Actioning'.

So here we are - end of the third day and Section 1 has seen more action then the Avengers could ever dream of! Next up - getting it on it's feet...

Adam Ferrell, playing "James"
It’s only a few days into the rehearsal process for Tiny Treasures, and yet its feels like we’ve already covered a lot of ground! The first week has mainly seen director Stuart, fellow performer Leanne and I investigate the script and delve deep into James’ family – how they operate day-to-day, and for me especially, what drives James. That being said there’s a long way to go and I can’t wait for the challenges ahead and the chance to play about on the impressively cluttered set designed by Bek.

It’s also worth mentioning how much I enjoyed the chance to meet the guys at YCR three weeks ago. Reading the play in front of them was a nerve-wracking experience for me, especially considering they are responsible for creating the character of James! Luckily everyone was very friendly despite a fun but disastrous attempt at trying to teach the group one of my favorite drama games, ‘Schlack’.

Bring on the rest of the rehearsals!

Leanne with Bek's Set Design. Photo taken by Adam.

Tiny Treasures Design

Designer Bek Palmer has let us in on her designs for the upcoming Tiny Treasures. Here we see Mum and James' costumes. The designs will be brought to life when the tour starts around schools in the North East in June.

 And here's the model box set... looks like there are lots of clever climbing and hiding routes to be had!

Sharing the Story of Tiny Treasures

On Saturday, the Tiny Treasures creative team (complete with newly cast actors Adam, playing James, and Leanne, playing Mother) reconvened in York for another development day and, importantly, to share the script for the first time with the Young Carers Revolution. Since we met with them in February to devise ideas for what the story might be, there has been a huge amount of activity behind the scenes.

Kevin, the Playwright, has crafted the stories we developed into a fantastic play in three sections which tells the story of James, a young carer who is 13, and what his life is like at home looking after his Mum, his sister Katy and his two fish, Goldie and Silver. Bek, the Designer, workshopped some design ideas with the Young Carers Revolution and, inspired by their mood boards, has created a model of the set design which is now being built in preparation for rehearsals.

Stuart (Director), Kitty (Movement Director) and I spent time auditioning a very talented group of actors in order to find the pair who would play our Mum and son. Stephen, Stage Manager, has been busy researching the kindest way to transport live goldfish and Diann, Tour Coordinator, has been busy organising the show into schools, sorting our van insurance and booking rehearsal digs.

Meanwhile, the young carers have been writing a book about their process and so there was lots to tell each other when we got together again. We showed them pictures of Bek’s set model, which they really liked and then Adam and Leanne did a script-in-hand reading of the whole play, stopping a key points to talk about the action of the play and whether the Writer had made the right choice or not! Apart from a few games and a sausage roll break, we worked solidly to get through the whole play (which is running far too long at the moment so poor Kevin has the challenge of cutting it without losing anyone’s favourite bits!) We all covered loads of big bits of paper with post it note thoughts which will feed into the final rehearsal draft and by the end of the day – and the end of the play – we were all feeling pretty emotional. Once again, the dance duet section in the middle of the piece, even though the actors were just improvising, was the most affecting bit for us all underscored by Simon (Sound Designer) playing beautiful cello and looping it with the voices of the young people.

It’s been a big responsibility to create this play for and with the Young Carers Revolution because it’s so important to us all that it does what they hoped it would, bringing great theatre to younger children and a better understanding of the issues that face young carers. The feedback was all reassuringly positive and particularly Beth’s comment, “It will be really good for other kids, but it’s very moving for us because you’re telling our stories”

I think they liked it.

- Miranda Thain (Creative Producer of Theatre Hullabaloo)

Read more about Tiny Treasures.

TakeOff Monthly Newsletter (May 14)

We've just launched our first TakeOff monthly newsletter presenting a round-up of all the brilliant theatre, dance, drama, comedy and play that is available for children and young people in venues near you each month.

If you want to sign up or know anyone else who would be interested in receiving monthly updates about what is happening the area, all they need to do is send there email address to info@theatrehullabaloo.org.uk

There is so much to do in the region in May, so have a read of the newsletter and see what takes you and your family's fancy!

And, as always, let us know about your child's theatre experiences by sending us a tweet @TheatreHullabaloo or post a message on Facebook. Especially if it is their first time to the theatre, use the #theatrefirstie hash tag and they could be in with then chance of winning a prize!

"...opening the eyes and ears of youngsters to the cultural riches of the North"

Theatre Hullabaloo is proud to be part of Arts Council England’s national portfolio of organisations funded to bring great art to children and young people. You can read more about how we work and about some of the other organisations in the North working with young people in their See, Touch, Listen, Experience case study. 

Read the blog and case study on the Arts Council's website. 

Theatre Hullabaloo's website.

An Open Letter to the Chief Executive at Arts Council England

On 2 April 2014, Action for Children’s Arts and Theatre for Young Audiences UK sent an open letter to Alan Davey, Chief Executive at Arts Council England, raising the collective concerns about the positioning of the arts for young people in their recent This England Report, which responds to the significant debate on regional funding that has been taking place in the sector over the past months.

The original letter can be found on the Action for Children's Arts Blog.

To:
Alan Davey, Chief Executive, Arts Council England

From:Action for Children’s Arts
Theatre for Young Audiences UK

Dear Alan Davey,

We are writing on behalf of the membership organisations, Theatre for Young Audiences UK (TYA UK) a member of Global Association ASSITEJ and Action for Children’s Arts (ACA), who between them represent more than 400 independent artists and organisations committed to the arts for children and young people.

We are writing to raise our collective concerns about the positioning of the arts for young people in the recent This England report.

As an artistic community dedicated to developing the arts for, by and with children and young people, we welcome the centrality of Goal 5 in the Arts Council’s 10 year Strategic Framework. We share your belief that every child and young person should have the opportunity to experience the richness of the arts. We also share your concerns about the provision of non-core arts subjects in the curriculum, as drama and theatre particularly, become increasingly marginalised within schools.

In Great Art and Culture for Everyone, Goal 5 is defined in terms of actions and outcomes focused on the ambition that children and young people have the best current and future artistic lives they can have and that ‘they are able to develop their artistic capabilities and engage with, and shape, the arts’.

We support the view that the arts should be a holistic and enriching part of childhood, not just skewed to educational and participatory activities. There is no doubt that the centrality of children and young people’s entitlement to culture within the strategy is a significant move forwards.

However, the opening statement under Goal 5 of the This England report reads as follows:

“Children and young people represent both the creative talent of tomorrow, and our future audiences”(pg 29)

Whilst this statement is true, the fact that no other entitlement of children is outlined, which recognises children as creative beings; as participants, as artists, as decision makers as well as audiences, now, is hugely problematic.

Fundamentally, as you know, arts experiences at their best are a way of investigating and understanding our world and our feelings and children and young people’s engagement is no less important, we would argue more so, than that of those older than them.

For those of us who are fortunate enough to work in this field, there is little doubt that quality early arts experiences inspire hearts, challenge minds and awaken imaginations in a profound way. The role of young people as ‘future audiences and future talent’ is disappointingly regressive and significantly out of kilter with ACE’S own Great Art for Everyone and with the artistic community who know and understand the value of work for, by and with children and young people.

Documents such as This England are important statements about the role of culture in our national life and influence the policies that will shape our cultural diet in the future. We therefore ask you to review this articulation of policy and recognise that our shared primary objective should be to provide children and young people with art of the highest quality because it should be a crucial and enriching part of everyone’s childhood.

We look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely,

David Wood OBE, Chair, ACASteve Ball, Chair, TYA England
Nina Hajiyianni, Chair, TYA UK

On behalf of the membership of TYA UK and ACA.

Two Days in York

Stuart Mullins

Stuart Mullins is a freelance director, and the Director of Tiny Treasures, Theatre Hullabaloo’s collection of three short plays based on the lives of young carers. Here he talks about two days that the Creative Team spent in York with the young people from the Young Carers Revolution (YCR) learning about their stories and developing ideas for the plays:

Reflecting on our two days in York with the Young Carers Revolution (YCR) it occurs to me that they are our (the ‘our’ being the creative team) commissioners. It is the YCR who have asked us to create this new piece of theatre. It’s therefore a priority for me, that as experienced theatre practitioners we must discuss, explore and articulate what a creative process is and we must enable them, as commissioners, to give us useful and relevant critical feedback. Most importantly having done this, we must listen.

Day one was spent meeting the YCR and getting to know them. I felt they had to learn to trust us all, but most importantly they had to trust Kevin Dyer, the playwright. The afternoon was spent facilitating just this:
• It was about getting used to Kevin asking them questions
• It was about understanding that ideas grow, morph, take on new forms
• It was about the fact that drama is a wonderful mix of truth and fiction, and that metaphor and themes communicate far more than issues.

In between day one and day two on the Sunday, Kevin and I spent time eating and exploring what the narrative and form could be. We found ourselves in a café called the Bike Shed near the old city gates - a place which served good coffee a fine breakfast, but most importantly gave us the space to think and talk. From this time Kevin embraced the original idea of a three part structure and created the skeleton outline for Tiny Treasures.

On day two, the actors and I spent time exploring and improvising the first two parts. The actors, Lasana and Amy, worked well as a partnership, pushing and provoking each other. We achieved a great deal in a short time, presenting our young commissioners with enough material to generate their feedback. I was delighted to see that they not only felt it represented their lives accurately (much credit to Kevin for this), but that it also inspired them with its form.

Ultimately, following our two days together:
• Kevin left with a clear idea of what he wanted to write
• Inspired Youth were excited by the process and the potential outcome
• The young carers felt that they had been listened to
• And I felt excited by the show I’m going to direct!

What next? Miranda, Kitty Winter (the Movement Director) and myself will audition for the two actors, one to play a 35 year old mum and the other to play Jamie the main character aged 13 to 18. This is due to happen on April 1st, not a bad omen I hope 
Also, Kevin’s first draft has just landed in my inbox, so I’m looking forward to getting my teeth into that.

Stuart Mullins
Freelance Director, Tiny Treasures