Photo Credit: Cave & Sky
Last month Playmakers Youth Theatre presented their annual Showcase at Theatre Royal Winchester and enjoyed incredible feedback from leaders and audiences.
The theme of the Showcase was Look Back, Look Forward and Look Up and the groups, made up of young people from school years 4 – 11, presented a series of original pieces exploring loss, reunion and female history.
Dorreen’s Story, by the youth theatre’s older drama and theatre group, told the poignant tale of a 75-year-old lady dealing with the loss of her life-long friend, Maggie.
The Unexpected Journey, which combined the ideas, talents and efforts of the two musical theatre groups, was a gripping World War 2 story that followed Tommy, an evacuee, determined to walk from Winchester to Portsmouth to be reunited with his family.
Behind the Curtain, by the younger drama and theatre members, delved into the hidden corners and secrets of a theatre.
While the youth theatre’s South Wonston Drama Club performed a heart-warming piece about role models, they guide audience members around their Herstory Museum, which celebrated great women from history; and they showcased aspirational vision boards.
Playmakers Youth Theatre Producer, Shian Hunter, said: “This year we had more participants and we challenged them to do bigger shows.
“We combined both musical theatre groups to create a bigger show, which was really exciting and created a really supportive group. The drama and theatre groups did amazing and they created shows with purpose, up to 30 minutes long, which is incredible for young people.
“The whole night was amazing and the feedback has been great, the parents have been really impressed. We wanted to up our game and show how much young people can do and I’m really happy and couldn’t be prouder as it’s such a hard feat to create your own, original work.”
Musical Theatre Director, Joey Warne, said of The Unexpected Journey: “It was the first time an original musical had been written for the Youth Theatre and the large cast rose to the challenge and showed brilliant skills and responsibility to adapt and change as the show was developed. Writing and creating new work is no easy challenge.”
Following the Showcase, the leaders are now looking forward to seeing what the groups can create during the summer term, which began mid-April. The work produced during the term will be performed at Hat Fair – the UK’s longest running festival of Outdoor Arts, which this year runs from Friday 5 to Sunday 7 July.
Playmakers Youth Theatre offers members the chance to work with professionals to develop their confidence and create original work. Free taster sessions and financial support are available. More information is available at here.
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