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Posted: Friday 22 July, 2011
For the second year, Next Stage Theatre Company has enjoyed a multicultural link up with the Dream and Learn Summer School from Madrid this month with 6 days of fun-filled workshops. The Spanish youngsters, aged 8-16, are based at Monkton Combe Prep School for a period of three weeks whilst they extend their knowledge of the English language through activities and excursions. Last year Dream and Learn came to Next Stage Youth’s production of Sparkleshark and experienced a four hour drama workshop enabling the Spanish youngsters to meet the cast, enjoy a variety of workshops and theatre games and forge new friendships.
So successful was the 2010 collaboration that this Summer the two companies have been delighted to work together once more in a much more intensive drama and English speaking programme. All the work has been based on Next Stage Youth’s Autumn productions: Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers (showing 25-29 October) and Alan Bennett’s glorious adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic The Wind in the Willows (6 – 10 December). These stories with their universal themes of friendship, jealousy and conflict seemed the perfect springboard for Next Stage Youth and tutors to introduce the Dream and Learn youngsters to English drama.
Next Stage facilitated hour-long classroom sessions each morning, teaching the younger pupils the story of The Wind in the Willows and exploring Blood Brothers with the older children. Every afternoon the Spanish children visited The Mission Theatre and had the chance to meet and work with Next Stage Youth members in sessions designed to encourage speaking and understanding of the English language through drama. Both groups also enjoyed a stage combat workshop from Next Stage’s Fight Choreographer Nicky Wilkins.
Blood Brothers was a huge hit with the Spanish youngsters and on Thursday 21 July the older members of the group headed up to London to see the full musical production in the West End. The Dream and Learn party concludes its visit with a one-night-only showcase on Friday 29 July, where the older group will tell the story of Blood Brothers by performing key scenes and the youngsters will improvise extracts from The Wind in the Willows. The Next Stage Youth members have been invited to this performance to see their new-found friends one more time and celebrate this extraordinary achievement.
Next Stage is very excited about this international collaboration, and Dream and Learn are already offering the company the opportunity to visit them in Spain in the future.
