Our Summer 2022 programme was jam-packed with events, so there is lots to tell you about!
The Blue Bird: Chasing Happiness performance
Our journey towards the Blue Bird, Chasing Happiness was meant to start in April 2020, with writing workshops planned at our old home on Doncaster Gate. However, obvious delays meant that in-person workshops didn’t happen until later that year. More sessions then took place in April 2022, developing the writing, imagery and puppets for the project.
On 26th July, we welcomed Tell Tale Hearts back for a performance based on the creative input from our children and young people. It was wonderful to see how the ideas had developed, and some of the young people who joined us on the whole journey were able to attend and reflect on their amazing input.
Magical Menus
A group of 7-11 year old’s came to the Writer’s Pad for a summer programme where they had just three days to create a brand new restaurant for one hundred hungry guests. They designed the (rather unusual) menu, staffed the restaurant with all manner of creatures and finally opened the doors to a myriad of magical guests, to scalding hot, and sometimes stinking reviews…
Exclusive Premiere of our soap opera, Linger Longer Lane:
In early 2022, a group of exceptionally talented young people aged 9-11 years, joined Grimm & Co dramaturgs for a creative writing project with an excellent ending. The young people wrote a series of characters and scripts for a soap opera, set in Linger Longer Lane in Rotherham town centre.
These wonderful words, forged from the imaginations of these 18 young people were edited, filmed and transformed with help from a team of professional film makers, directors and actors, into four episodes of a soap opera that will make you laugh, cry and leave you wanting more!
On Saturday 20th August, we welcomed back these young writers for a red-carpet event with the cast and crew, for an exclusive screening of ‘Linger Longer Lane’. The writers received VIP treatment in this event that showcased their excellent creative work. The soap opera is now available to view online here.
Grimm & Co patron, Paul Clayton (currently filming a big new series for screening on your TVs in 2023) has been instrumental in bringing this project to life, and said “Only the magic of Grimm could turn a row of shops into a slice of life full of stories. I’m so proud to be patron of the most innovative and inspiring children’s literacy charity around”.
Bronze Arts Award:
In late August, eight young people aged 11-14 embarked on a journey to complete Bronze Arts Award at Grimm & Co, with support from The Children’s Capital of Culture. Over three days they worked on all four parts of the award, all whilst making friends, learning new skills and being exposed to more of the arts.
On day one they jumped into action learning how to perform stage combat in a safe way with our very own Creative Learning Manager, Gemma. The young people showed outstanding respect for each other and performed some amazing “fight” sequences.
Skipping ahead to day two, the cohort were an exceptional audience for a wonderful showcase event featuring poetry, singing, monologues and song writing. We had a wonderful time experiencing these artforms all together.
Throughout the course of the week the young people conducted some thorough research into some inspirational artists including illustrators, singers, textile artists and more. This research proved it does not matter what your lived experiences. Anybody can become an artist!
Finally, we were blown away by how talented the group were when they all performed a skill share session to the rest of the attendees. We were delighted to learn how to afro dance, macrame, knit, write our names in Arabic calligraphy, paint with water colours, write a song, play the ukulele and draw the oh so cute Moomins.
With thanks to:
These projects would not have been possible without the funding of Children’s Capital of Culture and the support of our funders The National Lottery Community Fund, Tudor Trust, Children in Need and Arts Council England.
