Wolverhampton Grand Theatre Announces New Community Pantomime Project

Following the hugely successful Standing Tall community pantomime project, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre have once again collaborated with Heath House Studios to work on this year's project, Paving the Way, based on the themes of this year's panto, DICK WHITTINGTON.

The year-long project began in January 2019, since then the Grand Theatre and Heath House Studios have delivered free workshops to over 30 groups in the local community, engaging with over five hundred people. During the workshops the participants embroidered, sewed, glued and weaved to create a gothic Tower Bridge, London and a colourful market stall in Marrakech, Morocco. The exhibit is now on display at the theatre in the stalls foyer staircase for the duration of the pantomime, which runs until 12 January.

The workshops began in the summer with a group of children who were visiting the UK on a recuperative break from areas which are still affected by the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The community groups were Action For Children - Carers Cage, Barnardo's, Breaking Silence - Murray Hall Community Trust, Breast Cancer Support Group Wolverhampton & Surrounding Areas, Chernobyl Children's Lifeline, Compton Care Daycare Unit, Dudley MIND, Embroiderers Guild Wolverhampton, Gatis Community Space, Memory Café at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre, Refugee & Migrant Centre - Wolverhampton, Smestow School, SPARCS & Sandwell Cancer Support Group, Teenage Cancer Trust QEHB, West Park Hospital Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust, Wolverhampton Youth Offending Team, YMCA Birmingham, 291 Creative Hub - West Bromwich, Pool Hayes & Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust Speech & Language Therapy Services, Springdale Primary School, St Andrews Chruch Knit & Knatter, St John's Catholic Primary School, St Mary Magdalene's Church - Places Of Welcome, The Albrighton Trust, U3A Wolverhampton, Woodfield Primary School, Wolverhampton Grand Theatre Staff.

The project would not have been possible without local grants and support from local Trusts as well as generous donations made by the public to our Creative Learning Fund. Please visit grandtheatre.co.uk/support for information on ways to donate to future projects and to see the impact your support makes.

For more information on this project or to enquire about how tour group can become involved in future projects, please contact our Creative Learning Manager, James Collins - jamesc@grandtheatre.co.uk

Creative Learning Manager at the Grand Theatre James Collins said; "this project has been hugely inspiring for everyone involved. It's been a pleasure to have met and worked with the 500 participants. Each of them have worked really hard to create a fantastic, vibrant and exciting exhibition, bringing their own experience and personalities to the finished product which will be seen by tens of thousands of people this festive season."

DICK WHITTINGTON is the rags to riches story from London to Morocco starring Coronation Street's Ryan Thomas in the title role. He is joined by Su Pollard as Queen Rat, Jeffrey Holland as Alderman Fitzwarren, the Grand Theatre's returning pantomime Dame, Ian Adams who plays Sarah The Cook, theatre star Julie Paton as the Spirit of the Bells, comedy impressionist Aaron James as Idle Jack, Katie Marie-Carter as Alice Fitzwarren and Jordan Ginger as Dick's trusty feline sidekick!

The cast is completed by a dynamic ensemble; Georgia Curtis, Louis Geirnaert, Stylianos Hadjisavvas, Chloe Lindsay, Amy Murchison, Joseph Roberts, Holly Vernon-Harcourt and James Wakeling.

Tickets for DICK WHITTINGTON until Sunday 12 January 2020 are now on sale. Tickets can be booked in person at the theatre, by calling 01902 42 92 12 or online at grandtheatre.co.uk.

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