Kiln Theatre Announces Spring Creative Engagement Projects

Kiln Theatre has announced their upcoming Spring Creative Engagement programming, which runs alongside their main stage programming and the US transfer of Zadie Smith's The Wife of Willesden.

The Creative Engagement programme at Kiln Theatre creates projects with and for people who live, work and learn in Brent and North-West London, offering free opportunities for children, young people and adults to create and express what is important to them, to develop skills and vitally, to have fun. The Spring programme includes Youth Theatre sharings, a celebration of their flagship programme, Minding the Gap, the company's first ever Schools' Week with schools and public performances of Synergy Theatre Project's He Said She Said, and a Young Company performance.

Kiln Theatre Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham said today: "I am really pleased that, in these coming months, Kiln will be celebrating the wide variety of free opportunities we offer to young people and adults from our local communities. The cost of living crisis is hitting many very hard and to be able to offer pathways, theatre, workshops and opportunities for people to express themselves is imperative. We are all very proud of Kiln's Creative Engagement team led by Romana Flello. They are dedicated, innovative, hard-working and passionate about bringing creativity to as many people as possible and Kiln being a space for people to be themselves."

Head of Creative Engagement Romana Flello added: "At Kiln, we believe all young people should have access to arts and culture and the right and opportunity to participate, watch and develop skills in theatre without barriers. We are passionate about telling stories which represent and resonate with local communities and are delighted that this Spring, our theatre will be alive with work created by, with, and for local young people. Access to theatre for young people is in decline, and at Kiln we are committed to providing an accessible and welcoming space and to working with schools, organisations and residents so that together we can keep drama, theatre and all their benefits alive and vital."

YOUTH THEATRE SHARINGS

Friday 17 February at 2pm

Written by Youth Theatre Participants; Co-Directors: Gavin Joseph and Maryam Shaharuddin; Assistant Director: Catherine Moriarty

Working on creating their pieces in weekly workshops since September, The Youth Theatre sharing will consist of newly devised plays from ages 7-11 and 12-15 Youth Theatre groups, performed on the Kiln Cinema stage.

SCHOOLS' WEEK

Tuesday 7 - Friday 10 March

Schools' Week is a week of free activities specifically for the students and teachers at Brent schools. From 7 - 10 March, activities will include: schools' and public performances of Synergy Theatre Project's production for young people, He Said She Said by Magero Otieno-Magero, Technical Skills workshops, Teachers' and Students' workshops on the Kiln Theatre and National Theatre co-production The Great Wave by Francis Turnly (now a GCSE Drama set text), a Creative Careers Fair and Insight into the Rehearsal Room workshops led by Taio Lawson.

This is Kiln's inaugural Schools' Week, developed to build and maintain close and bespoke relationships with Brent schools. Through their Schools' programme, Kiln Theatre supports the teaching of Drama in schools, supports young people to engage with their local theatre, and to explore the possible creative careers that are available to them.

The centrepiece of the week, He Said She Said is aimed at teenage audiences. The production fuses dialogue, verse and drill exploring how social media platforms can be used and misused to share information and escalate conflict. It is performed and stage managed by a company of professionals and ex-prisoners.

MINDING THE GAP CELEBRATION

Friday 24 March at 12pm

Kiln's flagship programme, Minding the Gap, which has been running for over ten years under Rubasingham's tenure, is a drama project for young people aged 14-19 who are newly arrived in the UK, with lived experience of migration and/or who identify as refugees and asylum seekers. The company work with EAL teams at three local schools and both campuses of the College of North-West London to provide creative weekly drama-based sessions, which develop students' creativity, confidence in spoken English, and engagement in arts and culture.

On 24 March, over 100 young people will come together to share and perform the pieces they have devised with creative practitioners over the last six months about their journeys to and experiences of living in London.

YOUNG COMPANY PERFORMANCES

Wednesday 5 April at 2:30pm and 7:30pm

Written by Zia Ahmed; Director: Jo Tyabji; Associate Director Basheba 'Bashiie' Baptiste

Kiln's Young Company supports young people aged 16-18 with an interest in performing to turn their ideas into a production, performed by them on the Kiln Theatre stage. Since October, 20 young people have worked with Tyabji, Baptiste and Ahmed through weekly sessions to create a piece which speaks to issues that are important to the group and the communities in which they live, including protest, insecure housing, gentrification and privilege.

Kiln's Youth Theatre, Schools' Week, Minding the Gap programme and the Young Company are part of Creative Engagement at Kiln. Creative Engagement at Kiln Theatre is generously supported by Jules and Cheryl Burns, BBC Children in Need, Christina Smith Foundation, City Bridge Trust, The John S Cohen Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, Garfield Weston Foundation, John Lyon's Charity, Marie-Louise von Motesiczky Charitable Trust, Pears Foundation, Richard Radcliffe Trust, The Roddick Foundation, The Vanderbilt Family Foundation.

He Said She Said is generously supported by John Lyon's Charity, Harrow School, Young Harrow Foundation and Peter Sowerby Foundation.

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