We put young peoples' voices CENTRE STAGE, for our first week of School's Theatre programme

CENTRE STAGE hit the ground running this November with our first week of jam packed Theatre creativity in 3 of our Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Schools.

Over the course of 3 days we worked with 210 students, 7 teachers, Smoking Apples put up 5 shows and 6 facilitating artists delivered 24 workshops!

Our Partner schools

Day 1: Bilborough College

Day 2: Brunts Academy

Day 3: Nottingham Girls Academy

CENTRE STAGE is an arts council funded programme that gives young people the opportunity to not only see and experience excellent theatre, but also to shape the future of what theatre for young people looks like. A Centre stage day is a JAM PACKED day of Theatre skills workshops with specialists in the field, Watching a performance; Kinder by Smoking Apples, creative workshop with Nonsuch Studios Artistic Director in response to the show and a final discussion session about what's important to young people and the future of co-producing theatre.

The first Show that Nonsuch Studios programmed for CENTRE STAGE, was Kinder by award winning Theatre company Smoking Apples.

An immersive puppetry show which follows the story of a young Czech-Jewish girl on a journey through the Kinder transport train during the time of WWII and discovers how tiny acts of kindness can change the course of a person’s life.

Students step into a built set-train, to be a part of her journey from 1939 Czechia all the way to Margate, England. The set was built by the 3 performers, who designed, executed and performed the lighting, sound and puppetry in the set. 

The centre stage day meant that students got to experience high quality theatre in their school along with a host of workshops that teach them new skills and opportunity to be inspired and creative, giving young people the opportunity to find their own power through creativity!  

"It was so amazing to see the ball drop, as students took what they learned in the Puppetry and Physical theatre workshops in the morning, and then could see how a professional theatre uses these techniques to make theatre that was so poignant, engaging and inspiring " - Caroline Rowland Community Engagement Coordinator

Students then in the afternoon, after watching the show were guided by the Artist Director of Nonsuch Studios, to develop their own pieces of theatre, working with new people, and using brand new techniques. 

The day looked like this:

CENTRE STAGE DAY

Workshop 1: Physical Theatre with Sophie Jane Corner

"There are more mays of communicating than simply words and facial expressions" - Student

"I learnt about physical theatre, [...] all the problems we face in everyday day life and how to work together to create our own piece of work" - Student

Workshop 2: Puppetry Skills with Emma Fay, Enter Edem

"I learnt how puppetry works and that its much more difficult that people think it is, its made me appreciate the art much more"- Student

"Puppets are cool"- Student

SHOW TIME!

"unforgettable, creative, inclusive"- Student

"Intriguing, historical, well thought out" - Student

Workshop 3: Creating Journeys with Nonsuch Studios

"[I learnt] how to do physical theatre and how to work with puppetry. Also how to focus and work in a team with people who I don’t normally work with. Which is a good boost of confidence"- student

"It was really informative! Exploring puppetry with no prior knowledge was really interesting as well as the building blocks that go into creating a piece" - Student

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Workshop 4: Going Forward with Nonsuch Studios

"I've learnt that community is important for everyone, especially people moving from different countries"- Student

"That young people have an influence in the world"- Student

“Centre Stage is such an incredible project that places young audiences at the heart of the creative process and it was amazing to see so many students across the county empowered by the project, the show and the opportunity provided.” Edward Nonsuch Studios Artist Director