A new home for young people interested in theatre, performance and being creative is being launched at the Lakeside Theatre at the University of Essex.
Youngsters from seven through to eighteen can now sign-up for the Lakeside Theatre Young Company which will start offering sessions at the Colchester Campus from September this year.
The new company is designed to encourage children to develop their interest in the arts and see what they can achieve in a professional theatre setting. There will be two weekly Saturday sessions for seven to nine-year-olds and nine to eleven-year-olds with evening sessions for eleven to fourteen-year-olds on Mondays and fourteen to eighteen-year-olds on Tuesday.
Download the Lakeside Theatre Young Company
Lakeside Theatre director Tid (Iain Tidbury) trained at East 15 Acting School, has run his own theatre company and was previously a director at Bristol Old Vic for nearly six year where he oversaw an award-winning young theatre company with more than 450 members.
He said: “For me it is really important to bring young people into the Lakeside and allow the whole community to benefit from what we can offer.
“Lakeside Theatre Young Company is a brand new place where young people can be themselves, discover and realise their ambitions and make something truly amazing happen.
“From September we will be welcoming young people from across the area who are passionate about theatre.
“Our weekly sessions will be run by professional directors, actors, and artists. Our creative team will also be working with our young members to create full scale performances for the Lakeside Theatre stage.”
The Young Company is one of the learning destinations validated by the Colchester Children’s University and Tid wants to eventually create work for the National Theatre’s Connections Festival and National Student Drama Festival.
The skills being a member of the company will develop include:
- Acting techniques
- Character creation
- Physical theatre
- Text in performance
- Movement
- Improvisation
- Devising
- Vocal creativity
- Script work
- Theatrical filmography
- Theatrical musicality
- Acting for camera
An exciting element of the Lakeside Theatre Young Company is that talented university students studying on Theatre related courses will be encouraged to support the professional practitioners delivering the weekly workshops.
The cost for the Lakeside Theatre Young Company is £80 per tem, or £210 for all three terms, a 50 per cent sibling discount is also being offered and a limited number of bursaries are available for any families that might benefit.
Ends
For more information or to speak to Tid please contact the University of Essex Communications Office on 01206 874377.