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| The Wind and Sun, one of the acts taking part in the Festival |
This year I was really pleased to be able to give some of my
locality budget* to support the Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds Children’s Festival. Neighboring councillor, Colin Spence, also provided funding, and as a
result during June Lavenham, Bildeston, Whatfield and Cockfield Schools, and
also Colin’s schools in Great Waldingfield and Acton, were visited by a troupe
of live performers. The children enjoyed drama, dance, music, circus and
storytelling and I have had some encouraging feedback about the shows.
There is nothing like live theatre. I hope
that this small move towards introducing children to it at an early stage will encourage
them to take an interest in live performing arts, and to become the audiences
and players of the future.
This week I received an e mail from Julia Read, the Head of
Development at the Theatre Royal on the outcomes of the Festival. This
tells me that the Festival had been a great success, attracting an audience of
over 4000. It visited 24 schools and at
9 other venues, and involved some 15 different theatre companies. Feedback forms showed an excellent response
Looking to
the future, the Director of the Theatre Royal, Karen Simpson would like to reach
out to more parents. In the report she
wrote: ‘We would like to work with schools in the future to invite parents
into the performances in schools. This
would enable many more parents to experience the quality and intimacy of the
work on offer. It would also reinforce
the experience at home and in school for the child.
In an age
where the solitary pursuits of the internet seem to absorb more and more time,
sharing a theatrical experience with others is to my mind more important than
ever.
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