The theatre have announced details of its outreach programmes and initiatives now being provided online.
The London theatre today has announced that its Minding the Gap project for young asylum seekers and refugees, Youth Theatre, Young Companies, and The Agency, which is part of Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture, are continuing, with participants receiving their planned sessions and ongoing support.
Talking about the news, Artistic Director Indhu Rubasingham said: “I’m very relieved to report that our work with young people from across North-West London continues. This month our brilliant practitioners moved all their workshops online. We are so proud to be continuing our drama projects against all the odds, and genuinely excited to see what new opportunities taking on this new online dimension will bring. This would not have happened in other circumstances, but new learnings will come from it. We hope that our projects bring continuity, community and a space for self-expression for young people who may be feeling isolated and concerned. We are also running free series of playwrighting workshops for emerging artists in NW London and will have some more Kiln Insight activity online shortly.”
The Kiln Theatre’s Minding the Gap project provides weekly theatre sessions for young people aged 14-19 who have recently arrived in the UK, with the aim of supporting them to develop their spoken English, their teamwork skills, and their self-confidence. A digital programme of weekly drama sessions is being carried out principally through social media, via the Kiln’s private Creative Engagement Instagram account – a medium which is accessible to all the programme’s participants.
Meanwhile, alongside this the Creative Engagement team will spend time documenting the ethos and practice behind Minding the Gap, including sharing case studies of students and example exercises from practitioners, with the hope of creating a resource that could support other teachers and practitioners with their practice and continuing professional development.
Kiln Theatre’s Youth Theatres and Young Companies are also continuing their weekly sessions, now being held remotely via Zoom. The groups are using the theme of ‘isolation’ as a focus for their activity this term, sharing their thoughts and emotions on the Covid-19 pandemic in real time. In place of a showcase, the end of term performance from the Young Company will be recorded and shared on the Kiln Theatre website for a wider audience to enjoy.
During this period of uncertainty, the Kiln Theatre is also creating a new resource pack for schools that aims to explain and demystify the theatre production process. Featuring contributions from across the Kiln team, the pack will be available for download on the Kiln Theatre website and will explain the theatre production process from start to finish, describe the various roles within theatre and how they connect, and contain examples of working documents and interactive templates.
For more information visit: https://kilntheatre.com/creative-engagement/