Thursday 27 June 2013 The chance of a term’s drama workshops with professionals from Harrogate Theatre was a dream come true for 20 pupils at Rawdon St Peter’s C of E Primary School. Under the direction of Harrogate Theatre’s education leader, Hannah Draper, the seven to 10 year old pupils entered the world of their dreams (and nightmares) to devise and dramatise their own script, which they performed for an audience of family and friends at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL), with technical support from the Harrogate Theatre team. The scene was set from curtain up, with dreamy music and the cast dressed in a colourful collection of onesies and pyjamas sharing their dreams out loud. From winning at gymnastics, to growing a meatball tree to racing up the Eiffel Tower, the children acted out some weird and wonderful scenarios in between the recitation of two poems ‘I Dreamed a Dream’ by Gareth Lancaster and ‘The Land of Nod’ by Robert Louis Stevenson. The workshop project came about through a partnership between GSAL and Harrogate Theatre, which provides a weekly drama club at a different school each term. Hannah Draper said: “The children have been fabulous and risen to the challenge of devising their own drama. Their imaginations are out there at this age, and the piece evolved each week as they came in with new dreams. “The emphasis is on the process rather than the end product. We want young people to have the opportunity to explore their imaginations, try new ways of creating characters and stories and show what they have been working on to a supportive invited audience.” Year 5 pupil Charlotte said: “It was hard at first, I hadn’t done any acting before except copying from the TV” and Amelia, year 4, said: “Hannah gave us ideas and we talked about our dreams and thought up some actions.” General News
