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A play about finding new ways of ruling at Pontardawe Arts Centre 19th March 2009 at 7.30pm
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On Thursday 19th March at 7.30pm Pontardawe Arts Centre presents a brand new play: Who’d be a Princess? This will be the first production by a new inclusive adults’ drama group at the arts centre. The group is made up of adults with and without learning difficulties. The group was set up by Tracy Evans, Project Officer at the arts centre last September, in response to interest expressed from a local aspiring actress with Downs Syndrome to work in a group where she would be treated as an actress, rather than an adult with learning difficulties.
Leila Bebb, who is also a poet and a dancer, wants to act professionally. After attending an audition with Mind the Gap, theatre company, in Cardiff last year, she was encouraged to get more experience and they would be very interested in auditioning her again. She looked around at how she could achieve this and found there was nowhere she could go.
Tracy Evans, Project Officer, says “there are little or no opportunities for integrated theatre in south Wales outside of the Cardiff region, where Odyssey, the integrated group set up and run by Hijinx, operates from. The benefits of working in such a diverse and dynamic group stretch far beyond developing basic drama skills. Focus is put on working with integrity, respect and mutual support. The drama work is always underpinned by finding forms that can include everyone”.
This way of working does not just benefit and support adults with learning difficulties, it is also about supporting adults without learning difficulties: everyone comes to the group with different strengths and needs, and so everyone is given opportunities to develop and grow. Emily Hinshelwood, local poet and playwright, joined the group to see what it’s like to create a script that starts with the actors rather than the words, and to have a go at acting herself. At the end of 5 months she says “As a writer, I feel secure with my pen and paper, so this has been a real eye-opener in terms of scriptwriting; and in terms of acting, quite daunting to be the one delivering lines rather than writing them - I just hope I remember them on Thursday!”
The newly devised play, in which a young princess finds that there are alternatives to fear and mistrust if you want to rule wisely, will be combined with folk songs from Eastern Europe sung by The Vocal Harmonies Group Singers, who also meet regularly in the arts centre. The evening promises a very moving story with beautiful haunting songs, performed by a group of actors who are finding their own way of creating drama.
Tickets are £6/£3 (concession) and are available from the box office 01792 863722. If you are interested in joining the group please contact Tracy Evans 07866 700709.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2009 |
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