THE CLEANSING OF CONSTANCE BROWN presented by STAN’S CAFE
@ A E Harris, 1st – 19th March, 18.30 & 20.30 (running time 70min)
(no perfs. Sundays or Mondays)
TICKETS FOR ALL SHOWS ARE NOW AVAILABLE VIA THE MAC BOX OFFICE
At the start of the year we met with teachers from each year group and went through our usual procedure of cooking up full looking ideas together, but when we reflected on what we had come up with we didn’t feel as excited as we should have done. We presented our concerns to Headteacher Jo Clifton and found she had had the same reaction. If we hadn’t done the previous three years together the projects would have been fantastic, but we all felt as if we were in danger of falling into a rut. Most of the project plans were scrapped and we embarked on a new umbrella project called What is a School? This philosophical question was used as the prompt to start a number of small projects through the year and the question remains unresolved going into another year.
Throughout this year the school was expanding, both in pupil numbers and building work to the fabric of the school.
Christopher Columbus
With a new young team of teachers working with Year 1 it felt useful to create another dance and poetry performance with costumes and props building on what we learnt from the Living Bodies project the previous year. In thisshow we followed Christopher Columbus on his voyages of discovery. The children played his crew, sea monsters, stars in the sky, the people he encountered on his journey and the sea itself.
Mechanism and Cams
The teachers in Year 4 wanted some support working on this project so we provided a few days support including buying a lot of fancy lego that we’d quite happily have taken back to the Stan’s Cafe office – but didn’t.
Fruit Cafe
Since we started working with the school it has created a base for teaching children on the autistic spectrum. For this, our first project with the base, we asked the question “What is a school?” and one of the answers was the question “Could a school run a cafe?”. In order to answer this question the students set up their own cafe, created decorations, invented different flavour smoothies and baked cakes. They then invited family, friends andVIPs in to school to taste their creations. The classroom was transformed, everyone had a lovely afternoon and lots of money was raised for Autism Awareness.
The Classroom
Year 2 were asked the question “What is a school?” and one of the answers was the question “Is it the building?”. The class researched what other people’s schools looked like in different parts of the world. To tie in with their study ofMadagascar they decided to build a classroom in the school grounds made out of wood and woven willow, ably assisted by Johnny O’Hanlon.
Superfast Shakespeare
Year 5 devised a play about the life and works of William Shakespeare. They performed it on the slot together stage the previous year’s Year 5 commissioned. The first performance was in the school playground and the second was outside the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. This project has its own webpage.
Christopher Columbus
Year 1 with artists Denise Stanton, Becky Pringle and Craig Stephens.
Mechanism and Cams
Artist: Benny Semp.
Fruit Cafe
Artist: Denise Stanton.
The Classroom
Year 2 with artist Johnny O’Hanlon.
Superfast Shakespeare
Year 5 with lead artist Craig Stephens. Full credits are on the project webpage
