Golden Days in January
Years 3&4 set the golden tone of the week with their description of the Castle on High Dunsinane Hill – “Golden floors and red carpets”.
2024 – How was it for you?
End of 2024 – how was it for you? I can’t believe we have reached the end of the year already, but here we are. Thank you for finding the will and wherewithal to work with us for us another incredible year.
You Create What You Will
Will has helped FINDING THE WILL encourage tens of thousands of children to create what you will over the last 17 years.
Time and again we hear from teachers that they have seen a side to a child they had not been aware of prior to our workshop.
End of the Year – We Made It!
At the end of the year, we’ve worked with approximately 1700 children aged 4-12, in 13 different counties and 1 other country.
Flaming June – well WE were cooking!
A sparky group of children with interesting ideas of how Hermia and Lysander could be together, despite the law of Athens!
You are now official Shakespeare Ambassadors!
“Naming The View was a really special night. Quality writing and performances came together and we were all invested in your every word. We haven’t stopped talking about it.”
Terrific Talent in Tempest Triumph!
Here at FINDING THE WILL, we love helping small voices to get bigger and low confidence to get greater. That happened last week too of course, but what we were less prepared for was the raw talent on show!
If only we could have bottled last week, we would have the ‘Elixir of Performance’ – no matter how small your role, you can still make a huge impression.
Clowns To The Left Of Me…….
Clowns have certainly been to the Left of me this month, and Jokers to the right too! I’ve had a day of THE TEMPEST, (Trinculo being the Clown); a magnificent array of poems from Year 4 at St Miichael’s Junior, Chelmsford, (favourite line being ‘Tortured Clown In A Crown’), then a delightful Shakespearean evening with my old friend, Tweedy the Clown! Oakmeadow Primary School, Shrewsbury Shropshire is a county that has eluded FINDING THE WILL up to now. However, the day before Shakepeare’s 460th birthday, we cracked it with a visit to Oakmeadow Primary School in Shrewsbury. This is a thoroughly modern, light and bright school which invited us in to be part of a ‘Theatre Day’. All 8 classes in KS2 took part in 4 hour-long Interactive Workshops on THE TEMPEST led by Nick and me. So, 4 times on Monday we boarded The King’s Vessel, bound for Naples, each time seemingly struck by a devastating storm at sea. The 4 vessels in question were named ‘THE DYLOPHOSAURUS’; ‘THE LEVIATHAN’; ‘THE DONUT‘ and ‘THE WATERMELON UNICORN’ by Years 3-6 respectively. In our limited time, we met all the characters including Trinculo the Jester or the clown. Sadly we didn’t have time to gather new material for Trinculo as we often do, so it looks like he’ll be trotting out the Knock Knock jokes for a few more years to come! Vocabulary One thing that really struck both Nick and me was the remarkable vocabulary that some of the children (across all the classes) came out with. Words like ‘Betrayal’ and ‘reneged’ in relation to the breaking of a promise; ‘Distraught’ and ‘vexed’ regarding Caliban’s feelings about his unfair treatment. Equality and Respect are two of the values promoted by Oakmeadow Primary, so it was interesting to present a play that often demonstrates the opposite. Sometimes you only appreciate the true worth of values when they are challenged. Many thanks to Miss Gill for arranging our visit and our first foray into Shropshire! St Michael’s Junior, Chelmsford “A Tortured Clown In A Crown” Title by Hannah – Year 4, St Michael’s Junior, Chelmsford What a thrill to receive a veritable anthology of Lyric Poems from Year 4 at St Michael’s Junior inspired by our recent MACBETH Interactive Workshops. The poems are all amazing and so it was incredibly hard to pick a handful to share with you. To celebrate Shakespeare’s 460th birthday, here goes – I think he would have been impressed! Thank you Mrs Orton for sharing this impressive work with us! Clowns and Shakespeare If you have ever had the joy of watching Tweedy the Clown at work, either in the circus (notably Gifford’s) or in pantomime (Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham in recent years), you will know what a phenomenal talent he is. When I heard he was cast as Bottom in the Everyman Theatre’s production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, it seemed like a match made in heaven. A clown playing a clown! Personally I have performed in The Dream more times than I can remember (playing nearly every character except Helena, the tall one!). I’ve seen some ropy productions and some average ones, but Tweedy playing Bottom the Weaver, now this was intriguing. And he was superb! His comic timing and clowning skills were off the chart, but that wasn’t a surprise. His handling of the original Shakespearean text however…….now that was a revelation! Indeed the whole production was a delight from start to finish – a laugh out loud comedy, just as it was meant to be when it was written, 430 years ago. Tweedy will shortly be touring his own show Tweedy’s Massive Circus throughout the summer. It opens on 24 May at……..drum roll………The Royal Shakespeare Company. Fancy, a Clown at the RSC! It just goes to prove that clowns really can speak truth to power! And Finally….. FINDING THE WILL is thrilled to have two new actors joining our talented pool of practitioners – Izzy Kersley and Karen Payne. I’ll introduce them to you properly next month, suffice to say they are definitely not clowns! ‘Til next time……
Magic in Muscat!
Magic was all around The Royal Opera House, Muscat at the beginning of February! Exploring Shakespeare FINDING THE WILL was thrilled to be given the opportunity to be part of the Play Your Dream – Exploring Shakespeare Project at the The Royal Opera House, Muscat earlier this month. Whilst we are known for weaving our magic nationally here in the UK, it was a huge thrill to be asked to share our work internationally. At the end of December we were approached to run workshops for children on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM in the run up to performances of Benjamin Britten’s opera. What an honour! Just look where we finished up! The Magic of the Interactive Workshops Here at FINDING THE WILL we have always strived to increase the confidence and self-esteem of the children we work with. We weren’t sure what to expect when we set off on the first morning in Oman. Would the children we were to meet be shy? Scared of speaking up? Unable to understand us? Would they follow the story? Would they want to take part? We needn’t have worried! Both Richard and I were amazed by the confidence, vocabulary, enthusiasm and general joie de vivre of all of the children we met. In total we worked with approximately 200 children over the three days. They ranged in age from 6 – 12 and were from a variety of backgrounds. One workshop was purely for children who were home-schooled. With only 5 children taking part in this one, we roped in their mums to play Oberon, Titania and Puck, whilst Richard and I covered Theseus, Hippolyta and Egeus. In all honesty, the adults in the room (Teachers, parents, Opera House staff), in every workshop we ran, were as engaged as the children. Completely drawn into the magic of the story! The most unusual Stage Door we have ever had the privilege of walking through! What an incredible building! Magic moments There were many magic moments throughout the three days but there are a couple that stand out for me. Firstly, this gem of a moment: Richard: ” What would you say to your friend Bottom, if he suddenly appeared with a donkey’s head on?” Answer: “Get him to a doctor! Take him to a laboratory!” As always with FINDING THE WILL, there is never a wrong answer, just an interesting idea. The second moment that I will carry with me is the sound of raucous laughter. the pure joy of 40 children following a story (in a second language don’t forget), and relishing every twist and turn along the way. Whether it’s the magic of Shakespeare, the magic of our storytelling, or a combination of both, that sound – pure hilarity – is priceless. Heading home Our brief but oh so fulfilling visit came to an end on 8th February. There are whispers of us returning in April 2025 and Richard and I would be delighted if that happens. The country of Oman is fascinating, the people we met (both inside and outside of the Opera House) were warm and friendly. It feels like there is much more we can share with each other, so we really hope that this is not the last that the Royal Opera House, Muscat sees of us, or we see of it! Tempest Magic! Meanwhile, back here in the UK, Nick spent a couple of days in Bristol with Year 3 at Whitehall Primary. The magic of THE TEMPEST was the draw here. I understand there was a memorably enthusiastic dancing Prospero, a couple of really great Calibans and a swell of excitement for the forthcoming ‘Shakespeare Show’. That’s what we like to hear, the magic of Shakespeare continuing to spread! Thanks to Ms Tovey for liaising with me to arrange the visit this year. The magic of March! Coming up we have a busy month ahead. Nick and I are heading to Chelmsford (St Michael’s Junior School) and to Surrey (St Dominic’s Special Education School) with MACBETH and A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM respectively. Then I am returning to St Catherine’s of Siena Primary in Birmingham, followed by Shellingford Primary in Oxfordshire with THE DREAM and MACBETH respectively. So I’ll be back at the end of next month with more tales of Macbeth mayhem and Midsummer magic. Until then, shukran liqarayatik
Last one of the year!
It’s the Last blog of the year already! I genuinely don’t know where 2023 disappeared to but, personally speaking, I’m not too sorry to see the back of it. How about you?
Encouraging children to find a voice, and then have the confidence to use it, is even more vital in a world where so many voices are lost amidst the clatter of poverty, abuse, self-importance and general hubbub.
Hello Autumn My Old Friend
here we are at the beginning (actually almost in the middle) of the Autumn Term and I’ve only just realised that we’ve not spoken since the end of the Summer term.
Delighted to say we are heading back to a lovely school in Hornchurch in a couple of weeks.
The co-founder, and inspiration for FINDING THE WILL, Richard will be performing CALL ME OZ at The Bridge House Theatre, London in November.