Happy Summer Holidays!
A quick count up shows that during the last 10 months we’ve worked with approximately 1000 children ranging in age from 4 – 16.
We’ve covered the country from Merthyr Tydfil to Peterborough, Southampton to Yorkshire and all sorts of places in between!
FINDING THE WILL in Wales
the special guest was Michael Rosen (our Patron), so it was fitting that we were there too.
The big voices were still big, the little voices were a little louder but the church holds 800 people! Again, Mr Shakespeare (who was 459 of course last Sunday) has helped children from 7- 15 to come out of their shells.
Dear Diary…..
The Diary entry of Macbeth on the night he killed King Duncan, as imagined by one pupil in Year 6.
King Duncan set us off with his desire to ‘terminate’ the Thane of Cawdor.
Some of the teachers became actors – an extra thrill for the students watching the staff fall in and out of love at the squeeze of a purple flower!
Merry Christmas from the FTW Family!
Merry Christmas! As the temperature outside plummets, I’m sitting here (wearing 4 layers) and hoping that you are all warm, safe and, somehow, surviving. It’s been a funny old year for FINDING THE WILL, We’ve worked in a mixture of old and new schools countrywide. Our performing work has been seen on screens in the UK and Ukraine, and live on stage in Canada and in the South West of England. Whilst the academic year 22/23 has got off to an inevitably slow start, thanks to the cost of living crisis in all walks of life, we remain optimistic for the coming year. We finished 2022 with a cracking morning at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School in Hornchurch – read about it in our last blog. Now, with the Christmas holidays in touching distance, we are looking forward to the new year. 2023 We’ll be back with a bang in January at one of our old favourites – Great Leighs Primary School, Essex. Nick and I will spend a week with KS2 working on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. In previous years we’ve tackled Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night and Hamlet, so this magical mayhem of a comedy promises to be great fun. And at Great Leighs everyone, even the Kitchen, gets completely involved! Following on we will revisit Whitehall Primary, Bristol for more of THE TEMPEST with Year 3, Castleview Primary, Slough for more of MACBETH and St Catherine of Siena, Lee Bank, Birmingham for both A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and MACBETH. In April, we are thrilled to be part of the Merthyr Tydfil Children’s Literature Festival providing, amidst other things, MACBETH Interactive Workshops in Welsh! Catch us on screen! If you find yourself at a loose end over the Christmas holidays, or just feel like watching something a little different, can I encourage you to go to www.scenesaver.co.uk. Here, you will find all kinds of theatre productions – Christmas shows, children’s shows, drama, dance, comedy – which you can enjoy free of charge. You can make a donation, which will go directly to the production company if you wish, but there is no obligation. Type in NAMING THE VIEW and you will find our Arts Council England funded film which is available also in BSL, Signed or Audio Described versions. Scenesaver is a wonderful resource and, for us, is a direct result of working with ProEnglish Theatre’s ProAct Fest in Ukraine in the summer of 2022. Thanks Huge thanks to Jack, the talented artist who, unbeknownst to him, designed our Christmas card this year! Jack is 9 (maybe 10 now, not sure, sorry Jack!) and worked with us at BARKSTON & SYSTON CE PRIMARY near Grantham in June this year. We’d also like to thank all the Schools, Teachers, Head Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Support Staff, Office Staff, Governors, Parents, Patrons and, of course, Children that we have worked with and been in contact with throughout this year. It’s been tough, it will undoubtedly get tougher, but we cling on and, together, we will get through it! So all that’s left to say is: MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM JULES AND THE FINDING THE WILL FAMILY!
How Are You Coping?
Hello Again! How are you coping in these turbulent, anxious and, frankly, terrifying times? It’s been just over 2 months since I was last in touch with you all and so much has changed! We all thought that coping with Covid was bad enough (it was) but now we’ve been hit by something possibly even more debilitating – The Cost Of Living Crisis. So whether you are a teacher, TA, parent, carer or child – how are you coping? “The Queen, my lord, is dead.” How many times have we asked children to say those words over the years? Following the demise of Lady Macbeth, a servant has the grim task of passing on the tragic news to her husband, Lord Macbeth. Now however, those very words have a slightly different resonance because ‘The Queen’ and ‘Our Queen’ (as President Macron said) IS dead. And suddenly we are all part of a new Shakespearean tragedy with a new King, two new Prime Ministers, betrayal, fear, anger, anxiety, jealousy, war, and unrequited love. How are YOU coping with all of this? Coping in the Autumn Term I’ll be honest, it’s been a slow start to the academic year for us. In fact I would go so far as to say it’s one of the slowest starts to the year that we’ve ever had (with the exception of the 2020 Covid Year). However, I’m glad to report we do have some repeat bookings – including one usual Autumn Term booking which has moved to the Spring Term – and lots of enquiries. It’s clear though that Shakespeare is having to take his place in the priority queue. How are we coping? By being sanguine! Trying to remain as calm as possible and keeping the faith that, like Covid, one day this will all be over! We’re looking forward to heading back to Hornchurch next week to work on Macbeth with Year 6 at St Mary’s Catholic Primary. Last year they served up kebabs, haggis, sushi and wasabi at King Duncan’s banquet, so we’re eager to see what’s on the menu this year! Coping in the Spring Term The Spring term is always a busy one for FINDING THE WILL and, thankfully, that still seems to be the case next year. We are kicking off 2023 with a return visit to lovely Great Leighs Primary in Essex. This will be our 4th visit to this cracking school and we are returning with A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. It’s the perfect way to start a new year! We’re back in Bristol with The Tempest at Whitehall Primary in February and heading to a new school to us in Birmingham in March – St Catherine of Siena in Lee Bank – with A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth. With our old friends at Castleview Primary in Slough slotting us in at the beginning of March, The Spring Term is looking promising. And then there’s something very exciting happening…………. Merthyr Tydfil Children’s Literature Festival We have been invited to be part of what, by all accounts, is the biggest children’s literature festival in the UK. Prior to the Festival we will be working with a local primary school on Macbeth, running an interactive workshop and then rehearsing two scenes with them to be performed at the Launch of the Festival. On the day itself (20 April 2023) we will be running two Macbeth Interactive Workshops in Welsh. As if all this wasn’t exciting enough, also at the Festival will be our patron, the children’s legend that is Michael Rosen! We can’t wait! So as grim as the times may seem right now, keep smiling everyone. Check in now and again with your loved ones to see how they are coping and stay strong! We WILL get through this as we always do.
End Of Term Report!
During the academic year 2021/22 we have worked in 15 Primary Schools and 3 Special Schools with approximately 1450 young people.
A HUGE End of Term Thank You then to all the schools we have worked with this year.
Our wonderful co-founder and director Richard Curnow is heading to the Edmonton Fringe, Canada