Congratulations FINDING THE WILL fans! You made it! You made it to the end of a year we will never forget (and may take some time to recover from)!
Here at FINDING THE WILL we’ve really missed working with children this year. We managed to squeeze in just six schools before Covid 19 forced us to stop as opposed to the sixteen that we hoped to visit during the course of the year. However all is not lost for 2021. Already we have five days of Covid Safe Interactive Workshops booked for three brand new schools to us in Leeds, London and Manchester in Jan, Feb and March and also, drum roll please………….a Shakespeare Project Week! Now we had suspended these thinking they would be far too difficult to pull off but our good friends at Anson Primary in Cricklewood have got some technological magic up their sleeves. So Years 3 & 4 WILL go to the ball! They will be able to perform ‘Macbeth’ after all! We are as intrigued and desperate to learn how this is going to work as you, dear reader, so rest assured we will report back and share the knowledge! Congratulations Anson for being courageous enough not to be beaten for a second year by the wretched Coronavirus!
If you have stuck with us through the two Lockdowns of 2020, you will know that Richard and I have been fortunate to work with intoBodmin in Cornwall to live-stream our six shows in the BARD HEADS collection. As well as giving us personally something artistic and creative to focus on, it has also given us the opportunity to try out new techniques and ways of working in the digital age. And now we have more exciting news!
We are thrilled to say we’re about to do it all over again! But this time, with new branding, a new producer and new, ambitious plans for the future. We have teamed up with Tortive Theatre to live-stream all six BARD HEADS every Thursday evening from 14 January culminating in a live-stream Q&A with the actors/writers and the producer on the night of 25 February. There is a special Education package available, so if anyone has connections with Secondary Schools, Colleges and Universities, please do get in touch with me and I will send you the package complete with discounts! BARD HEADS is bringing live theatre back into our own lives and, if you want it, back into yours too.
This then is what our new producer, Tortive Theatre, has to say about our forthcoming season:
“BARD HEADS 2021 If you follow us on any of our social media accounts you may have picked up that we’ve got some exciting news coming. We intend to start 2021 as we mean to go on! PRODUCING THEATRE! We’ve joined forces with FINDING THE WILL to bring you live streamed performances of a fabulous set of plays, BARD HEADS.
BARD HEADS is a series of 50 minute, one-actor plays based on various characters from Shakespeare’s works. Each play takes a humorous, enlightening, often funny and sometimes heart-wrenching look at some of the character’s lives after the events of the plays themselves. Written and starring Jules Hobbs and Richard Curnow the plays are being brought directly to your homes through live streaming with an introduction from Artistic Director, Ben Humphrey.This is only the beginning for BARD HEADS, as we are planning a TV series, and a UK tour at some point during 2021-2022. We would love you to see the start of this journey and be a part of the plays’ development.”
www.tortivetheatre.com
And what about NAMING THE VIEW I hear you ask? Not forgotten. We’re working on an Arts Council bid to fund the filming of it as it might be a while before we can perform that one live again. It’s a long arduous process but we’ll keep you posted and also keep everything crossed!
So with much to look forward to in 2021, it only really remains to say again CONGRATULATIONS! We all made it to the end of 2020 – a year we would all rather forget I’m sure, but we did it. We got through.
We wish you all a peaceful and safe Christmas, whatever tier you are in, and a happy and healthy 2021.
