Strictly Heroes and Zombies Captivated!

Heart Heroes is a UK Children’s Charity providing subsidised social events for children, and their families, living with Heart Conditions. In the summer of 2025, Finding the Will was invited by the charity to run a Shakespeare Interactive Workshop. And so, last Saturday, Nick and I were delighted to work with some of the incredible children and Heart Heroes’ volunteers in both Gloucester and Bristol. And now we know for sure that not all heroes wear capes!

I Can Perform

As part of the I Can Project, we took children and adults through the story of THE TEMPEST. While Nick set sail in Gloucester on board The Good Ship Calamari Albatross Titanic (don’t ask!), in Bristol we sailed away aboard The Good Ship Arms of Peace. With the wind blowing in our blue sails and a Gorgon figurehead leading the way, the sailors scrubbed the decks magnificently, although not all of the Royal Party was impressed.

The King’s Servants

Alongside the crew of each ship, King Alonso’s butler, Stephano, and his jester, Trinculo were also on board. Whilst Stephano got a little bit merry with the King’s wine, Trinculo made the King laugh with some crazy moves in Bristol, and terrific material in Gloucester. Brace yourself, here comes the best one……

“Where do you hide from a Zombie?” “In the living room!” Boom Tish!

On The Island

Once on the island, full of palm trees and coconuts, we met Prospero and his daughter Miranda, Ariel the invisible sprite and Caliban – in Bristol’s case, a very large monster! Huge thanks to volunteer Cameron for stepping into the role with gusto – what a hero! Soon the island was populated with all kinds of vengeful men all trying to kill each other. Thank goodness, once again, Prospero saw sense and uttered the words we so need to hear in the world today (but rarely do):

“The rarer action is in virtue than in vengeance”

Heart Heroes and Children in Need

As we all know, Shakespeare writes a variety of characters, and not all of them are strictly heroes. However, the Heart Heroes Bristol Hub has a real Strictly Hero!

Prospero aka Fliss represented Heart Heroes for Children in Need on the Strictly Come Dancing Results Show on Sunday night (8 November). I won’t spoil the package (because it’s great if you’re a Strictly fan) suffice to say that Prospero got to see the magic of Strictly up close and personal! Congratulations Fliss!

At the end of the workshops it was lovely to hear that both children and adults were captivated. Huge thanks to Heart Heroes for welcoming Finding the Will to Bristol and Gloucester. Keep doing your splendid work and let’s hope I Can come and work with you again in future.

King Henry VIII School, Coventry

Hotfoot from Gloucester, Nick went to Coventry to work with Y5 at King Henry VIII School for the third year running. We were first invited to this forward-thinking independent school in 2024 when Nick led workshops on A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM. In 2025 it was THE TEMPEST. This year, no more comedy, tragedy was the name of the game and it was ROMEO & JULIET. Well I say no more comedy, but Mercutio loves a party and a good wordy joke as we know, so how about this one:

“What sort of music do Mummies listen to?” “Wrap Music!”

Nick’s visit always coincides with a dedicated Drama Week, in which Y5 work on a version of a Shakespeare play. So, after a springboard interactive workshop on the story itself, Nick ran a further acting workshop in his inimitable style. He staged a fight, looked at the party scene and did lots of tableaux work. We love getting feedback – apart from anything else, Teachers listen to other Teachers, so it’s brilliant to be able to share with schools new to our work. However, feedback like this from one of the Y5 teachers is particularly gratifying, because it’s absolutely what we aim to bring:

“I particularly enjoyed the interactive and engaging approach to storytelling. The workshop brought Romeo and Juliet to life in a way that was accessible and exciting for Year 5 pupils. The mix of drama, discussion and participation kept the children fully involved and encouraged even the quieter members of the class to contribute.” Mr P McGrane, Y5 Teacher

We wish Y5 all the best with their upcoming performance and look forward to hearing about it. Thank you Mrs Teggin for liaising with me to make this action-packed morning happen!

And finally….

As we hurtle towards the end of 2026, there will be just time next month for a full round up of Finding the Will’s activities throughout this year. Plus the great reveal of the 2026 Finding the Will Christmas card! I know it’s exciting but you’ll just have to wait! Nick is off on a secret mission at the Eden Project working closely with some other iconic heroes, but more than that I cannot say.

Till next time, remember if zombies are about, stay in the living room!