462 Birthday Celebrations – What Now?
For our 20th birthday next year, I’d love to hear from teachers, pupils, parents and governors who have experienced the Finding the Will magic. If you remember our workshops, watched or performed in a Project Week final show, I’d be thrilled to hear from you.
Bet you’ve never had a welcome like this!
“Welcome to my office.” These were the words that greeted me when I fell out of a plane at 15000ft!
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.
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.
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.
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!
Macbeth Joy in Lincolnshire & Cambridgeshire
What joy there was on the afternoon of Friday 10 June when the entire Barkston & Syston Primary School, near Grantham, Lincs came together to perform Macbeth.
Our minds have been buzzing with memories of Turtle soup, paleontologists, olympic gymnasts and small business owners – and that’s just the workshop!
You can now watch NAMING THE VIEW on demand.
Summer is a Coming in!
Special Offer to all Secondary Schools, Sixth Form Colleges and Universities.
There is something heartwarming about a room full of young children giggling and gasping as a story, written 400 years ago, unfolds.
I will also be working with three new practitioners – new (or nearly new) to FINDING THE WILL anyway.
The Tempest – a play for our time.
During March we have visited 4 schools, introduced over 500 children and young people to either The Tempest or A Midsummer Night’s Dream and covered almost 1500 miles.
Is it just the climate we are living in? Or is it that young people nationwide are genuinely giving us hope for a better future?