To party or not to party – wow! We are on trend!
End of 2021 Report
As the end of the year draws nigh, and once again we wonder whether to party or not to party, to follow guidance or not to follow guidance, to be or not to be, it’s time for an end of year round up.
| 2019 – 16 Primary School Bookings Jan-Dec | No Cancellations | Total Number of Schools Visited – 16 |
| 2020 – 12 Primary School Bookings Jan-June | 6 Cancellations | Total Number of Schools Visited – 6 |
| 2021 – 10 Primary School Bookings March-November | 2 Cancellations | Total Number of Schools Visited – 8 |
| 2022 – 7 Primary School and 2 Special School Bookings Jan-June | No Cancellations (to date) | Total Number of Schools to visit – 9 (so far) |
So, as you can see, Covid variants permitting, things are starting to look up again. Four of the nine school bookings for 2022 are brand new schools to us (including one of the Special Schools), so we’re thrilled about that. We’re also thrilled (not to say relieved) that we’ve been able to get back into schools during 2021 – it’s been slow going and, initially, not the way we normally like to work. Sticky labels with character names written on in felt pen is simply not the same as having a hat, a tabard or a sash. But it did the job and enabled us to work in a Covid-friendly way!
From September onwards we reverted to our usual working practices. Whilst still adhering to masks, sanitisers and all that jazz, we were able to take our boxes of character delights back into schools to make the workshops all the more fun. Of the ten schools we’ve managed to visit in 2021, six of them were completely new to us and our work.
Filming of NAMING THE VIEW
Avid readers of this blog, and supporters of FINDING THE WILL , will be aware of our attempts over the Lockdowns to obtain funding from Arts Council England in order to film a performance of NAMING THE VIEW. In July, we were successful! The play is a re-imagining of Katherine (Kate) from Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of The Shrew’ thirty years after her marriage to husband Petruchio (Pete). It embraces humour along with the topical and serious subject of coercive control, economic and domestic abuse.
And so finally (Omicron permitting), next month, we will be filming a studio performance of this beautiful play at Bournemouth University. Post-production will take place at Falmouth University and then back to Bournemouth to film two deaf actors as In Vision Signers. In the meantime, Closed Captions and Audio Description will be added so that the finished film is accessible to everyone. After all coercive control and domestic/economic abuse is not limited merely to the hearing and sighted population. We are chuffed to be able to offer work and experience of working with professional actors and a TV director to students in two universities as well.
I can’t tell you how excited we are about this all coming together. After nearly two years of planning, preparation and organisation, just getting this far feels like a huge achievement! Once the film is complete there will be four, possibly five, Live Event Screenings either online or in person. Then, in April, it will go On Demand on a platform (yet to be confirmed) and also be distributed free of charge to Domestic Abuse Charities and Services. Hopefully I’ll be able to bring you more confirmed details at the end of January, when the film is in the can, and FINDING THE WILL has visited three more schools. January is going to be busy!
Sending Christmas Wishes
So, whether you are working from home, having a party at the office, working in school and having a party in the staffroom, here at FTW HQ we wish you a relaxing, better than last year Christmas! We look forward to talking with you again in 2022!
PS – Guess who?!
