A Trip to London

The Young Vic’s Directors Programme

As Artistic Director of Whirlwind Theatre for Children I am always trying to improve my own skills and knowledge to pass onto the young people and Children that attend Whirlwind Theatre. As part of that development I have been working towards an MA in Inclusive Theatre with Chickenshed in London. Chickenshed was the first and is the largest inclusive theatre in the UK with many branches up and down the country. It has led the way campaigning for changes in legislation allowing those with disabilities to be able to join fully within mainstream schools, jobs and activities.

Theatre is a family affair

Most recently I have had the privileged to travel down to London to become a member of the Young Vic’s Director Programme which is extremely exciting and full of opportunities for developing my style of visual theatre performance. I travelled for six hours on a hot and cramped coach, then having met up with my mother, also a theatre producer and writer;  I arranged to meet my sister who is stage-manager of the Mousetrap, by the stage door that evening. After this I made my way across London in the steaming heat and jam packed tubes. The Young Vic is a vibrant place with a packed bar and theatre restaurant, where the public spilled out across the pavement and queued to buy tickets to experimental works. The Young Vic does some of the most exciting innovative theatre in the country and is open to all styles including visual arts based theatre, dance theatre, encouraging new writing and experimentation with old works.  They also have an extensive young people’s out reach programmes into schools and the surrounding community and the young director’s programme. Their funding comes from a mix of traditional funding bodies and foundations but also corporate sponsorship and regularly filled seats. Although situated with in the West End they are non commercial and independent.

Myette Directing

Every director of the Young Vic has gone through the programme which was launched in 2000 by David Lan the Artistic Director and is the only kind in the country. It is there to support young directors (young not so much in age but of those starting out- which is good for me) and hone their skills and craft through networking, workshops, forums, placements and assistant directing etc. Much is done on-line, mainly because of the vast distances where directors live and work. Places are also advertised for the Jerwood Assistant Directors, enabling eight people a year to work alongside the Young Vic. When I arrived I was ushered up-stairs to sit in a small hot room with about 20 other directors, whose work ranged from the more traditional to opera and contemporary writing. Some were actors looking to direct, others had trained with specific directing courses at drama school and some had come up through community projects. We met the director of the programme who also is part of the artistic director’s team and fully involved with programming. She talked about how the programme could work for us as individuals and our mix was typical of those already on the scheme. I am very thrilled to be a part of this and have always admired the work of The Young Vic. I also hoping it will raise the profile of the work of Whirlwind Theatre on the National scale.

I  meet up with my sister after waiting sandwiched between two stage doors, Stomp and The Mousetrap. The ground rumbled in time to the drumming and floor bashing from one side and fully tweeded, overly hot actors fanning  themselves, on the other, as they rushed down the steps of the tiny traditional theatre that houses The Mousetrap ( unchanged since its start in the 1950’s). An evening bird sang out of time with the beat from Stomp. I sat by a skip full of used broom handles and contemplated how to get some of them back for the fights workshop on the 2nd & 3rd on the coach! We went to a posh club in evening, (my sister has free membership to all, as do all those working within the West End theatres). I stayed the night at The Military and Naval Club off Charlotte street before the return trip back, another six hour cramped in a smelly hot coach with a rude driver. I sat reading, contemplating the script and working out the next rehearsal schedule for The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe’.