Community producing company ARCADE are working with the award winning KIT Theatre to bring an immersive theatre project to Bridlington primary school children this September.
Commissioned by East Riding Libraries and funded by Arts Council England, Wardrobes will immerse year 4 and 5 students at Bempton, Burton Agnes, Hilderthorpe and Martongate primary schools in a four week adventure that ties into their curriculum. This innovative partnership brings a specialist children’s theatre company from London to the East Riding to deliver exciting immersive education programmes in schools. The Wardrobes project is part of a three year Arts Council funded programme of Arts in Libraries.
"Wardrobes is an Adventure in Learning" says Tom Bowtell, KIT Theatre’s Artistic Director. "In it our magical wardrobes act as portals between points in time and throughout history, people have travelled between them. Bridlington’s school children will be inducted into a secret organisation called WOOF (Wardrobes Of Our Friends) and will work to look after time travellers when they emerge in the present."
Each class will be paired up with their very own time traveller, a historical figure from the past inspired by their teaching topics. Students will be guided by their teacher and the KIT Theatre team to research the social context of each time traveller’s life, bringing their classroom learning to life. Each class will also go on a visit to Bridlington Spa for a backstage tour, and be part of an exciting performance finale at North Bridlington Library as part of the project.
"We are so excited to be bringing Wardrobes to Bridlington school children" says ARCADE Executive Producer Hannah Davies. "We worked with KIT to bring Wardrobes to primary schools in Scarborough back in 2020. It was such a joy to see how excited and engaged the children were and we had some feedback from teachers saying it was the most impactful project they had witnessed in 20 years."
One of the teachers who was involved in the 2020 version of Wardrobes described the project as: "A wonderful opportunity. It has shown me what children in my class are capable of, I have seen strengths in some that I haven’t seen before and it has helped them and me build an even stronger relationship together. This project is just amazing for any child to have the opportunity to participate in."
Wardrobes provides a unique theatrical educational intervention that supports teachers to develop student’s skills in research, design, teamwork, creative writing, performance and so much more.
It develops school children’s creativity, confidence and critical thinking while connecting them with their local creative community.
Wardrobes will be delivered in participating Bridlington primary schools (Bempton, Burton Agnes, Hilderthorpe and Martongate) in the Autumn term 2023.
For more information please CLICK HERE
Header Image: Stew Baxter
