{"id":414,"date":"2019-10-04T08:27:35","date_gmt":"2019-10-04T07:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/?p=414"},"modified":"2019-10-04T08:27:36","modified_gmt":"2019-10-04T07:27:36","slug":"acting-for-the-community-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/2019\/10\/04\/acting-for-the-community-good\/","title":{"rendered":"ACTING FOR THE COMMUNITY GOOD"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

ACTING FOR THE\nCOMMUNITY GOOD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

M6 Theatre http:\/\/www.m6theatre.co.uk\/<\/a> has long been recognised as a top \u201ctheatre in education\u201d company, creating work for young audiences, and has achieved Arts Council National Portfolio status. The organisation is committed to developing and delivering a wide variety of high quality, creative arts projects for young people living in the North West of England including projects in which the young people themselves participate as the actors. Their aims in that direction were strengthened a few years ago when they were awarded a Big Lottery, Reaching Communities Grant for their project ACT NOW! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
M6 Theatre
ceating a legacy
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

This grant funded their outreach and\nparticipatory programme for the following twelve\nmonths, allowing them to develop key partnerships with youth agencies and\ncommunity groups to extend their work with young people across the Rochdale\nBorough in which they are based. Part of that work was delivered within their\nvibrant Youth theatre, re-named as The Act Now Youth Theatre, at their\nheadquarters adjacent to a local Primary School. With previous performances\nincluding \u2018The Musicians\u2019 <\/em>and \u2018Dream Factory\u2019, <\/em>M6 had also seen their\nfirst group of Young People gaining their Arts Award Bronze qualification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Act Now Youth Theatre in its first\nyear created groups for young people aged 8-11, 12-14 and 15-18, and with a\nyounger age group at Belfield Primary School. The debut performances by each\ngroup looked at life head on and were all well received by the public and the\nmedia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invisible<\/em>, devised and\nwritten by the 8-11s themselves,was\na magical journey of discovery \u2013 it follows 10 year old Jo as she struggles to be noticed. \nJo seems to be invisible to her teacher, the kids at school are caught\nup in other friendships and even her family are so busy with their own lives\nthat they forget to send out invitations to her birthday party!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As things get worse Jo starts to\nfind it harder and harder to speak \u2013 one night she decides to disappear\nfrom her life and embarks on strange journey …will she discover where\nshe lost her voice?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

100\nYears From Now<\/em>.\n\u201cTonight on Breaking Views, the news as we see it. Views of the past, views of\nthe present and maybe even views of the future……\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knives, drugs, terrorists, bankers, and spiders\nare just a few of the things that scare young people today. But has it always\nbeen this way? The 12-14s took us on a journey through the past 100 years to\nfind out. By visiting different decades and seeing what life was like then,\nexperiencing important moments in history, can we discover why things are so\nhard for young people now? Or has it always been this way? Are there things\nthat we could learn?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glee\nand Glum.<\/em>\nEveryone has the right to pursue what makes them happy. But what effect does\nthat have on other people? In the 15-18s performance, the class were set the\ntask of doing whatever makes them happy for one week. Michelle thinks that\nhappiness is persuading <\/strong>Stuart to go out with her and Henry\ndecides to live his week as Blackadder! Precious thinks that running away will\nmake her happy because things at home have been getting worse. But what happens\nwhen she finds herself in London with no friends and family to help her out\nwhen she gets into some trouble? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belfield group also subsequently performed\nan adaptation of the story All Summer In\nA Day<\/em> at their own school. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being part of ACT NOW! Youth Theatre\nallows young people to create and perform drama,\nwork with professional theatre makers, gain confidence, make new friends and experience, experiment and explore. To quote one\nyoung member, \u00b4I like M6 Theatre because it is enjoyable and an enthusiastic\nplace to meet new friends.  Everyone here\nhas a sense of humour and has fun.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

all\nacross the arts<\/em>\nused to regularly attend the press preview performances given at M6 at which\nyoung people would perform a new production and then afterwards sit \u00b4in\ncharacter\u00b4, answering questions from the audience. I was always amazed at how\ndiligent and articulate these young people were and how obvious it was that\ntheir involvement with the M6 Theatre Group was shaping them into well rounded\nyoung adults with an awareness and tolerance and a collection of soft life\nskill they might not otherwise have acquired. They were not children of any\nkind of privileged background and I knew from working with M6 in some social\nintervention projects that those youngsters they reached had often acquired a\n\u00b4street wisdom\u00b4 and even sense of disillusionment that might have taken their\nlives in other directions had it not been for their contact with M6. To be\nhonest the Rochdale I lived in, despite its Poundland high street, empty town\ncentre and other evidence of a depressing collapse was actually vibrant in its\nnumber of (locally revenue funded) arts organisations striving to make a\ndifference. In fact M6 was not even the only Rochdale based theatre company\nworking in that field. There were also groups such as MAD Theatre Company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Sue Devaney<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Rochdale youngsters frequently\nbenefitted from workshops designed and delivered by the wonderful Rochdale\nbased actress, Sue Devaney, appearing, at the time of writing, in Coronation\nStreet as Kevin Webster\u00b4s sister. She has also appeared in Casualty and she\noften delivered classic comedy cameos in Dinner Ladies. Her extensive stage career includes roles in several\nLondon production such as The Wind In The Willows and she undertook a ten week\nsummer season at Blackpool Opera House in Mamma Mia ! She has also delivered a\nmulti-part challenge in The Octagon Theatre in Bolton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
CORONATION STREET Jane Danson plays Leanne Battersby <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I also\nworked with all across the arts in an acting workshop at Rochdale Literature\nAnd Ideas Festival with another Coronation Street actress: Jane Danson who\nplays Leanne Battersby. Prior to the workshop I had the pleasure of\ninterviewing her live in front of around six hundred people and her love of\ntheatre was palpable and her belief obvious in the good it can deliver into\nsociety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During\nthe workshop she not only showed herself to be not a talented actress, though\nof course we already knew that from her delivery of gripping storylines in\nCorrie throughout the years, but also proved to be a sympathetic and empathetic\nacting coach always expounding the benefits of hard work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, as we head towards Autumn 2019, M6\nTheatre are planning to tour a production of Mission,\u2026Save The World, written\nby two artists with long histories with the group, Gilly Baskeyfield and Dot Wood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captain Clever is good at code breaking and problem solving, whilst Captain\nConker is super-fast and not scared of anything (except spelling!) But the\nsuperheroes have a BIG problem\u2014a very disgruntled Mission Control (voiced by\nSue Johnston OBE).
\n 
\nAs they race against the clock, a tadpole catching competition challenges the dynamic\nduo to harness their strengths and overcome their differences. Working as a\nteam, can they save the world …together! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus will M6 Theatre be\ncelebrating forty years of enriching young peoples\u00b4 lives by dynamic and\nmemorable theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, there are similar structures\nall over the country, as I was reminded a couple of years ago after publishing\na piece about M6 Theatre on our all\nacross the arts<\/em> pages in the Manchester Evening News Media Group. The\narticle somehow, and coincidentally, was read by a young niece with whom I previously\nhad only occasional family contact. Clare lives in West Yorkshire and was a\nstudent of Performing Arts at York University. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She got in touch with a brief note,\nwhich I reproduce below, illustrating the power of such artistic outreach by\ndedicated theatre professionals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAULINE QUIRKE\nACADEMIES  by Clare Bell<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/em> <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00b4Through my first year at the College, I\nhave performed in plays that were either produced from a script or designed\ncreatively within groups. From this experience, I have worked with other\nindividuals who have also been involved within the acting industry. I am\nthoroughly enjoying learning the practical skills and theoretical knowledge\nneeded to work in the performing arts industry, whilst also benefitting from\nsinging and dancing as part of the course curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition, I have been a student at\nPauline Quirke Academy and have worked in many rehearsals for plays, musicals\nor short films at the academy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This has given me invaluable insight\ninto the acting profession of today. I believe that every young child who wants\nto have a career in Musical Theatre deserves the opportunity to experience the\nactivities and workshops that PQA and similarly professional organisations  can deliver. I therefore feel excited and\nprivileged to be joining the academy as part of the PQA team, to help inspire\nothers to be as passionate about performance as I am.\u00b4<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Here at all across the arts<\/em> we are grateful for Clare\u00b4s letter as it\ncertainly confirms our faith that there are artists out there giving back to\nthe theatre industry that has given them their living. Pauline Quirk (eg Birds\nOf A Feather) and Sue Devaney (eg Dinner Ladies) each enjoy a varied and\nsuccessful television and stage career. It is wonderful to know that they and\nothers like them, as well as specialist companies like M6, are not only paving\nthe way for a new generation of performers, writers, directors and technicians\nbut are also, at the same time, massively benefitting their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.pqacademy.com<\/a>\/ <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.bigissuenorth.com\/features\/2016\/09\/the-way-i-work-sue-devaney\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\narticle has previously appeared, in part, in The Rochdale Observer, The Heywood\nAdvertiser and The Middleton Guardian.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ACTING FOR THE COMMUNITY GOOD M6 Theatre http:\/\/www.m6theatre.co.uk\/ has long been recognised as a top \u201ctheatre in education\u201d company, creating work for young audiences, and has achieved Arts Council National Portfolio status. The organisation is committed to developing and delivering a wide variety of high quality, creative arts projects for young people living in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aata.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}