Christmas, Arc's Young Women Shortlisted For Rising Star Award: Director's Blog 45 (A)

Hello All!

Christmas is only a few days away now so given my preoccupation with all things panto I hadn't really noticed it coming around so quickly, which is a bit bonkers given the fact that Dean (Buttons/Dandini) shouts out 'happy Christmas everyone' at the end of every show! Anyway Olly and I finally braved Westfield this evening and it wasn't as awful as I thought. In fact the shops were pretty manageable and no long queues thank goodness. And the stop off at the sushi bar was very welcome.

As well as being a lot of fun, Cinderella is possibly my favourite of all our shows to date. In large part this is because much of our work is dealing with very dark material, such as gangs and violence particularly affecting young people. Sadly here in Barking and Dagenham too. If you are interested do have a look at our website www.arctheatre.com and also at the Arc Youtube channel which has my phone videos of Cinderella on it too. 

http://www.youtube.com/user/ArcTheatre1?feature=watch 

You might also find the Pact (by Olly) trailer an interesting contrast to Cinderella! http://youtu.be/3nrl3wMp6e4

I love what we do about this tough stuff with and for young people. Indeed we heard only yesterday that our Finding the Words girls programme led by Natalie Smith (Arc's Education Director) has just been shortlisted in the Borough 2012 Rising Stars awards for young people in the performing arts category. This is for the film made by 41 young women from the Borough (with film directed by my daughter Grace).

This programme is funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and is for young women at risk of involvement in gangs to taken part in a 10-week film project and then to take their work out into schools and youth clubs across the borough. I am so proud of all our young women and will update you on how they get on with the awards!

We are probably best known for our work in this field, and we have carved a space for ourselves here. So this makes the whole panto thing seem as if its a real departure for Arc. and in some ways it certainly is! However the more I have worked on the panto the more the similarities rather than the differences become clear. And I have learned so much about how this style works  and how it relates to content through working with Phil and Owen too.

I was delighted that Shira and Lindsey from the Arts Council England came to the show this morning, and I got to talking at length with Shira after the show about the underlying themes in Cinderella. 

"Oh no, here she goes again! Its just a panto" I hear some of you sigh. And once again I make no bones about the importance of fairy tales and their role in passing messages down the generations through metaphor and symbols saturated with thousands of years of learning and teaching.

It was good to chat with Shira about the core metaphor of transformation at the heart of the Cinderella story. How for me the magic of Cinderella' dress change is the essence of the message that change is possible for each of us, if that's what we want. And for children in one of the most deprived London boroughs, this is vital. To know that whatever hardship your family may experience on a daily basis (and there is a lot of hardship) that you can imagine fulfilling your ambitions,believe its possible and make it a reality with the support of family, teachers and friends.

So in its own way Cinderella is probably an even more elegant and subtle way of using a story to teach children and it has been used to do so throughout the ages. At Arc we have made it our business to use stories to teach, to listen and to learn together with children. Indeed Olly spent 10 years as a storyteller and maker in schools before he took on the mantle of the writer. So no wonder that we are so at ease with the school's audiences at the panto. They have been our audiences for over 25 years.

Some of you may wish to switch off at this point, especially as its nearly Christmas and you maybe just want the latest gossip from Team Cinderella. So here's your signal to do so and I won't be the slightest bit offended honest. 

I don't imagine for a moment that all those that follow my blog read everything every day! Some things may resonate whilst others not at all.

On the other hand if you feel like reading my further deliberations on the symbolism woven into the Cinderella Story please do have a look at today's Blog B. 

I didn't want to delay you too long with your presents to wrap  and your celebratory food to prepare - so decided to split the blog this morning! Blog 45 B is up there now too.

Have a good one.