Leeds pupils take part in National Theatre's 'Dear England' Project

Local TV

Leeds West Academy pupils have taken part in a 'Dear England' engagement programme inspired by a theatre production connected to Gareth Southgate’s open letter and the 80th anniversary of VE Day.

Transcript

00:00Dear England is a show written by James Graham and directed by Rupert Gould, inspired by the

00:06Dear England letter written by Gary Southgate to the nation, kind of addressing lots of the

00:12complex and difficult things that were happening for the team and the country at the time.

00:16And so we are taking that letter, that real life story, a moment of address, and using that in

00:21workshops to inspire the young people to write their own letters to their communities, to the

00:26nation about what they might like to say, their message to the country, and using that

00:32to create small pieces of performance that we are recording and archiving so we can have

00:37a real sense of what it is that the young people across the UK want to say to the country.

00:42We are working with seven schools and doing eight workshops across Leeds, and we've had

00:49some really great feedback so far from the children and the staff saying that actually

00:53going to see the show, for some of the children it was their first visit to the theatre, so

00:59they had that sort of wow moment walking into the theatre, and then they saw the show, absolutely

01:04loved it. I think the themes were quite relatable for a lot of the young people that we're working

01:08with. And then when we then go into the school a week later, it sort of really sort of follows

01:12through with that process of seeing something and then being able to sort of analyse it, break

01:16it down, be really reflective, and even talk about some quite tricky themes that come up

01:20within the show. And I've got to say they've been really amazing with the way that they

01:26have sort of taken the opportunity and shared, been quite open and raw with us some of their

01:32feelings and sharing about their aspirations and dreams for the future.

01:36This project is linked to the anniversary of VE Day, and so some of the funding that DCMS

01:41have kind of facilitated to allow this project to exist is really thinking about legacy. The next

01:45morning after something huge has happened as a nation, how do we respond and how do we want to be

01:50remembered? And we've been really struck as we've met young people in Leeds and as I've

01:54met young people up and down the country, how pertinent these themes are right now of how

02:00these young people want to be remembered, what messages they might have for their communities.

02:05Having such a great response to that in just 90 minutes just goes to show how important the

02:10arts are to young people. Especially when we start a workshop and they come in quite shy or reserved,

02:17by the end of the 90 minutes, they're performing something in front of their peers and taking on

02:22loads of the skills that we've developed just in that short space of time. It's incredible, really.

02:28It's a really interesting provocation. The next morning, I think, especially for me,

02:32kind of helicoptering into these locations across the country, being able to get a snapshot of the

02:36young people and those communities that I'm kind of flying into and seeing, you know, despite the

02:41differences and the uniqueness of their communities and the schools and, you know, the arts provision

02:48even in those places. Actually, the core themes of lots of the things that we're talking about are the

02:52same, a real want for unity, a real hope for kindness, and I want to be active in change.

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